Los Angeles, CA -
Democratic presidential hopefuls will gather tonight in Los Angeles for a televised forum on issues affecting the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the United States.
Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson have confirmed their participation in the televised debate on Logo, the gay television network owned by Viacom. Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd will not appear citing scheduling conflicts.
This morning as the candidates prepared for the historic debate, Obama announced his "National LGBT (Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Leadership Council." Clinton unveiled "LGBT Americans for Hillary" several weeks ago. All the Democratic candidates have position papers detailing their support for gay rights.
Tonight's debate is seen an indication that 2008 Democratic presidential candidates have begun to aggressively court gay and lesbian voters.
The forum is cosponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and by Logo, who will provide a live telecast and Internet simulcast. The begins tonight at 8 p.m. (Central) on Logo and the Logo website at www.logoonline.com.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese, Melissa Etheridge and journalist Jonathan Capehart will appear as panelists at the event.
Organizers say the forum marks the first time that major presidential candidates will appear on TV specifically to address gay issues, although HRC hosted a similar event in 2003.
The Democrats will appear sequentially at 15-minute intervals during the two-hour forum, never sharing the stage with one another.
Logo, available in about 27 million homes, offered to hold a second forum for Republican candidates, but the GOP front-runners showed no interest, Logo general manager Lisa Sherman told The Washington Post.
For more information: http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com
Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson have confirmed their participation in the televised debate on Logo, the gay television network owned by Viacom. Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd will not appear citing scheduling conflicts.
This morning as the candidates prepared for the historic debate, Obama announced his "National LGBT (Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Leadership Council." Clinton unveiled "LGBT Americans for Hillary" several weeks ago. All the Democratic candidates have position papers detailing their support for gay rights.
Tonight's debate is seen an indication that 2008 Democratic presidential candidates have begun to aggressively court gay and lesbian voters.
The forum is cosponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and by Logo, who will provide a live telecast and Internet simulcast. The begins tonight at 8 p.m. (Central) on Logo and the Logo website at www.logoonline.com.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese, Melissa Etheridge and journalist Jonathan Capehart will appear as panelists at the event.
Organizers say the forum marks the first time that major presidential candidates will appear on TV specifically to address gay issues, although HRC hosted a similar event in 2003.
The Democrats will appear sequentially at 15-minute intervals during the two-hour forum, never sharing the stage with one another.
Logo, available in about 27 million homes, offered to hold a second forum for Republican candidates, but the GOP front-runners showed no interest, Logo general manager Lisa Sherman told The Washington Post.
For more information: http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com
