Queer-4-Kerry

[April 14th, 2004] John Kerry has a lesbian running his campaign in Oregon. How's that for progressive?

Well, C.M. Hall doesn't actually call herself a lesbian. The 31-year-old Lake Oswego native thinks of herself as more of a lesbian-identified bisexual. Labels aside, Hall has aligned herself with progressive queer politics for about a decade, working for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and on Oregon's Human Rights Campaign (both No on 9 and No on 13). Until last year, Hall was the development director for Basic Rights Oregon, the group behind Oregon's gay-marriage movement.

During primary season, this deputy political director has been key in helping set up shop for John Kerry's Oregon campaign, and in an interview, she provided WW a glimpse of her boss, the man who might be president.

Who is John Kerry?

John Kerry is a man of great principle, courage and heart.

What convinced you he was the man to go with?

Experience. I vote on where a candidate stands on GLBT equality. I really am one of those crazy, very single-issue voters. At the time I knew that Kerry had voted in 1996 against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. Now I know a lot more about Kerry's GLBT record.

What should voters know about his record?

When you start to do a comparison-and-contrast of candidates, what candidate will stand up stronger to George Bush? Who will be the candidate that has the staying power in terms of the experience and longevity? Honestly, it was related to the war record. [Kerry] is a veteran. He could speak to that experience, bring more people into the party and represent more votes.

Why should GLBT voters back Kerry, who supports civil unions but not same-sex marriage?

The first year he was a senator, he proposed an omnibus nondiscrimination bill that included sexual orientation. In 1985. When he was a junior senator. He was only one of only two or three senators to testify against the military's 1994 policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Look at how he has been there. He's had gay friends his whole life.

Because of the disgust some people have with the issue of gay marriage, Oregon is now seen as a swing state that Bush might be able to take. Do you have a response?

There's a new, burgeoning group of anti-gay people out there. Having worked on GLBT politics in Oregon, I know that they collect their signatures through the churches, and if they're able to get the signatures, yes, we become more of a key state. It's going to be ugly if our rights are on the line this fall, but I believe the majority of Oregonians are fair-minded. They are not going to write discrimination into the state constitution.

What's the bottom line on gay issues?

John Kerry says, "We have a president right now who traffics in discrimination, who's putting people's civil rights on the line as a wedge issue." In contrast, John Kerry is a moderate on GLBT issues. I think that responds and matches the position of many Oregonians.