Marchers in the 2011 Washington DC Capitol Pride Parade show their support for Hillary Clinton. Photo: ep_jhu | FlickrCC.
This weekend Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech in support of gay rights in the 2016 presidential race, promising that she would end discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people. The fact that this would now be a central pillar of Clinton’s administration is quite a revolution for Clinton who opposed same-sex marriage for over two decades while first lady, senator and presidential candidate.
At the annual meeting of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, Clinton told hundreds of gay activists, “I see the injustices and the dangers that you and your families still face. I’m running for president to stand up for the fundamental rights of LGBT Americans.
Clinton opposed same-sex marriage in her 2008 bid for the White house. Clinton thanked the community for changing minds including her own and pledged to upgrade the service records for LGBT members of the military who were dishonorably discharged. Clinton also remarked that the current law banning transgender people from being in the military is “outdated.”
During her speech Clinton said that Kim Davis was “breaking the law by denying other Americans their constitutional rights” and made a reference to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. “Our work is not finished until every single person is treated with equal rights and dignity that they deserve, no matter how old they are, no matter where they live, whether it is New York or Wyoming or anywhere else,” Hillary Clinton said in a Time online story.