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Former
President Makes Surprise
Appearance At Gay Event
by
365Gay.com from the Web. November 6, 2006
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Miami, Florida -- Former
President Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance at a benefit on the weekend
for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Clinton was in South Florida to campaign for Democratic candidates. An
aide called the NGLTF about an hour before to say that Clinton would like to
attend.
The former president mingled with the 650 people who attended the dinner and
stayed to see old friend NAACP Chair Julian Bond receive an NGLTF leadership
award. Bond has been a longtime supporter of LGBT issues.
Last week Bond told a forum at the University of Virginia where he is a
professor that the state's proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage is nothing less than discrimination and no different from racism.
"I have the privilege of traveling all across this country and talking with LGBT
people and virtually everywhere I go there is wrenching injustice: high
rates of suicide, homelessness and violence and bullying among our young," NGLTF
Chair Matt Foreman told the crowd.
"Rampant discrimination in employment keeping closet doors slammed shut and the
homophobia that is fueling the immoral rates of HIV infection among
African-American gay and bisexual men. And the daily heartbreaking
injustices our families face almost everywhere because they are denied legal
recognition and protection.
"All of this makes me heartsick and angry at the root causes of these scourges.
Angry that an entire industry has been built around demonizing, defaming and
dehumanizing gay people. Angry that we now live in a nation where lying
about a blow job is an impeachable offense, but lying that leads to the literal
blowing up of thousands of human bodies is not. Angry that homophobia is
once again polluting the political discourse in this election — at this very
moment in time — in both subtle and crass ways."
And Foreman had some pointed words for former Florida Congressman Mark Foley.
"Mark, whenever you re-emerge from wherever you are, please don’t come crawling
to us looking for acceptance — there’s no toaster waiting for you here, that I
promise."
The dinner raised more than $270,000, two-thirds of which will be donated by the
Task Force to organizations serving the Miami-Dade LGBT community.
(Emphasis Added)
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