GLBT Candidate Questionnaire: Keith Ellison

From last month: Here are Ellison's responses to the GLBT candidate questionnaire from the primary.

LGBT people serve in our military, and they often have to hide their sexual orientation, and sometimes their partner or family during their service to our country. Others have been victims of witch hunts and removed from the military, even if they didn't "tell". If elected, would you support a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?

Keith Ellison: I strongly support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” as well as all forms of discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. The pentagon’s justification for its policy rests in their assumption that anti-gay feeling runs so rampant in the military, that to openly have homosexual service members would undermine unit cohesion and performance. Thus, their problem is not with gay service members, but with heterosexual service members who they assume will have problems with them. Well, these same assumptions were made about African Americans when Truman integrated the Armed Services more than fifty years ago, and this assumption has proven, over time, flagrantly untrue. I believe the same result will occur when gays are allowed to openly serve.

I believe strongly in the words of Dr. King when he says, “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This statement crosses the years. The struggles of the past are immutably tied to our current struggles, and we can summon the strength of that history for the battles of today.

I believe we must transcend the narrow-minded fear that shuns difference, and embrace the unique diversity of our population as an incalculable strength. This is why I am proud to have acted as the lawyer for the House DFL caucus in an ethic proceeding against former representative Arlon Linder, who contended that gays were not victims of Nazi oppression during the Holocaust. And why I am proud to have consistently fought any proposed amendment to write discrimination into our most precious political documents.

"Would you support including transgender or gender identity in any federal hate crimes legislation or employment non-discrimination legislation?"

Keith Ellison: Any group who history proves susceptible to hate-mongering needs commensurate legal protection. Transgender and gender identity individuals certainly apply in this case. In one 21 month period there were 27 transgender murders. Most, if not all, of these crimes can be classified as hate crimes because of the excessive violence used to commit them. Transgender and gender identity individuals are clearly a group of people facing extreme prejudice, and the law should reflect this. Currently there are eight states that have hate crime provisions for transgender and gender identity motivated crimes. I am proud to say that Minnesota is one of them. But this is an issue that needs to be brought to the federal level, and as a Member of Congress I will pursue with vigor civil protections for all people. My record in the state legislature clearly demonstrates my commitment to guarantying these protections. I am honored to be a recipient of multiple “Honored Ally” awards from Outfront MN & Lavender magazine, and count among my political supporters several well-respected members of the LGBT community.

"Federal funding for HIV prevention is currently governed by the "Helms Amendment," which mandates that HIV prevention not "promote homosexual behavior." This ties the hands of many prevention programs targeting the LGBT community from educating the community about sexual health. How would you work to change this?"

Keith Ellison: The Helms amendment was a mean-spirited attempt at preventing proven HIV prevention methods from effectively educating the public. This amendment flies in the face of AIDS prevention principles endorsed by leading public health authorities. The National Academy of Sciences, for example, directed that AIDS prevention materials should contain “explicit, practical, and perhaps graphic advice targeted at specific audiences.” Failure to follow these principles carried grave risks, authorities warned: the highly prestigious Institute of Medicine cautioned that “efforts to stifle candid materials may take a toll on human lives.”

As a Congressional representative I will challenge this amendment in a similar fashion to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) group’s challenge in the courts years ago—on the grounds that it unfairly legislates against the underprivileged who, unlike the wealthy, primarily get their information from government sources. By knowingly advocating for less effective methods of information dissemination, the amendment unconstitutionally discriminates against a significant portion of an at-risk population.

"Same-sex couples struggle every day to create families and relationships without having the benefits of marriage. How would you work in Washington to secure federal benefits, such as Social Security for a surviving spouse, for same-sex couples?"

Keith Ellison: Would a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage help us to welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, heal the sick, or visit those in prison? No, it wouldn’t. In fact, I believe it would only serve to harden our hearts against the civil urgency of the last fifty years— extending equal rights to all people. Equal access to government benefits is clearly part of this moral and political imperative. Same-sex couples work just as hard as everyone else, love just as deeply as everyone else, and are as committed to their families as everyone else. There is no reason why they should not have the same benefits as everyone else.

Discrimination against one people is an affront to all people. My campaign is one that believes that we must boldly and unapologetically assert that we are all better off together than apart, and we cannot come together until everyone enjoys the same rights and responsibilities. I will work to achieve this the same way I have always worked: by building coalitions amongst diverse populations in order to achieve positive results for the common good. As a community activist, I have always led by example, and my actions in the United States Congress will reflect this commitment to be on the front lines of all human rights struggles.