TODAY'S SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, AUG. 23

Breakfast
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
11:00AM-12:15AM

Lunch Plenary
12:30PM-2:00PM

Breakout Sessions
2:15PM-3:30PM

Closing Session
3:45PM-5:15PM

Authors' Café
3:45PM-5:45PM

Not-So-Silent Auction
6:45PM-8:45PM

View the full schedule here

TODAY'S WEATHER

WHAT IS NLGJA?

Find out more about NLGJA at the official website.

MENTORS

A big thanks to our mentors:

Brett Zongker
The Associated Press

Caroline K. Hauser
The Washington Post

Mark S. Luckie
Entertainment Weekly

Larry M. Shaw
ABC

Dennis M. Powell
ABC

Doug Mitchell
NPR

LGBT community 'shouldn't settle for crumbs'

by Oscar Raymundo

Several of NLGJA's 2008 convention attendees describe their perfect presidential candidate in two words: Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately for them, Clinton is out of the race, and some attendees have expressed trouble diverting their support to either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain.

Neither presidential candidate supports same-sex marriage, but Obama favors civil unions and a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

In terms of LGBT issues, the Obama campaign might not be trailblazing, but Jim Neal, a former Democratic candidate for Senate from North Carolina, his high expectations for the next president. Neal spoke during NLGJA's "Congressional Confidential" session on Thursday.

"We shouldn't settle for crumbs," Neal said. "We need to be seated at the table being served milk and cookies on their dime."

According to Neal, although about 20 percent of fundraising for the Democratic Party comes from the LGBT community, it has no accountability. "The Evangelical community, the African American community, the Jewish community, they do a very good job of stating what they want from a candidate," Neal said. "But with the LGBT community, there is a carrot, but no stick."

The plight for LGBT rights is the civil rights movement du jour, it is very much do ask and do tell. Acronyms like ENDA and DOMA appear frequently in mainstream headlines, and a new poll suggests that New Jersey residents support same-sex marriage. This week the Coquille reservation in Oregon federally recognized a same-sex couple.

"But, we have a long way to go; it's a battleground," Neal said. "And, it's not going to move forward on its own. We have to push it."

Proposition 8 in California, if passed in November, would eliminate the right for same-sex marriage in the state.

"We need to go out and vote as if we're going to lose," Neal said.

Although Neal admits that the Obama campaign's approach to LGBT rights is not as comprehensive as it could be, he still endorses the Democratic presumptive nominee.

According to a new Harris Poll, Neal is not the only one. An overwhelming 68 percent of LGBT registered voters are leaning towards Obama, 10 percent are voting for McCain and 15 percent of voters are still undecided.

More than LGBT issues

Equal rights are an issue in the LGBT community, but with oil prices rising, an ongoing war in Iraq and a downturn in the economy, LGBT voters have other issues that concern them. For some voters, these issues often take priority over the LGBT civil rights movement.

"Stakes are so high with the corruption of the justice department, do we want a president that's going to start World War III?" said David Fiderer, a corporate banker from New York City. "The thought of ... a third Bush term is too frightening to imagine."

Fiderer said that maintaining the integrity of the constitutional system was the driving force behind him voting Democrat, not necessarily the party platform's stance on LGBT issues. But, he does admit that equality plays a greater role in the Democratic Party.

"Republicans still use gays as a foil to incite the base," he said. "Maybe not openly, but through proxies."

However, Scott Tucker, the director of communications for Log Cabin Republicans, makes it clear that McCain is not running a polarizing campaign.

"The Republican Party understands that gay and lesbian voters care about the same issues that the rest of middle, mainstream America cares about: energy policy, taxes, national defense," he said.

The issues surrounding this election are affecting the LGBT community in the same way they are affecting the rest of the country — at least that's what Jared Polis, the first openly gay candidate for Congress from Colorado, figured out while campaigning during the Democratic primary.

"I went door to door, I spoke and spoke to many gay and lesbian voters, and the issues they cared about — protecting the environment, coming up with an alternative energy policy, ending the war — were very similar," Polis said. "LGBT issues were not the first [things] that came out of their [mouths] as definitive issues that dictated who they voted for. They were on the same page with mainstream America."