My Letter to Congressman Joe Sestak

[Toasterlad]

Dear Congressman Sestak,

I was among the thousands who heard you speak at Philadelphia's Gay Pride event at Penn's Landing yesterday. I heard you announce your opposition to DADT, to DOMA, and I heard your pledge to support a number of other rights for members of the GLBT community. What I did not hear was your support for full marriage equality. The crowd noise was heavy, and I wasn't in the best position to hear you, so I wanted to be sure I understand your position on this issue. Given the number of rights for which you pledged to fight that could ALL be accomplished by legalizing marriage for ALL Americans, I can only assume that you do NOT support full marriage equality. If I am mistaken about this, please let me know ASAP. I could not find a position on your campaign website (indeed, the website makes no mention of ANY position on GLBT issues), so I am seeking an answer from the horse's mouth, as it were.

One thing I DID hear yesterday which saddened me a bit was your use of the Pride forum to make your case for your upcoming primaries run against Senator Arlen Spector. While I understand that you must build support for your campaign however you can, I was a bit annoyed at what I considered the "cheapening" of the day's meaning by such a blatantly calculated and political move. Nonetheless, I am not a fan of Senator Specter, and I agree with your disdain for "king-makers". I'd very much like to see you challenge Senator Specter for his seat next November. However, I cannot give my support - either financially, through volunteer efforts, or otherwise - to a candidate who does not support full equality for all Americans. I hope that my assumption is false, and that you are, in fact, a candidate that I can whole-heartedly support. If so, please let me know, and I will be happy to assist you however I can.

The time of Democratic candidates taking their gay constituents for granted is over, Congressman. Among the painful lessons we have learned from the 2006 congressional elections and the 2008 presidential election is this: our civil rights are not a serious priority for our nation's leaders.

This is no longer acceptable.

We will not accept half-hearted promises to "work on" repeals to DOMA and DADT. We will NOT accept "separate but equal" in the form of civil unions or otherwise. And we will NOT accept leaders who will provide us with anything other than full equality - not "someday", but NOW.

Congressman, please tell me you can be that kind of leader.

Sincerely,

(Real Name Removed)
Royersford, PA 19468