In 1992, the gay community raised $3.1 million in early money for Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s dark horse campaign for president. In a campaign speech, the first-ever to an LGBT-specific audience, Clinton said, “I have a vision and you’re a part of it.” After he became president, Clinton did include out gays in his administration and worked to fight AIDS. But his legacy, which is fondly remembered as one of prosperity and peace, also includes signing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA.
Hillary Clinton is not her husband. In fact, Hillary Clinton is not the candidate’s wife from 1992 nor the presidential candidate we met in 2008 in her race against Barack Obama. Clinton re-introduced herself on Saturday in her first official campaign speech on New York City’s Roosevelt Island with a speech that would have pleased not only her idol Eleanor Roosevelt, but should also please the Elizabeth Warren-wing of the Democratic Party. She posited a challenge to the Republican’s vision of “Yesterday” with one of her own:
“To be here in this beautiful park dedicated to Franklin Roosevelt’s enduring vision of America, the nation we want to be.
And in a place… with absolutely no ceilings. (Cheers, applause.)
You know, President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms are a testament to our nation’s unmatched aspirations and a reminder of our unfinished work at home and abroad. His legacy lifted up a nation and inspired presidents who followed…..
President Roosevelt called on every American to do his or her part, and every American answered. He said there’s no mystery about what it takes to build a strong and prosperous America: “Equality of opportunity… Jobs for those who can work… Security for those who need it… The ending of special privilege for the few…(cheers, applause.) The preservation of civil liberties for all… (cheers, applause) a wider and constantly rising standard of living.”
That still sounds good to me.”
Though Clinton did not give any specifics about how she was going to achieve her vision—and work with a Republican-controlled Congress—she was forceful in her declaration that she wants to the a “champion” for the struggling middle class and the poor—as if running as an “outsider” against those really in power in Washington, the Republicans who care more for money and profit than their country:
“Prosperity can’t be just for CEOs and hedge fund managers.
Democracy can’t be just for billionaires and corporations. (Cheers, applause.)
Prosperity and democracy are part of your basic bargain too.
You brought our country back.
Now it’s time — your time to secure the gains and move ahead.
And, you know what?
America can’t succeed unless you succeed. (Cheers, applause.)
That is why I am running for President of the United States. (Cheers, applause, chanting.)”
In addition to Wall Street, Clinton hit all the other political buttons progressives care about from climate change, income inequality, healthcare, immigration, voting rights, reproductive rights and LGBT rights.
“They shame and blame women, rather than respect our right to make our own reproductive health decisions. (Cheers, applause.)
They want to put immigrants, who work hard and pay taxes, at risk of deportation. (Booing.)
And they turn their backs on gay people who love each other. (Cheers, applause.)”
Fundamentally, they reject what it takes to build an inclusive economy. It takes an inclusive society. (Cheers, applause.) What I once called “a village” (cheers) that has a place for everyone.”
And that includes “good news” for LGBT people, including a pledge to push for an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act:
We should welcome the support of all Americans who want to go forward together with us. (Cheers, applause.)
There are public officials who know Americans need a better deal.
Business leaders who want higher pay for employees, equal pay for women (cheers, applause) and no discrimination against the LGBT community either. (Cheers, applause.)
Clinton’s vision is not only inclusive, it squarely confronts the Republican Party that espouses “family values:”
Now, my values and a lifetime of experiences have given me a different vision for America.
I believe that success isn’t measured by how much the wealthiest Americans have, but by how many children climb out of poverty… (cheers, applause)….
In America, every family should feel like they belong.
So we should offer hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families a path to citizenship. (Cheers, applause.) Not second-class status. (Cheers, applause.)
And, we should ban discrimination against LGBT Americans and their families (cheers, applause) so they can live, learn, marry, and work just like everybody else. (Cheers, applause.)
You know, America’s diversity, our openness, our devotion to human rights and freedom is what’s drawn so many to our shores. What’s inspired people all over the world. I know. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
And these are also qualities that prepare us well for the demands of a world that is more interconnected than ever before.
Perhaps the next step is for the LGBT community to press Clinton to come out in support of a full Civil Rights bill—inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the Civil Rights Act of 1964—and promise that America’s international policies will include provisions for the protection of LGBT and human rights, if she is elected president, with a plan on how to accomplish that.
There will be much talk in the next few days about what Clinton included and didn’t include in her speech. But this Hillary Clinton is not the candidate the country first met campaigning in 2007, the woman afraid to talk about her personal history or shy away from acknowledging what would be her place in history. And for all the populist rhetoric being offered up by some Republican candidates, Clinton made it clear that while she may be a now-rich, self-made woman, she does not come from a rich dynasty. Her father owned a small business printing drapery fabric in Chicago, her beloved mother’s parents abandoned her:
and by 14 she was out on her own, working as a housemaid. Years later, when I was old enough to understand, I asked what kept her going.
You know what her answer was? Something very simple: Kindness from someone who believed she mattered.
The 1st grade teacher who saw she had nothing to eat at lunch and, without embarrassing her, brought extra food to share.
The woman whose house she cleaned letting her go to high school so long as her work got done. That was a bargain she leapt to accept.
And, because some people believed in her, she believed in me. (Cheers, applause.)
That’s why I believe with all my heart in America and in the potential of every American.
Apparently there were a lot of young people at Clinton’s rally this morning. But the sea of faces seen on television were mostly white. So while rhetoric of inclusion may be inspirational, Clinton will need to back it up with actual policy specifics and plans to achieve what she promises. It’s still a long way to 2016.