Democrat husband and wife differ on gay rights
Elizabeth Edwards came out in support of legalised gay marriage at yesterday’s gay pride celebration in San Francisco, taking a position which she acknowledged is at odds with her husband, Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards.
“I don’t know why somebody else’s marriage has anything to do with me,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports Edwards saying. “I’m completely comfortable with gay marriage.”
But that position differs markedly from her husband, the former North Carolina Senator.
“John has been pretty clear about it, that he is very conflicted,’ she said.
“That’s up against his being raised in the 1950’s in a rural southern town. I think honestly he’s on a road with a lot of people in this country are on… They’re struggling with this. Most of the gay and lesbian people I know… have seen their friends and family walking down that same road.”
Edwards comments came after her keynote address before a standing-room-only breakfast for three hundred at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, an organisation which is central to the powerful gay political base in San Francisco.
The breakfast appearance by the candidate’s wife was hailed as a milestone in the 30 year history of the Gay Pride event, which had never been visited by a major presidential candidate or spouse, reports the Chronicle.
Edwards, who has been fighting breast cancer since 2004, also declared that the country’s healthcare is “in shambles.”
In addition, Bay City News reports that Edwards said she and John Edwards both support stem cell research, deeming it an important part of the country’s progress toward curing many medical problems.
“We need a government driven by science and compassion, not ideology,” Elizabeth Edwards said.
“It’s time to stand up. It’s time to fight.”
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