Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton just took time out to send an important and timely tweet.
Today is Harvey Milk Day. Harvey Milk would have been 85 years old, had he not been shot and killed by a madman. Milk was the first openly-gay man elected to public office in California. And even though he lost his life in 1978, his memory lives on, as the dramatic strides our community has made may not have happened so quickly without his brave work.
Today Hillary Clinton commemorated his memory via Twitter:
It should be noted, especially to those who think Clinton only recently came out in support of LGBT rights or even same-sex marriage, that even before Barack Obama became an ardent and active supporter, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton way back in 2010 pushed the limits of advocating for our rights without overstepping her bounds – without advocating for a policy her boss, the president, did not support.
“I’m very proud that the United States, and particularly the State Department, is taking the lead to confront the circumstances that LGBT people face in just going about their daily lives,” Clinton said on June 22, 2010 at a State Department Pride Month event. “So as we enjoy today’s celebration and as we mark the progress that has been truly remarkable – I know that when you’re in the midst of a great movement of change it seems like it is glacial, but any fair assessment, from my perspective, having lived longer than at least more than 75 percent of you that I see in this room – (laughter) – is that it is extraordinary what has happened in such a short period of time.”
“But think about what’s happening to people as we speak today. Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love. Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors.”
“These dangers are not ‘gay’ issues. This is a human rights issue. (Applause.) Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all. (Applause.)”
[Bolding ours]
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