Who is Going to Be the Next Sen. Kennedy When it Comes to LGBT Rights?

by Michael A. Jones

categories: 2010 Elections, Defense of Marriage Act, Election 2008, LGBT Rights and Politics

Published August 28, 2009 @ 02:23PM PT

Senator Ted Kennedy was the type of straight guy most every LGBT person could like.  He was ahead of his time by championing LGBT rights for decades, fighting to pass inclusive hate crimes legislation, and an employment non-discrimination act that covered sexual orientation and gender identity.  He was one of only 14 Senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act.  And contrary to what many politicians were thinking when Massachusetts became the first state to enact marriage equality, Sen. Kennedy celebrated that moment for its importance in civil rights history.

With Sen. Kennedy's passing, a giant hole is now left in the U.S. Senate when it comes to a tried and true supporter of LGBT rights.  Who will fill that mantle?

Below are five U.S. Senators who are working hard for equal rights legislation in the Senate and/or in their own states.  Senator Ted Kennedy is in many respects irreplaceable.  But these five might just be able to carry on his legacy and become the voice for LGBT rights in the U.S. Senate.

Sen. John Kerry: OK, like him or leave him, Sen. Kerry has a bit in common with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.  Kerry was a former Presidential contender, and Kennedy was a former Presidential contender.  After losing their respective races, both returned to the U.S. Senate and (more or less) ruled out higher office.  And both are champions of LGBT rights.  For his part, Sen. Kerry is a vocal spokesperson for lifting the travel ban on HIV individuals imposed by the U.S. government, and is a support of hate crimes legislation, an employment non-discrimination act, and for overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In 1996, Sen. Kerry was the only U.S. Senator up for re-election who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (even out-progressiving Sen. Paul Wellstone on the issue).  As recently as July 2009, Kerry has called the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.  But...and it's sort of a big one...Sen. Kerry hasn't personally come out in favor of marriage equality.  This video right here will likely send shivers down people's spines with memories of 2004, as Kerry tries to say that he's for equal rights but not personally for marriage.  Sen. Kerry is going to have to get over this obstacle if he wants to have the same legacy as Sen. Kennedy on LGBT rights issues.

Sen. Russ Feingold: One of the most independent Senators out there, Sen. Russ Feingold's support for LGBT rights runs pretty deep as well.  He was also one of the 14 no votes in the U.S. Senate on the Defense of Marriage Act, and has long advocated for hate crimes and employment non-discrimination laws.  More good news?  He's also on record with a forceful statement supporting marriage equality.  "[Marriage equality] is something ultimately that people throughout the country will accept," said Sen. Feingold, adding that bans on same-sex marriage have no place in the nation's laws.  The weird news?  Sen. Feingold voted for Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.  Huh.  Well, at least he voted no on Alito?

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Sure, she has to survive re-election to her first full-term in office before becoming anyone's champion.  But Sen. Gillibrand is already positioning herself to be one of the strongest LGBT allies in the entire Congress.  She's the lead sponsor behind efforts in the U.S. Senate to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." She's encouraging state politicians throughout New York to support marriage equality in the state.  And she herself?  She's a strong believer in same-sex marriage, saying right here on the Women's Rights blog at change.org earlier this month: "Marriage Equality is the equal rights battle of our generation, and we should all be strongly united in our efforts to make progress." She needs more years perhaps to reach Sen. Kennedy status.  But she's clearly building a ton of street cred when it comes to LGBT issues.

Sen. Barbara Boxer: Sen. Kennedy was often vilified by the right-wing as part of the liberal establishment.  But for as much as Sen. Kennedy was targeted, Sen. Boxer may be even more so.  People on the right just don't like her, which makes people on the left (and a bunch in the middle) like her even more so.  Sen. Boxer has been an adamant supporter of LGBT rights, including earning a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign for her support of pro-LGBT legislation.  And last year as same-sex marriage was assaulted in California with Proposition 8, Sen. Boxer came out forcefully and strongly against the ballot measure.  Her opinion of Prop 8 before it narrowly passed? "Prop 8 is a statewide ballot initiative that would put discrimination against same-sex couples into the California State Constitution. It is unfair, unnecessary, and wrong."  Her sage words of inspiration after Prop 8 passed? "This is so not over.  The fight for equality goes on and on. The fight for a more perfect union goes on and on."  Here's hoping Boxer's Senate career goes on and on, too.

Sen. Patrick Leahy: When Sen. Patrick Leahy isn't helping shape the judicial system in this country through his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he's often times pushing equal rights legislation on behalf of LGBT Americans.  One of Leahy's biggest missteps was voting for the Defense of Marriage Act.  Since then, Leahy has come down hard on the side of LGBT rights.  He's now the third-most senior Senator in the entire legislative body, and the highest-ranking one at that to support marriage equality.  Which he made clear earlier this year after Vermont's State Legislature enacted same-sex marriage rights. "If I was voting – if this matter was coming the first time, I'd vote differently than I did [when I voted on DOMA]," Leahy told Vermont Public Radio.  "Because I think the states are now ahead of the Congress on this."  Other reasons we like Sen. Leahy?  In 2006 he called out the bullshit that conservative Congress members were trying to pull in pushing a marriage protection amendment, and he's a lead sponsor of a bill that would completely expand immigration rights for LGBT couples.

Any other allies in the Senate that you think might take the reigns that Sen. Ted Kennedy leaves behind on LGBT rights?