It's our turn on Feb. 5

By Diane Silver

The newest Hope & Politics column glories over the new-found power of our vote and mulls our options, comparing Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards on LGBT issues. (And yes, I also discuss Dennis Kucinich.)

As far as I'm concerned, none of the Republicans are worth even the time of day from any LGBT voter. Among the top Democrats, the differences are slight on our issues, but potentially significant.

A serious Democratic allergy to using the "marriage" word for same-sex couples

By Diane Silver

The Human Right Campaign's newly released survey of Democratic presidential hopefuls has generally good news for lesbian and gay couples.

One lingering pain in the rear remains, though. That's the continuing aversion of candidates to the use of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples. Only Rep. Dennis Kucinich is willing to own up to supporting full-fledged marriage for us.

On the other hand, everyone from Hillary Clinton to John Edwards and Barack Obama is supporting full rights and fairness under the law in every other way.

Generally, I think this is good news, but is there any other reason to back away from the word "marriage" except for political cowardice? I expected more from Obama.

The full survey results can be found on the HRC site.