Charlie Crist Announces Gay Rights Position

Charlie Crist and his campaign have been working with Equality Florida to craft a position paper. Crist has come out with a rather shockingly progressive position on gay rights. Crist still does not support gay marriage.

The good news is Crist supports ENDA, repealing "Dont Ask, Don't Tell," and gay adoption rights. A very progressive stance, for this election cycle, is allowing America gays and lesbians to sponsor their foreign-born gay partner for citizenship. Could Crist back alway from his LGBT positions once he enters the Senate? Absolutely. Crist should be commended for reaching out to Equality Florida.

Kendrick Meek has failed to court the LGBT community. Meek has the longer history of supporting gay rights. Meek has voted in support of Mathew Shepard Act and ENDA. Meek has not done a good job of letting the gay community and progressives know his voting history. That gave Crist to position himself (rightly or wrongly) as the progressive Senate candidate on LGBT issues by default. Crist saw an opportunity to court Democratic votes and took the ball and ran. One thing is for certain: Meek and Crist are a stark difference from what Marco Rubio would do to gay rights if he is elected.

Governor Charlie Crist LGBT Position Paper