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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com November 01, 2010
Harris: Don't Forget About Me
Kamala Harris, San Francisco district attorney and California attorney
general candidate, wants to remind the gays of the Golden State to remember
her opponent has promised to fight for Prop. 8 in a federal appeals court.
By Neal Broverman
KAMALA HARRIS 1 X390 | ADVOCATE.COM
While recent polls suggest that the races for California governor and U.S.
senator will favor Democratic candidates Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, the
role of attorney general is still very much up for grabs. The district
attorneys of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Republican Steve Cooley and
Democrat Kamala Harris, respectively, face off on Tuesday—and they couldn’
t be more different. The 63-year-old Cooley is a moderate conservative who
says he will support Prop. 8, California’s voter-approved initiative
banning gay marriage, in a federal appeals court; the 46-year-old mixed-race
Harris has vowed to let Prop. 8 die. While raising money for her campaign
on Friday at West Hollywood’s SoHo House, Harris spoke to The Advocate
about Prop. 8, civil rights, and how the California attorney general is a
job with national implications. Karl Rove certainly understands the
significance of the position—a political action group he co-founded
recently gave Cooley’s campaign $1.1 million.
The Advocate: Tell us again your feelings on Prop. 8.
Kamala Harris: First, the office of attorney general in the state of
California is one of the most powerful in the country in terms of the direct
impact we have on very important issues. Prop. 8 is an example of that—we
need to have leadership in the state that’s focused on not only the
commitment to innovation, but a preservation of civil rights. I agree with
Governor Schwarzenegger and (current) attorney general Jerry Brown that the
limited resources of the state of California should not be used to defend a
law that was found to be unconstitutional—I would not defend it.
Do gay people you've spoken to in the course of the campaign understand how
you or Steve Cooley could affect their right to marry?
I’m concerned that not as many people are informed as should be, because I
think if they did know they would certainly be outraged—at least, concerned
. Proposition 8 was put on the ballot to basically suggest we are not equal
as people. It’s a fundamental civil rights issue, and a fundamental
fairness. The second part of this issue that is significant is what happens
in California will invariably impact the rest of the country. So the
decision the next A.G. makes on this issue will impact not only the people
of California, but our country, and this movement which has been hard fought
and should be won.
What would you say to gay voters who are unhappy with Democrats, especially
in light of the Obama administration repealing federal court decisions
overturning the Defense of Marriage Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?”
We have a struggle for civil rights on this issue—Coretta Scott King
famously said, and I’m paraphrasing, that the fight for civil rights must
be fought and won with each generation. I think she said that because she
understood that it’s a constant struggle—let’s not be weary, let’s not
be discouraged, let’s certainly not be depressed, because by the very
nature of civil rights, we have to continually fight for it. So, let’s
understand that that is part of the challenge, and in that way stay
committed and vigilant. So, on that point and in that spirit, we have to
always stay focused on the fact that we will win but it’s going to be a
struggle and a fight and we will have setbacks, but we have to jump back up
and keep fighting. |
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