"This Page Does Not Exist."

Do you need help deciding which candidate is better for LGBT and marriage equality? Let me assist you. Click here: http://www.mittromney.com/lgbt/ or here: http://www.barackobama.com/lgbt

I hope this little exercise convinces everyone who either is LGBT or who loves someone who is LGBT to vote Obama/Biden. When you click on the Romney link, this is what you see:

In case you can’t decipher the fine print, “This page does not exist or may have moved.”

Of course this page does not exist on the Romney campaign website. As far as Romney and Ryan are concerned, LGBT rights don’t exist. See here where they wrote, “Americans deserve more jobs and more take-home pay”? They don’t mean the Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. They do not include same-sex couples (married or not) who are raising families. The aren’t referring to the returning LGBT troops whose committed partners have been denied federal benefits and protections.

No. In fact, every bit of rhetoric, and even some concrete campaign promises, expose Romney and Ryan for the bigots they are.

Let’s play a game of opposites, shall we?

First, in May 2012, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality, when he said, “I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” In August the Republicans adopted their party platform, which contains this language: “We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Second, in September 2011, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was officially repealed. At the signing, Obama said, “We are not a nation that says ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ We are a nation that says ‘out of many, we are one.” Romney stated before the repeal of DADT, that he thought the DADT policy “seem[s] to be working” and “I wouldn’t change it at this time.”

Third, Barack Obama was the first sitting president to host a White House conference on the raging problem of bullying in our schools. Mitt Romney, when confronted about his part as ringleader in the now infamous incident of homophobic bullying in his high school days (corroborated by five classmates), said, “I don’t recall the incident myself.” Whether he does or not, it still speaks volumes about Romney’s current casual attitude toward bullying. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney blocked an anti-bullying guide because it contained the words “transgender” and “bisexual.”

Fourth, in March 2010 Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, which expanded access to critical health care and preventive services. The next month he mandated that hospitals extend visitation and decision-making rights to LGBT patients and their partners. As governor, Romney met with two advocates for LGBT equality, and during their conversation remarked, “I didn’t know you had families.”

Fifth, in 2009 (less than one year into his presidency), Obama created a National Resource Center for LGBT seniors and awarded a grant to SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders), supporting the first community center for LGBT seniors. Romney as governor dissolved the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. Do we really need to wonder what his attitude is toward a national center for LGBT seniors?

Sixth, Obama signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in March 2009. Vice presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan, repeatedly voted against expanding federal hate crime laws to cover violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And by today’s standards, Romney, the number one on the ticket, is arguably guilty of a hate crime in that high school bullying incident.

Seventh, in February 2012 the Obama administration announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, and in July it eased the federal rules governing benefits for LGBT partners. According to Paul Ryan, “a Romney administration [would] protect traditional marriage and the rule of law and . . . provide the Defense of Marriage Act the proper defense in the courts that it deserves.”

There are many more examples of progress over which Barack Obama has presided in his first term. eQualityGiving.org lists a total of 76 individual items. Have a look; it’s quite a list.

Several LGBT celebrities recently appeared in a video endorsing Obama’s re-election. Among other moving comments was this, from tennis great Billie Jean King: “Ilana Kloss and I have been together about 33 years. In the old days we always hid. And now we don’t have to hide. I’ve waited a long time for that, and there’s a lot of people in their grave that have waited forever . . . they had to live underground their whole life.” Through tears, Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson said, “If I was a kid in Albuquerque, New Mexico—14, 15 years old—and I watched the evening news with my parents, and the sitting president of the United States said, ‘I support gay marriage,’ that would have . . . changed a lot. And I don’t know if he knows how many lives he’s changing by just saying that simple thing. He’s saving lives really. And it’s very moving. I wish I’d had that when I was a kid, and I’m also so happy for the kids that have that now.”

Consider this, as well. We have seen that women’s rights are absolutely on the line in this election, as are those of immigrants, Social Security recipients, welfare recipients, and those lacking healthcare insurance. If Romney and Ryan can disregard an entire segment of the American population on the basis of sexual identity, what guarantees do any of us have that the groups with which we identify won’t be next?