CHICAGO – In an unprecedented move, all 12 of the nation's LGBT newspapers are each separately endorsing Democratic Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.
Chicago-based Windy City Times, which has endorsed only once before in its 31 year history, is among the Clinton endorsers.
"This race for president is showing this country a clear choice of moving backward or moving forward on LGBTQ and other human rights," said NGMA spokesperson Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times. "We know that the LGBTQ community is made up of diverse political voices. But the homophobia, transphobia, racism, anti-immigrant and sexist nature of Republican candidate Donald Trump means that we can't sit on the sidelines this election season."
It was at a New York City LGBT fundraiser that Clinton scorned Trump supporters as a "basket of deplorables" last month.
The 12 are members of the National Gay Media Association, a trade association of the nation's major-market legacy LGBT newspapers. NGMA members have a combined circulation in print and online of more than one million readers per week.
The members of NGMA who are each endorsing Clinton in their own pages are: Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco), Washington Blade, Philadelphia Gay News, Dallas Voice, Windy City Times (Chicago), Between the Lines (Detroit), Bay Windows (Boston), Georgia Voice, SFGN (Ft. Lauderdale), Watermark (Orlando and Tampa Bay), Gay City News (New York), and The Pride LA.
"Hillary Clinton has spent her career fighting for social justice," Baim said. "While she came late to some LGBTQ issues, so did most mainstream politicians. In this presidential race, there is a clear choice to keep this country moving forward in the footsteps of President Barack Obama, the most pro-LGBTQ president in U.S. history. That choice is Hillary Clinton.”
In an op-ed for NGMA member paper the Philadelphia Gay News, Hillary Clinton talked about how, as president, she would advance the historic pro-LGBTQ equality agenda she and her runningmate Tim Kaine have embraced. She is the first major-party candidate for president to write an op-ed for an LGBTQ publication. “If I’m fortunate enough to be elected president, I’ll protect the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve—and I’ll keep fighting until every American can live free from discrimination and prejudice,” she wrote.
