If you want to know what kind of president I'll be, I'll tell you. It's why I was so proud of Tom Vilsack today. Two years ago, our court said that gay and lesbian people weren't being treated properly, that they didn't have equal rights in our state. I told our press an hour and a half after that decision came out that I would support a bill that would make our state the first in the country to make all Americans equal. At the time 35% of the people thought it was a great idea and 65% of the people thought it was a terrible idea. We passed the nation's first civil unions bill. It's not gay marriage; we leave who gets married to the churches in Vermont. But it's equal inheritance rights, it's equal hospital visitation rights, it's equal insurance rights; every single right that I have, anybody in Vermont can have, even if they're gay or lesbian. Let me be frank with you. I did not do this for gays and lesbians, I did this for America. Because for a long time those of us who came of age during the civil rights movement understood that the strength of America was our commitment to equal rights under the law for all Americans. I'm proud that Vermont is the only place in America where equal rights under the law means equal rights under the law for everybody, not just the people we like or the people we're comfortable with or the people who look like us. Everybody in Vermont has equal rights under the law. I want to be the president where everybody in America has equal rights under the law. The reason I bring it up is this: I knew that people in an election year didn't like this bill and that it was going to be tough. I never had a discussion with myself about whether to sign this bill or not, because if you're the type of politician who's willing to sign off on the rights of a whole group of Americans simply because it's inconvenient for the future of your political career then you're in the wrong business, because that career that you have is all about you and it shouldn't be about you. Wherever I go in the country, if it's a place where people think that they're a little uncomfortable with the idea that everyone ought to have equal rights, I tell them that I can't wait, should I be the nominee of this party, to stand next to George Bush in the debates and have him explain to Americans why everybody - even though they're willing to die for this country in Afghanistan - why everybody shouldn't have equal rights under the law when they get back. I can't wait to see the President of the United States explain that. The reason I brought civil unions up is that that's the kind of president I'll be.Speaker: Dr. Howard Dean MD (VT)
Title: Linn County Democratic Dinner
Location: Marion, IA
Date: 01/18/2003
http://www.vote-smart.org/speech_detail.php?speech_id=M000003252&keyword=&phrase=&contain=
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