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(6/15/2005)

 

 

 

Former Senator Daschle addresses National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

 

"Architect of the Defeat of Federal Marriage Amendment" Tom Daschle Receives Homosexual Award

Former South Dakota senator honored by homosexual group

 

By Bob Ellis

dakota voice

Former United States Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) was honored Monday night at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Leadership Awards at the Helen & Martin Kimmel Center in New York City. An estimated 250 people attended the event. 

Former South Dakota Senator and former Senate Majority Leader Daschle received the New York National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leadership Award for leading the “successful fight to defeat the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment in the Senate,” according to Roberta Sklar, Communications Director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Daschle told the crowd that “politics should be about hope and unifying people.” He added that he believes “we’re on the right side of history.”

“Senator Daschle put his quarter-century career in Congress on the line to stand up to the forces of intolerance and division and kill the Federal Marriage Amendment. We are proud to honor such rare courage and leadership,” says Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and homosexual activist David Mixner were featured speakers at Leadership Awards, and were among those who praised Daschle for his leadership role in temporarily defeating the Federal Marriage Amendment.

 

 

 

 

Tom Daschle and Executive Director Matt Foreman

A taped tribute to Jean O' Leary, a founder of the Task Force, was also played.  Event sponsorships ran from $10,000 down to $1,500.  Daschle was the lone recipient of an award at the gathering.

Many consider Daschle’s opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment a key reason for his 4,508-vote loss to John Thune in November 2004. Daschle was the first Senate party leader in 52 years to lose a re-election bid.

The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s most vocal homosexual advocacy groups, gave Daschle a score of 63% on their 2004 scorecard, and 100% on their 2002 scorecard.