WASHINGTON (AP) – Not yet a presidential candidate, Vice President Joe Biden will have a prime perch to appeal to LGBT voters when he headlines a glitzy national gala. Yet it may be too late to win over influential gay Democrats already committed to Hillary Rodham Clinton should he join the 2016 Democratic contest.
At the Human Rights Campaign’s sold-out soirée Oct. 3 in Washington, it’s Biden who will get top billing. In a way, Clinton will be his warm-up act; she’ll speak to the group’s board and staff in the morning, but won’t be on stage for the star-studded dinner.
Gay and lesbian voters and their allies represent a natural base of support for Biden, who won accolades from the community by backing gay marriage ahead of the 2012 election and became the highest elected official to support what was then a highly charged political issue. President Barack Obama followed days later, leading activists to muse with a touch of irony that it took an older, white male to get the first black president on board with a modern civil rights issue.
“Vice President Biden has stood up for the rights of all Americans to live their lives free from discrimination and fear throughout his remarkable career,” Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign president, said in announcing the keynote speaker. Joining Biden onstage will be actresses Allison Janney and Ellen Page, along with Jason Collins, who was the NBA’s first openly gay player.
The prominent gay rights group hasn’t endorsed yet in the 2016 race, but it plans to be engaged in the primary.