By Gary Barlow

\Staff writer

As the March 4 Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas approached last week, Sen. Barack Obama stole a page out of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s playbook and launched appeals to GLBT voters online and in advertisements in GLBT community newspapers.

Obama posted an appeal to GLBT voters at bilerico.com Feb. 28. The blog entry is similar to one Clinton posted at ourchart.com Feb. 4.

“Equality is a moral imperative,” Obama wrote. “That’s why throughout my career I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans.”

Obama noted that he supported the effort to pass a law in Illinois banning discrimination against GLBTs and pledged to “place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Those stands mirror Clinton’s positions, who told GLBT voters in her ourchart.com post, “I am fully committed to the fair and equal treatment of LGBT Americans.”

Like Obama, Clinton pointed to her record, declaring, “The best evidence of what I will do as president is what I’ve already done.”

She went on to cite her leadership role in defeating the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, her sponsorship of the Matthew Shepard Act, ENDA and domestic partner legislation for federal employees, her support for HIV legislation and her history of marching in GLBT Pride parades, both as a senator and as First Lady.

She also pledged to pass the Shepard Act and ENDA and to “put an end to the failed policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

Neither Clinton nor Obama, however, support full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. Clinton promised “to make sure that all Americans in committed relationships have equal benefits,” while Obama said, “I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment.”

The two candidates remained locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination going into the March 4 primaries, which took place after this edition of CFP went to press. Arizona Sen. John McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee.