WJC responds to heckler on gay rights

Blog: WJC responds to heckler on gay rights

Last night at Bill Clinton's speech at Netroots Nation, blogger and activist Lane Hudson stood up and interrupted Clinton, forcing the former president to discuss Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. Lane was sitting with me, and we'd discussed a possible question to ask Clinton if there was were going to be questions, but when it became clear there were not going to be questions, Lane decided he has to stand up, and I'm so glad he did. His point was to get Clinton to talk about what President Obama should do on these issues. Of course, Clinton got defensive because he brought us both laws. He came out forcefully against DADT though, calling for its repeal, and came pretty close to that on DOMA. Go and read Lane's piece on HuffPost about it. There were people who were pissed off, in the room and online, but this was in the spirit of what NN is supposed to be about. And honestly, it made Clinton's speech better, got him off script, get him fired up (and giving some great observations on the current political dramas) and not just doing legacy building. All around a good night -- a worth the interminable speeches leading up to Clinton's.

Blogger/activist Lane Hudson stood up and interrupted Bill Clinton's keynote last night at the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh, asking, "Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Right now?" Clinton responded to...