Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
became the first openly gay person elected to the House in 1998
(Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank came out after serving
five years). Baldwin is also the first female representative elected
from Wisconsin.
Over her ten years of service,
Baldwin's popularity in conservative Wisconsin has only grown – she
bested her Republican rival, Dave Magnum, by an unheard of 26 points
in 2006.
In 2009, provided she returns to
Congress, she and Frank will be joined by Colorado's Jared Polis, the
first openly gay man to be elected to the House.
As we approach an election where gay
marriage is threatened in California, OUTTAKEonline.com CEO Charlotte
Robinson asked Baldwin about the state of gay marriage and other gay
things related to Congress.
Baldwin said she has encountered little
discrimination while serving in Congress – “Generally, I have had a very warm reception [in Congress]” – but does discuss
an incident that occurred to her partner Lauren Azar: “She was
gathered with a number of other Congressional spouses and someone
turned to her and said, 'Whose spouse are you?' and she said, 'Oh,
Tammy Baldwin,' and the person just became so flustered and couldn't
sputter out a word and kind of left in distress.”
She does recognize that as a federal
employee her female partner is not given equal access to benefits
heterosexual spouses enjoy. “My partner cannot secure the benefits
that my heterosexual married colleagues can in terms of health care,
in terms of pension benefits, etc. From that perspective, legal
discrimination exists,” she said.
Discussing gay marriage, the
Congresswoman said she has hope in the next generation of Americans.
“I feel so confident that we're going to see so many changes as
this generation grows older and becomes the leadership of this nation
... The younger generation gets it, they get it on this issue [gay
marriage] and on a number of other issues.”
Listen to the entire audio interview at
OUTTAKEOnline.com.