Last night, the Human Rights Campaign and the Logo Channel held the first-ever Presidential forum to address specifically LGBT rights and equality.

The HRC/Logo Presidential Forum was broadcast live on the Logo Channel and on Logo's website. Numerous nationally-known bloggers "live-blogged" the event, almost word-for-word, for those who couldn't get access to the television broadcast or to the internet broadcast.

All-in-all, six Democratic candidates participated in the talk-show style forum: Barack Obama, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Bill Richardson, and Hillary Clinton.

There has been plenty of conversation and dialogue on the forum from around the 'net and we'll attempt to give you some summary of it and some links for further reading.

USAToday:
"The unusually relaxed and personal forum, held in a Los Angeles studio that looked like a talk-show set…

The questioners, including singer Melissa Etheridge, pulled no punches in trying to make the candidates feel their frustration over their inability to marry and other issues."

Queerty:
"While most of the candidates whored themselves a bit, we have to admit we're pleasantly surprised with how the forum's played out. No new issues were raised, but we got a good long look at the major issues facing gay communities - and heard where the candidates stand, or don't stand, on our civil rights…

One of the most intriguing questions posed came from Jonathan Capehart, who asked Obama how he'll deal with homophobia in black communities. Like all good politicians, Obama made sure to reference an earlier reference to fighting homophobia in black communities. He also betrayed his straightness when he described gays as a "political football," an analogy that went over our heads."

NY Post:
"All the candidates decried what they characterized as Republican attempts to use the debate over gay marriage to distract Americans from other issues."

Huffington Post:
"Although they reiterated their support for a repeal of the military's ban on openly gay servicemen, as well as their backing of a federal ban on anti-gay job discrimination, few appeared ready to stray from their carefully crafted statements on gay marriage."

Pam's House Blend:
Pam responds to and writes up a summary of Bill Richardson's big screw up, possibly the biggest mistake of any candidate all night. In response to a question from Melissa Etheridge, Richardson said being gay is "a choice." Later in the evening, Richardson's campaign put out a clarification and Richardson spoke personally to Pam.

InterstateQ.com: 
In a post-HRC forum teleconference with supporters, Barack Obama spoke on the night's events and set a priority list for how he would achieve LGBT equality, saying he was "thrilled to participate today" in the forum.

Video from the Forum:
The Logo Channel has uploaded video to their website, showing each candidate and their talk time. Go to http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com/2007/08/10/video-the-presidential-forum/ to watch all the clips.

Some Personal Commentary from Matt:
I put up some personal commentary, related to my favored candidate, John Edwards. Check it: http://www.interstateq.com/archives/2263/

In relation to the availability of the Forum to all people in the LGBT community, I also spoke shared some feelings on class and how that played into who really got to benefit from the Forum: http://www.interstateq.com/archives/2262/

Okay... I think that is all for now.

~Matt Comer