He was a strong voice for human rights, for civil rights, and he spent his whole career fighting for health care reform, to name but a few of the causes for which he stood. He was also a leader on LGBT rights issues, being one of the forces behind the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which has not yet been passed into law but which stands a good chance in the near future, thanks largely to Kennedy.
The Senator also strongly opposed the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act and he pushed to have the Employment Non-Discrimination Act include rights for Transgendered workers.
Kevin Robert Frost of amfAR wrote that Kennedy was an unrivaled ally in the Senate in the fight against AIDS:
"What was clear to me in that meeting was how much he genuinely cared about fighting -- and winning -- our battle against the AIDS epidemic. When Senator Kennedy took over the leadership of the Senate Committee on Health in 1987 and made AIDS the committee's top priority at a time when there was still so much stigma surrounding the disease, he took a political risk that few politicians would have been willing to take. And when he pushed for the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990, he did so not only because he believed in what he was doing, but because he had come to personally know Ryan White."
All of these things I've mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Edward Kennedy did for this country. He will be missed greatly for reasons that go far beyond being the last in his generation of a larger than life political dynasty.
Well, I'm once again behind on the soaps. It's just been a very busy few days for me, but I plan to catch up on Kish and the rest over the weekend and write about their goings on sometime on Sunday evening.
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