The gay rights movement is on the doorstep of history. Sometime in June, the Supreme Court will issue a ruling on same-sex marriage, and the going bet is that at least five of the nine justices will find same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.
Should that happen, it would be a milestone for a movement that, just one decade ago, was grappling with a series of setbacks on marriage in states across the country.
In the latest edition of "Drinking & Talking," former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Victory Fund CEO Aisha Moodie-Mills, Robert Traynham, a former press secretary for likely GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, and HuffPost reporter Jen Bendery discussed the remarkable turnaround and explained the reasons for it.
In a wide-ranging talk, they discussed the AIDS epidemic, the setbacks LGBT people faced under President Bill Clinton and the unsung pioneers of the movement. They also looked to the future, to a time when a Republican presidential candidate will run on a pro-gay marriage platform, and predicted how the political landscape will be transformed by the court.
Watch the video above. Here's an index of key moments in the discussion:
0:00 - Introduction
1:01 - A Brief History of LGBT Rights in Congress
6:30 - Don't Ask Don't Tell: A Major Setback
9:03 - The GOP Evolves On LGBT Rights
12:51 - Smart Activism And Copious Cash Fuel The LGBT PR Game
16:21 - Dick Cheney And Julian Bond: Unsung Voices
18:48 - After The Supreme Court Decides Gay Marriage, What's Next?
"Drinking & Talking" is produced and edited by Adriana Usero, Christine Conetta and Ibrahim Balkhy. Technical direction is provided by Brad Shannon. Special thanks, as always, goes to Jason Linkins.
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