Donna
Red
Wing
says
she
is
on
her
computer
at
5
a.m.
every
day
reading
e-mail
and
on
the
phone
by
7
a.m.
calling
gay
men
and
lesbians
around
the
country
urging
them
to
vote
for
Howard
Dean.
As
director
of
GLBT
outreach
for
the
former
Vermont
governor’s
presidential
campaign,
she
said
she
works
closely
with
gay
leaders
across
the
country,
including
activists
with
Out
for
Dean
and
Dykes
for
Dean,
two
gay
grassroots
groups.
Red
Wing,
53,
was
the
policy
director
at
the
Gill
Foundation
until
April
2003,
where
she
managed
various
gay-related
projects
and
served
as
the
gay
rights
advocacy
group’s
training
director.
Red
Wing
said
she
met
Dean
two
and
half
years
ago
at
a
Democratic
National
Committee
event
where
the
two
connected
over
her
work
at
the
Gill
Foundation.
Dean
was
so
impressed
with
Red
Wing’s
background
that
he
finished
their
conversation
by
saying,
“You
will
have
to
work
for
me,”
she
recalled.
Red
Wing
said
she
supports
Howard
Dean’s
candidacy
because
he
“changed
the
lives
of
gay
and
lesbian
couples
in
Vermont”
when
he
signed
the
nation’s
first
civil
unions
bill.
“When
I
talk
to
GLBT
families
in
Vermont,
it’s
clear
their
lives
have
changed,”
Red
Wing
said.
“From
the
way
they
can
interact
as
a
couple,
legally
speaking,
to
their
children
and
health
care
issues,
they
are
living
the
Howard
Dean
dream.
They
are
treated
in
every
way
as
a
family.
For
me,
that’s
what
made
him
stand
out.”
Red
Wing
added
that
she
was
also
impressed
by
Dean’s
support
and
work
related
to
health
care
and
safety
for
the
“most
vulnerable
among
us,”
including
children
and
the
elderly.
In
2000,
Red
Wing
served
as
co-chair
of
the
Millennium
March
on
Washington
for
Equality.
The
march,
which
took
place
on
April
30,
was
the
fourth
national
march
for
gay
rights.
Red
Wing,
who
was
also
the
National
Field
Director
for
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
from
1996-1999
and
for
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Alliance
Against
Defamation
from
1993-1996,
said
many
gay
men
and
lesbians
have
responded
enthusiastically
to
Dean’s
candidacy.
“The
reception
has
been
really
good,”
Red
Wing
said.
“Even
folks
who
may
be
considering
another
candidate,
and
we
have
an
abundance
of
candidates
this
year
who
are
very
good
on
the
GLBT
issues.
For
example,
if
I
am
talking
to
a
Kucinich
person,
many
are
willing
to
talk
about
Howard
Dean
as
well.”
Dennis
Kucinich,
the
Ohio
congressman
and
former
mayor
of
Cleveland,
registered
single-digit
support
in
last
week’s
Iowa
caucuses
and
this
week’s
New
Hampshire
primary.
Red
Wing
said
it
has
been
difficult
to
do
outreach
for
Howard
Dean
in
urban
areas
where
people
tend
to
be
very
attached
to
one
particular
candidate.
“You
would
imagine
that
it
would
be
more
difficult
in
the
South,
but
it
hasn’t
been,”
Red
Wing
said.
“For
example,
in
San
Francisco,
if
you
are
a
Kucinich
person,
you
are
a
Kucinich
person.
But
in
places
where
I
talk
to
working
class
people,
communities
that
don’t
come
to
mind
when
you
think
of
political
sophistication,
they
are
very
interested
in
Dean’s
message.
While
Howard
Dean
has
not
embraced
gay
marriage,
Red
Wing
said
he
looks
at
the
struggle
for
gay
equality
as
“a
journey”
that
must
begin
with
pragmatic
steps.
“This
is
not
a
man
who
is
against
gay
marriage
but
rather
a
pragmatic
man
who
recognizes
that
this
is
a
journey
we
are
taking
together,”
Red
Wing
said.
“In
order
to
have
all
the
rights,
he
recognizes
that
we
might
not
get
everything
we
want
immediately,
but
his
goal
is
full
rights
and
responsibilities
for
GLBT
people.
There’s
not
a
place
other
than
Vermont
where
people
are
living
that
dream.”
Red
Wing
also
noted
that
Dean
had
to
go
on
his
own
“journey”
when
he
was
faced
with
signing
Vermont’s
civil
unions
bill.
“
What
he
stood
up
for
then
was
very
difficult,”
Red
Wing
said.
“People
very
close
to
him
came
out
and
he
connected
with
a
constituency.
That
was
extraordinary
for
him.”
Red
Wing
said
that
she
communicates
personally
with
the
former
frontrunner
once
every
four
to
six
weeks.
Red
Wing
was
also
the
executive
director
of
the
Lesbian
Community
Project
in
Portland,
Ore.
from
1989
until
1993.
She
now
serves
as
chair
of
the
regional
selection
committee
and
member
of
the
national
selection
committee
of
Leadership
for
a
Changing
World,
a
program
of
...
