Would you like to know John McCain’s stance on LGBT rights? So would I.

In searching John McCain’s Web site for the terms “gay,” “homosexual” and “LGBT,” I was returned with only one result that remotely had anything to do with LGBT rights, and it was not John McCain’s stance on the subject. Rather, it was criticism of Senator Obama’s apparent “backtracking.”

The Web site claims that by backing “fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law,” Obama has flip-flopped from his belief that marriage is for a man and a woman.

Let’s clarify, shall we? There seems to be a lot of that going on this election for some weird reason.

Barack Obama believes marriage is for a man and a woman, this is true. He has also explicitly stated that he supports “civil unions,” but only when those unions bring the same rights to same-sex couples as marriages bring to straight couples. Why? Because if it didn’t, “that’s discrimination,” he said plainly.

So this candidate could conceivably allow for his own personal convictions to exist side-by-side with legislation that would provide rights to others, even though he may disagree? A president that can actually do what’s best for people, even when his view differs?

Wow, imagine that. Shocking, really.

Senator Obama has also pledged to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which will outlaw discrimination based on “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” and “gender expression.”

Similarly, Obama has vowed to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which would expand hate crimes statutes.

And for those who are oh-so-concerned about it, you wouldn’t be discriminated against for being straight, either. This isn’t the gay USSR where you’ll be carted off if you disagree with homosexuality. Free speech remains intact, and religious foundations continue to exist. In fact, religious organizations are exempt from ENDA.

In contrast, McCain pushed for an initiative that denied any government benefits to civil unions or domestic partnerships in Arizona, and has voted against both prohibiting sexual orientation job discrimination and expanding hate crime legislation. He’s voted for the prohibition of same-sex marriage.

Essentially it boils down to this: Candidate, do you support LGBT rights?

McCain: My friends, I do not. But I won’t outlaw them. Maybe. I certainly won’t endorse it. But you can be gay, of course. But no, you can’t have marriage, and orientation shouldn’t be added to discrimination laws. But I respect you. Not legally, of course. And …

Obama: Yes.

Wow. Clarity, at last.

— Sophie Prell is a junior in pre-journalism and mass communication from Alta.