Obama’s £1,000 a head gay fundraiser
US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama raised funds for his campaign at an LGBT event last week, where the price of admission was $2,300 (£1,160).
The fundraiser was held at the New York apartment of gay activist Kevin Jennings and his partner and 125 people attended, The Advocate reports.
More than $170,000 was raised and the candidate, who is leading his rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, in pledged delegates to the nominating convention in August, spoke for around half an hour and then answered questions.
The event was significant because former First Lady Clinton has more support in the gay community than Senator Obama.
“I’ve been to many events over the past 10 years of candidates running for office,” Corey Johnson, one of the hosts, told The Advocate.
“This was the most forthright, eloquent, and detailed stuff I’ve heard from a politician [regarding gay issues].”
It is understood that Senator Obama, 46, said he supported hate crimes legislation protecting LGBT people and a repeal of the ban on openly gay people serving in the US military.
However, he restated his support for civil unions but not gay marriage.
While the fight for the Democratic nomination is far from over, the Republicans already have a presumptive candidate, John McCain.
The 71-year-old former prisoner-of-war and veteran US Senator from Arizona visited the UK last month and held talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron.
Democrats in Pennsylvania will hold their primary on April 22nd, with 158 delegates up for grabs.
Recent opinion polls show that Senator Clinton’s lead in the state has been cut in half in the past week, but she is still ahead of Obama by 47% to 42%.
