Put Your [Campaign Contribution] Money Where Your Mouth Is

It's the year 2008--the year of the presidential election, the year of the first female presidential hopeful, the year of the first African American to show a nation still frought with racialized tensions that he can sit in the "White" House, too.

In a time of such diversity, Americans have crawled from their politically-apathetic holes to get out and vote (especially the youth, who have turned out in record numbers in many state primaries).

With all of this being said, I thought to myself: "Wow. I bet that the gay and lesbian community has really reached out to support the Democratic candidates who seem to speak out for their issues...right?"

Wrong.

Well, at least according to the CQ MoneyLine search I performed while researching the names and contribution amounts given by people who registered "gay and lesbian" in part of their employment information given to the FEC. [FYI: the U.S. Federal Election Commission requires people who give over $200 in campaign contributions to register with them. The FEC, in turn, publishes a database of those contributions, which are, of course, public record.]

The search I performed called up 12 entries. Upon further review, I realized the 12 entries only comprised of three people. Count 'em. One. Two. Three.

Now, maybe this is just me, but out of a booming state population of approximately 38 million--and its fair share of gays and lesbians--I thought for sure the search would produce more prosperous results. I was wrong.

Out of all the people in sunny California, here are the three men who pulled out their wallets and gave money in the 2008-09 election cycle. Hats off to them.

The following list is in descending order based on contribution amount:

Big Spender #1: Curtis F. Shepard
Occupation: Director of Government Relations for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
Quick Facts: Shepard recently completed a program for senior executives in state and local government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government; received a Master's degree from Ball State University in higher education administration; earned a doctorate in education from UCLA.
ZIP code: 90210
Monetary Contributions: $3,300to Sen. Barack Obama (D); $3,300 to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D); $2,100 to Sen. John Edwards (D); $1,000 to Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.); $2,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
TOTAL: $11,700

Big Spender #2: Matthew Walker
Employer: Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Quick Fact: Walker contributes to the online LA Gay and Lesbian Center's website
ZIP code: 90065
Monetary Contributions: $500 to Joe Biden (D)

Big Spender #3: James Beaudreau
Employer: Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Quick Fact: Beaudreau works with the medical services / education in the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center offers to members of the community
ZIP code: 94117 (San Francisco)
Monetary Contributions: $250 to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)

TOTAL AMOUNT GIVEN BY ALL THREE CONTRIBUTERS: $12,450