MTV Moderator: We asked people are gay rights issues a priority for you in deciding how to vote for president? 56% said yes this is a matter of basic civil rights, 43% said not so much other issues affect us more. How do you speak to those people? How big a priority is it for you in your campaign and I'd you if you could for you to speak to it in the context of the news over the weekend about the gospel singer Donnie McClurkin who made some comments about homosexuality that drew controversy?
BO: I think it's a priority regardless of the polls, you don't poll whether people get treated equally or not, that is something you do because it's right. When it comes to my attitudes about whether this is a priority or not I will put it at the top of the list along with many other issues, because I think it's the right thing to do.
It's true that we had a controversy a while back, a gospel singer was singing at a gospel concert on our behalf, he was one of many. And he had some views that are anti-gay, and I am disturbed about those views and I said publicly that I disagreed with them.
One the things I also said though is we have to reach out to those who have a different attitude on these issues to try to teach. We were talking about faith earlier, one of things we've been doing is try to reach out into the African American church community, and I've spoken out forcefully and clearly to African American ministers and African American denominations saying we've got to get beyond some of the homophobia that still exists in some of these communities, that's part of the job of the president is talking to people not just telling them what they want to hear but also what they need to hear.
