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Hillary Champions Gay Rights In Instagram Ad

by Celia Darrough

So, we all know the famous Hillary Clinton quote, right? "Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights." It came from her 1995 speech at the Fourth Women's Conference in Beijing, and it's been consistently — and rightly — used as one of the most inspiring Clinton quotes she's had since she came into the public eye. But then on Thursday, Clinton used the saying in a way that honestly made it even more moving, though I understand if you don't think that's possible. (Psst — it is.) Clinton spliced that speech with another to bring not only women's rights, but also LGBT rights to the forefront of her platform, all by talking about gay rights in Clinton's first Instagram campaign ad. Can I get a "hell yeah"?

In an ad posted on her brand new Instagram, old photos of Clinton and her husband, Bill, cycle through as a voice says, "She inspired me to find my voice." Then it jumps into video of her amazing 1995 speech, as she says, "Human rights are women's rights, and ..." then it perfectly segues into the quote, "Gay rights are human rights." That quote came from her stunning 2011 speech entitled "Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights," which she delivered in Geneva, Switzerland, when she was secretary of state. The two quotes both boil down to being about human rights, pure and simple, and the way they seamlessly mesh in the ad sets up her campaign as one I'm totally on board with.

Clinton released another video a while back that showed her support for gay rights. Her official presidential announcement video, which focused on major life changes, featured two same sex couples — one of which invited Clinton to their wedding. Jared Milrad, who appeared in the video with his fiancé, Nathan Johnson, said in an interview with the Washington Blade at the time:

It was particularly moving to see Secretary Clinton feature a gay couple engaged to be legally married, the first of any major presidential candidate. To us, this decision demonstrates Secretary Clinton’s commitment to LGBT equality and the type of inclusive leader she would be as president.

Although it took her too long to publicly declare that she was in favor of legalizing gay marriage, these two videos together, along with her various statements and actions toward equality, make it clear that Clinton is now developing a strong 2016 platform based on inclusion, not rejection.

And honestly, it's about damn time. Too often we've seen presidential candidates run their campaign based on what they're not going to allow rather than what we should not only accept, but celebrate. Voters — at the very least millennial voters — are caring less and less for a candidate who is against abortion, against gay rights, against anything that allows a person to make their own choice. Now is the time that it's about what a candidate is for. Clinton has taken a strong stance that she's for women, for gay rights, for acceptance and inclusion and equality.

If you didn't get all that from the Instagram video, well ... try watching it again.

Image: Hillary Clinton/Instagram