Queer As Folk Stars Hit The Road For Kerry 
by Paul Johnson 365Gay.com Washington Bureau Chief

Posted: October 19, 2004 5:04 pm ET

(Washington)  The cast of Queer as Folk, is traveling across the country to campaign for John Kerry and John Edwards.

Cast members Michelle Clunie, Scott Lowell, Robert Gant (pictured), and Randy Harrison are hitting key areas with large LGBT populations urging people to get to the polls Nov. 2.

The Showtime series is in the midst of shooting season 5 in Toronto. The stars are taking their weekends when they are not required on set to campaign.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't do this." Clunie said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters.

"For me the most important thing in this election is the appointment of Supreme Court judges," Said Gant. "I believe we are going to get every one of our rights through the court."  

With a number of vacancies expected to come in the following four years the next president will have a lasting effect on the future of the court.

"This isn't about getting people to vote for Kerry," Gant said, "that's preaching to the choir. This is about getting people to the polls. Saying you were hung over from being at the bars the night before just doesn't cut it."

Gant who came out shortly after the second season began, has become an outspoken and a constant presence at gay rights and HIV/AIDS events.

Gay activists from national LGBT civil rights organizations have spread out across the country, many working with state organizations fighting constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and others in swing states where getting out the LGBT vote is especially important.

The most recent polls show Kerry and Bush in a likely photo finish.

The LGBT vote has emerged as a sizable, discrete voting bloc of 4 to 5 percent of the vote in national Congressional and Presidential elections, according to Voter News Service data. The figures show that in large metropolitan areas that percentage is much higher. Openly gay voters account for  9 percent of the vote in large cities and 7 percent of the vote in medium-size cities.

This is truly the most important election of our lives," said Lowell.