Former President Bill Clinton is weighing in on behalf of his former White House aide who’s running for Congress in New York’s 18th Congressional District. Sean Patrick Maloney, an openly gay attorney who is also backed by the Victory Fund, will compete in the Democratic primary to take on GOP Rep. Nan Hayworth, the incumbent.

“Sean worked closely with me in the White House to create jobs, grow our economy and balance the budget.  It’s time to bring a common sense approach back to Congress, and Sean Patrick Maloney is the right Democrat to help restore the economy and get people back to work in the Hudson Valley,” Clinton said in a statement.

“I am so grateful for President Clinton’s vote of confidence in my candidacy. We share the same priority – to put people first, and that means Congress needs to focus on creating jobs, protecting Medicare, and investing in our future,” Maloney responded.

Maloney is one of 8 openly gay, lesbian or bisexual federal candidates endorsed by the Victory Fund this year.  He would be the first openly LGBT member of Congress from New York.

Photo Credit:  Daily News

President Obama has already appointed more openly LGBT staffers to his administration than the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton combined, according to Shin Inouye, director of specialty media in the White House communications office.

Inouye made the observation at a panel discussion about LGBT presidential appointees held last night at the National Press Club in Washington.  The discussion was sponsored by the National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association and the Washington Blade.

Other appointees on the panel included  Elaine Kaplan (pictured), General Counsel at the Office of Personnel Management, and Matt Nosanchuk, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Kaplan, who also worked in the Clinton administration, noted a different atmosphere for LGBT appointees under President Obama.  ”There are a lot more of us and at higher levels,” Kaplan said.  Inouye and Nosanchuck agreed LGBT staff were fully integrated into the administration at all levels, and that their presence meant that policy decisions more often take into account the possible affects on LGBT people and their families.

Nosanchuk pointed out that many out appointees came to the attention of administration officials through the LGBT community’s Presidential Appointments Project, a coalition effort of some 16 national LGBT groups that’s coordinated by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute.

“This has always been the point of the Project–to make sure LGBT voices and perspectives are heard at the highest levels of the U.S. government,” said George Walker, a vice president at  GLLI.

Samir Luther recently joined the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute as the Project’s director.

Former President Bill Clinton, speaking at the Netroots Nation conference underway in Pittsburgh, delved deep into the history of the enactment of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, at one point telling a questioner that the LGBT community had not sufficiently lobbied Congress on the issue. Here’s video of the exchange (via Towleroad):

The Nation is reporting that former President Bill Clinton has come out in favor of full marriage equality for same-sex couples, a reversal of his long-held position that civil unions were the most appropriate way to deal with unequal partner rights and benefits.  The Nation reported:

After speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 8, the former president was asked if he supported same-sex marriage. Clinton, in a departure from past statements, replied in the affirmative.

Asked if he personally supported same-sex marriage, Clinton replied, “Yeah.” “I personally support people doing what they want to do,” Clinton said. “I think it’s wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that [same-sex marriage].”

(via Pam’s House Blend)