Gay Rights
Gaffe Behind Him, Richardson Accepts Commerce Secretary
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With the gay rights gaffe that likely cost him the support of most LGBT voters in the 2008 Democratic primaries but a distant memory, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson accepted President-elect Barack Obama's invite to serve as Commerce secretary on Wednesday.

An early contender for the Democratic nomination, Richardson's appointment comes days after Obama named another former competitor, New York senator Hillary Clinton, secretary of State.

In making his announcement, Obama said Richardson would be an "unyielding advocate for American business and American jobs."

Richardson dropped out of the presidential race in January, a few months after a universally panned showing at the Human Rights Campaign/Logo presidential forum, which gave the candidates for the Democratic nomination a chance to clarify their positions on gay rights.

At the forum, Richardson seemed to trip over his words when he said that being gay was a "choice" versus a biological predisposition.

Following the debate, Richardson contacted The Advocate's political editor, Kerry Eleveld, and requested an in-person interview to clarify his position, saying that he has long known being gay is biological.

"I misunderstood the question, and I made a mistake in the way I answered it," he said during that interview.

That flub aside, Richardson has long been a proponent of gay rights, championing civil unions legislation that would grant all the rights of marriage, a position that could come in handy with his work as secretary of Commerce. (Ross von Metzke, Advocate.com)