I'll admit that I didn't really know much about Joe Biden before the pick yesterday.  I remembered him vaguely as one of the "Seven Dwarves" (old school props if you catch that reference - and, damn, I miss Pat Schroeder).  I knew that he was a Senator from Delaware, and had been for decades.  I remembered him from Bork/Thomas and from the Bankruptcy Bill a few years back.  I know that he's got solid Foreign Policy chops, and I remember his federalist proposal for Iraq.

Beyond that, I've never really followed his career.  Since GLBT and Women's issues are both very important to me, I decided to see what I could find out about him in that regard.

Stonewall Democrats on Biden

source: http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/thebid enrecord

I don't want to cut and paste someone else entire workproduct, so here are a few highlights:

- Voted Yes to expand the definition of hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation, and disability

• Voted Yes on ENDA (the Employment Non-Descrimination Act
  
• Supports repeal of DADT
  
• Supports civil unions, and federal recognition of same-sex couples
  
• Opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

Obviously, if you follow the link, it goes into greater detail.  But I'm really not sure how Fair Use applies to web pages in general, so I don't want to run afoul.

Human Rights Campaign

From the HRC's press release, specifically dealing with PEPFAR and the HIV travel ban:

"Recently, Senator Biden, as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, played an instrumental role in securing the passage of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), legislation which included Senator John Kerry and Senator Gordon Smith's provision repealing the discriminatory HIV travel and immigration ban.  His working across the aisle guaranteed that the Kerry-Smith provision was adopted.  Furthermore, when opponents of the provision attempted to garner support to strip the provision from the bill, Senator Biden fought to keep the provision in the bill and helped secure the votes for PEPFAR'S final passage."

source: http://www.hrc.org/11090.htm

Violence Against Women Act (1994)

"VAWA was drafted by Senator Joseph Biden's office with support from a number of advocacy organizations including Legal Momentum and The National Organization for Women, which heralded the bill as "the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Ag ainst_Women_Act

NARAL

From their press release:

"Sen. Biden has consistently expressed support for a woman's right to choose. While we have not agreed with him on every vote, we have a longstanding relationship with Sen. Biden that is open, positive, and constructive, and we are confident this will continue in a new administration under Sen. Obama's pro-choice leadership.

"Most notably, Sen. Biden has a strong record of opposing judicial nominees with hostile anti-choice records. He voted against George W. Bush's two anti-choice nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and he opposed anti-choice Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Court as well as multiple anti-choice nominees to lower federal courts.

"In addition, Sen. Biden has a strong record in opposition to anti-choice clinic violence and  voted to hold anti-choice extremists convicted of violent attacks against doctors and patients at women's reproductive-health centers accountable for their criminal actions."

The Press Release also notes that Biden's overall NARAL rating is "mixed choice."

NOW

From their press release:

"Senator Hillary Clinton was our first choice, and that of 18 million primary voters, but presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama's pick, Joe Biden, is a friend of women and a strong selection for Vice President. Biden authored and championed the landmark 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), winning bipartisan support and unprecedented funding for prevention, shelter and safety. VAWA has twice been reauthorized, each time with increased protections for survivors of violence.

NOW welcomes this important opportunity for one of our champions to participate in a national dialogue around issues that are facing our country and our world. We know that Sen. Biden will bring the crucial issue of violence prevention to the forefront as he travels the country discussing issues of concern to voters, especially women voters."

source: http://www.now.org/press/08-08/08-23.htm l

My thoughts

Biden seems to be an extremely strong supporter of GLBT issues.  I'm pretty happy with what I've read so far from him on those topics.  While he hasn't come out and said "Gay Marriage Rocks!" his quotes indicate that really understands the need for same-sex relationships to be accorded the same rights and responsibilities under the law, and that the lack of legal recognition undermines the stability of our relationships.

I'd be interested to find out why he's categorized as "mixed choice" by NARAL, but I haven't had time yet to dig into that.  However, it is clear that he has had a very close relationship with NOW that appears to have been solidified during the writing and passage of VAWA.

Overall, I wasn't really sure what I was going to find, and I'm rather happy with the results.