Chris Dodd’s camp announced that he will not appear at HRC/LOGO’s “The VisibleVote 08: A Presidential Forum” slated for next Thursday, August 9th at 9 PM ET/6pm PT in Los Angeles.

Dodd informed LOGO television which will broadcast Thursday’s debate, and the Human Rights Campaign which helped arrange it, that “scheduling conflicts” made it impossible for him to attend.

Dodd and Joe Biden will be the only Democratic candidates not to participate in the groundbreaking debate.

…Asking questions of the candidates will be a panel comprised of journalists Jonathan Capehart and Margaret Carlson, musician/activist Melissa Etheridge and HRC president Joe Solomonese.

The panelists in a statement said they plan to cover a range of issues including relationship recognition, marriage equality, workplace fairness, the military, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other important issues.