Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Prop 8, Obama, California, and race
Anyone remember the Rev. Donnie McClurkin fiasco last fall? McClurkin is a gospel singer of note who has called being gay “a curse”; last year McClurkin was the headliner performer in Barack Obama’s “Embrace the Change” musical tour that played in various venues in South Carolina.
McClurkin singing for Obama was a rather smooth way to attract religious blacks (a short time ago way too many blacks were going through “is he black enough” contortions). On the same hand, liberal gays and lesbians rightfully wondered why Obama would give a stage to a homophobe.
The fault line between gay liberals and socially conservative religious blacks was thrown open and Obama did his best to breach it (I tend to think it can’t be because both groups are mired in their own spin but that is for another time). As California voters argue over Proposition 8, once again we are faced with the combustible mix of race, sexuality, and prejudice. Obama will get the majority of the Latino and black voters in the Golden State, but those same voters are pro Prop 8—and groups supporting the measure are making a push in minority communities.
What should Obama do? Folk leaving comments on our site have wondered for sometime why Obama has not come out against Prop 8. Yesterday writer Andrew Sullivan, who likes his Obama juice chilled, said it was time for his candidate to make an ad opposing the measure. Obama’s main surrogate, Joe Biden, went on Ellen’s show and said if he lived in Cali, he would vote against Prop 8.
I’m not a betting man but Obama will stay mum on Prop 8. He will allow folk in his team to come out against it but he will stay quiet (if Obama is anything he is a cautious pol). And the breach will remain.
Are there famous and well respected African-American who can speak for the LGBT community and to fight against Propositon 8. Oprah for one, will she do it though? there are more money being safer.
Obama is not coming out against Prop 8 because he is probably against gay-marriage as most people are. I didn’t see the Ellen show but I saw his debate and he and Palin were both clearly against gay marriage.
They should stick to their guns on this and not come out against Proposition 8.
Obama is currently the lesser of two evils. Being silent on FULL EQUALITY for LBGT citizens is a sure way not to garner my support in 2012.
“Folk leaving comments on our site have wondered for sometime why Obama has not come out against Prop 8.”
It’s one thing to question honestly why Obama has not come out against Prop 8. It’s quite another to raise the question in a concerted and persistent effort to weaken support for Obama among gay voters, as has happened all too often in the comments posted on this site. I think it would be very naive not to consider seriously that political strategists for the Republican camp would target readers on this site.
Hasn’t Obama already come out against prop 8? He called it “divisive and discriminatory” in that letter he sent (I can’t remember to which LGBT organization he sent it to), which seems like a pretty clear condemnation. Are you looking for a more public denouncement? And I’m curious: what are the ways in which Obama has tried to heal the breach? I knwo he has spoken before in depth about the problem of homophobia in the black community.
Thank you, Kate!
Mr. Withers, I appreciate your commentaries but, with all the poorly-informed Log Cabin types who visit this site and suggest that Senator Obama’s and McSame’s positions on marriage equality are identical (despite their very different positions on DOMA, on proposed amendments to state constitutions, on whether there are any circumstances under which they would support the FMA, on the rationales for their prior opposition to the FMA and on the types of judges they would appoint to the Supreme Court and other federal courts), it is not helpful to have a commentator on this site inaccurately suggesting that “Obama has not come out against Prop 8″ or that “Obama will stay mum on Prop 8.”
Senator Obama has gone significantly beyond where any prior credible candidate for President (including Senator Clinton) has gone on marriage equality by expressing his opposition to Prop. 8 and similar efforts, despite the fact that there is rather broad support for such measures across the country, as evidenced by the fact that we may lose this battle in one of the bluest states in the country. Certainly, his public stance against Prop. 8 is one that could be used against him in critical swing states like Ohio, Missouri, Virginia and Florida but that did not stop Senator Obama, like Senator Biden more recently, from taking a bold stance against discrimination. At the time Senator Obama announced his opposition to Prop. 8, the executive director of Equality for All, which is leading the fight against 8, welcomed Senator Obama’s support and the co-director of San Francisco’s Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, to whom Senator Obama’s opposition to Prop. 8 was announced, said he “was thrilled to see the senator step up to the plate and say how he feels about discrimination.”
Perhaps you would prefer that Senator Obama be spending the final days of this election cutting ads against Prop. 8 or addressing it in his stump speeches in Ohio and Virginia. I think that would be a horrible idea. As much as we all need to buckle down and do what we can to assist the effort to defeat Prop. 8 in California, the single most important result on election night in terms of its impact on the prospects for marriage equality for gay men and lesbians across the country will not be the result on Prop. 8 but rather the result of the presidential election as that will determine who will appoint future members of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. That is where the issue of marriage equality is going to be determined for most gay men and lesbians in this country. Let’s not complicate Senator Obama’s efforts in Ohio and similar places by suggesting that he should be highlighting this issue now.
The ball is in our court on Prop. 8; the race is very close and certainly winnable but, frankly, it won’t be won if most of us continue to do as little as we’ve done to-date to assist the effort. In that regard, allow me to note that Senator Obama, with his letter below, has done more to assist the efforts of those fighting 8 than most gay men and lesbians that I know.
Please let’s do some more careful fact-checking on points such as this in the future. The reckless suggestions of Log Cabin types that there is little difference between Senators Obama and McSame on marriage equality or that Mayor Palin is “inclusive” hardly need encouragement.
Obama’s letter opposing same-sex marriage ban
The text of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco:
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club’s Pride Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years. As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.
As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.
For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It’s time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.
Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today’s celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama