Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: The promise and failings of Barack Obama
A few days ago I chided Barack Obama for being timid in his response to Prop 8. He has a comfortable lead in California and a PSA or even some words from him would be very helpful to those fighting for same sex marriage
Before any Obama fans get cranky as they sip their morning coffee: I do remember that Obama’s running mate Joe Biden noted on Ellen DeGeneres’ show that if he were a California resident Prop 8 would get a no from him.
I still stand by my contention that when it comes to gay issues Obama is cautious and will sell out a gay agenda if it gets too hot (which makes him no different from any other mainstream politician). While that’s true he does something that puts him above his peers.
Yesterday in a rally in Richmond, Virginia Obama went against the Sarah Palin theme of “real America.” Obama riffed on the idea that despite our differences we are citizens of a country we love. And in the land of the Confederacy Obama gave a shout out to gays and lesbians (thanks to my After Elton peeps for the heads up).
Whether it’s going to predominately black churches and talking about homophobia or including our concerns in his speeches, throughout this long campaign Obama keeps reminding his audiences that we matter in the country’s definition of freedom. Sure it’s just words and Obama doesn’t say anything without expecting some political payback. However, it’s refreshing to have a pol say gay and lesbian in the same sentence with the word freedom. That means something.
It’s beyond sad that pretty words are all it takes to get gays to willingly submit to thier own segregation into a discrimatory “Seperate But Equal” lower class of citizenship and happily cheer Obama on as he encourages his anti-gay “Yes on Prop 8″ advocates shill for the defeat of gay equality. The Gay Media is DEAD. Sold out to pop culture. It’s beyond sad, alright. It’s pathetic.
Wayne,
I suggest you read everything I’ve written about Obama before you throw that charge out.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
James
James, I give credit where credit is due. But the fact is even you are “timid” when it comes to pointing to the truth about Obama and gay rights. The so called Gay Press is a joke.
Wayne isn’t interested in actually reading (nevermind understanding) what others write, James. He still hasn’t bothered to post on the ‘Biden favors civil unions; Palin wants a Federal ban’ thread. Too cowardly by half, methinks. And he very cleverly avoids any overt support of the McPalincomparisons, as if THEY were our supporters (or supporters of equality of ANY kind).
Of course “Obama is cautious” – he hasn’t been elected yet.
I doubt, however that he will “sell out a gay agenda”. He’s much more likely to take the Schwartzenator (aka the Mike Harris – google it) approach, which is, “leave it to the courts”. Courts deal with what is just, not what is merely popular (aka voter-led propositions). Every court that equality cases land in have said time and time again that yes, “separate but equal” is NOT equal and they have struck down UN-Constitutional voter-led propositions – because they deny us equal treatment before the law. But to push for full equality (even though the Constitution ‘guarantees’ it) would very likely mean Obama would simply lose the election. (‘Wayne’ never bothers to address that, nor what McPalincomparison would do if theygot in.)
America is simply just way too conservative – still – despite what the Constitution says. Maybe they learned to shit on it from BushCheneyRoveRumsfeld who’ve done just that for 8 years now.
Seriously though, Wayne, who would you have in his stead?
If you’re suggesting that the gay community not rest on their laurels and settle for second class rights, then you are right, of course.
But if you’re suggesting that there’s someone else out there who has a realistic chance of doing better, then I’d really like to hear who.
Who is it that you’re rooting for? Who is it that will do so much better for the gay community than Obama in the White House?
I am very happy that the “gay agenda” is not front and center in this election after enduring the 2000 and 2004 massacres. I am confident that Obama has the best interest at heart for all Americans, and he will do what is right for us once elected. There’s nothing like a nationwide threat of equal rights for ALL gays to get the wing nuts out to the polls. As it is, there is nothing really thrilling to get them all out there on the 4th if it’s cold or raining…not the Come Hell or High Water approach of the past. Let’s just get the man to the White House and watch him make it do what it do.
Wayne said: “The so called Gay Press is a joke.”
Maybe Wayne should start his own gay press. Then, he could coordinate with Fox News and, like them, become an unofficial propaganda and disinformation outlet of the Republican Party.
Mark, what I would like is a candidate that actually keeps his promises and does what he says he will do. I don’t like McCain, but I know where he stands, and it gives me a solid position to work against. Obama has LIED already, how can anyone trust what he says? He vowed to end DADT, and as president he would have the power to do it IMMEDIATELY through Executive Order, but now that his primary with Hillary is over, Obama is convienantly backtracking aways from his promises and happily watches as his own surrogate shill for the passage of Prop 8 in Cali, on Obama’s “Faith Tours”. I don’t need pretty promises that will never be kept, I and every other gay American DESERVES ACTION. Until gay people realize that we will ALWAYS be taken for granted as long as we continue to give our votes to those who happily stand aside and watch as we lose our fight for equality. You might be surprised to know, but more gay rights have been inacted while Republicans were in office than when Democrats were. Why,?Because gays get pissed and fight back. But when Dems are in power, the refuse to fight for us. THEY DO NOTHING TO EARN THE VOTES WE’VE GIVEN THEM. Gay people have been waiting for equality since the fuckin fall of Rome! It’s past time for us to wise up and use what little power we have effectively. That’s what I want. I want equality. And I don’t want to wait another decade to get it.
Wayne said: “I don’t like McCain, but I know where he stands, and it gives me a solid position to work against.”
Ok, so now I see where you’re coming from, but I think it’s a backwards way of doing things. Whoever gets elected we’ll still have to fight them for the rights we deserve, but it’s foolish to deliberately put someone in power with an adversarial position against you. That’s just stacking the deck AGAINST yourself.
In my opinion having someone who gives us pretty words, whether or not he intends on following up with decisive action, gives us a better tactical advantage to use against him then someone who is explicitly against us. When it comes down to having to pressure the government, and it will, for the guy whose made a lot of (perhaps empty) promises) we’ll have him by the short hairs, giving us the leverage we’ll need to enact effective change.
The guy who’s denied us from the start, however, can continue denying us in all righteousness and we won’t be able to touch him!
Wayne said: “Gay people have been waiting for equality since the fuckin fall of Rome! It’s past time for us to wise up and use what little power we have effectively. That’s what I want. I want equality. And I don’t want to wait another decade to get it.”
And I agree with you, which is why I think you should help us elect Obama and then throw his promises in his face. Squeeze them for all their worth, and extract from him what his pretty pretty words promise.
It makes better sense tactically. Don’t stack the deck against the gay community by electing someone who advocated amending his home state’s constitution to deny marriage to same sex couples. Elect someone who’s campaign stance is that same sex couples are Consitutionally equal to opposite sex couples, and then hold him to it with a vengeance.
Mark, I have to disagree. By electing Obama you are giving support to Obama’s policies which would segregate gay people into a so called “separate bu equal” discrimatory 2nd class citizenship. If the past has taught us anything, it has hopefully taught us not to repeat the same mistakes over again. Separate but Equal didn’t work in the past, and it won’t work in the future. Ask NJ gay couples what they think of their forced “civil unions”, you might be surprised at the answer. Once laws are enacted that proclaim gays to be 2nd class citizens, IT WILL BE GENERATIONS before those discriminatory laws can be defeated. McCain is no hero to the gay rights cause, what he advocates is effectively the status quo, but what Obama advocates is a step towards generations of segregation and discrimination. A step forward is only important, if it’s a step in the right direction. Obama advocates a path towards the direction of discrimination and defeat.
Wayne, your naivete is exceeded only by your ignorance. DADT was enacted into law by Congress and can only be changed by congressional action.
I saw Obama at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida where we are fighting a same sex marriage constitutional amendment. When he came to the part of his stump speach where he mentions …”doesn’t matter if you’re black or white or brown…we are all Americans”. At this particular location and this particular speach, he left out ‘Gay or Straight’. That upset me since I have been sending money, volunteering and speaking out for him. And THAT time he did not speak out for me.
Mark, it’s your “naivette” that seems to be showing. Do some actual research on Executive Orders. The President has the power to end DADT through Executive Order, the reason we have DADT in the first place is because of the Executive Order Bill Clinton made. And just recently Hillary Clinton was asked about removing DADT through Executive Oder: PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In an exclusive and
wide-ranging interview with the Philadelphia Gay News, Senator Hillary Clinton
discusses the option of issuing an executive order or signing statement to end
the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the ban on openly gay
servicemembers.
—–
so I guess it’s actually you, who is the “ignorant” one.
Wayne, I have been trying to follow your logic, but I have stopped now. You have already made up your mind about who to vote for, and you are only pretending so that you can stay in the argument for some reason. It’s ludicrous to believe that McCain/Palin will do anything short of taking away ALL of our rights if they get in. DADT was a finger in the dyke (Funny Pun!) to stop the onslaught of wing nuts who had us in their sites. They wanted us off the island and banished from the planet. He did the equivalent of sticking a pacifier in their mouths…it isn’t like he changed the Constitution or anything permanant. DADT is on it’s way out when/if we get a Democrat to the WH. If not, expect Palin’s influence on your life…and that will feel like all the plagues against Egypt…biblical proportions. She will take away all the choices for us. We will see exactly what “tolerant” means to her, which I suspect means “we won’t kill you, just leave us now”. If you think you are voting for McCain, think again…it will be her policies in place if she gets there.
I didn’t make the comment about naivete, by the way.
Anyway you say that by electing Obama, we would be putting in place “Separate but Equal” which is discriminatory and I don’t disagree with this, but it still stands that Obama’s stated stance is much more gay friendly than McCain’s, which we can hold against him as leverage in an Obama administration.
I’d also challenge you to justify your statement that McCain is advocating the status quo. We’re right now approaching a tipping point. Gay rights are picking up steam and the status quo is shifting. McCain is very explcitly not advocating a status quo, he’s advocating amendments to constitutions that would take us BACK.
Instead of being an invisible minority who are ignored and neglected in the civil rights sphere, McCain would make us a very visiblly oppressed minority. He’s not just saying that things should stay the same and it’s rather impossible for the entire gay community to back into the collective closet at this point, so what he’s doing is very explicitly denying us rights. And he’s doing so in a way that a tyrannical majority agrees with, without giving us any sort of vantage point to use against him because he’s very forthright in his oppression.
In the end I think a McCain administration will set back and delay Gay Rights far longer than an Obama administration.
Of course we’re going to have to fight to make Obama put his money where his mouth is, but we’ll have a chance.
With McCain in office all I see happening is not the galvanization of our community you speak of, but rather huge demoralization. An Obama administration is of course not going to be as good for us as Obama makes out (it’s politics after all) but it will be good for morale and will do more to motivate us than Palin’s “tolerance” or McCain so graciously allowing us to enter into legal agreements like the adults we are. Do we need him to allow us to own property now?