Subscribe to Breaking NewsEmma Ruby-Sachs: Why we should be critical of Obama
Thanks for checking out my very first post on 365gay.com. I’m new to the website, to blogging in general, but not to politics, or the very satisfying game of pointing out just how enraging the American landscape can be, especially if you’re gay.
I’ve spent the last three years in law school and before that I was writing and working with a law firm (there’s a theme here). I’m really excited about spending some time talking about legal issues facing the gay and lesbian community.
But since the election is in full swing and we have a debate tomorrow, I think a little talk about Obama is appropriate.
I was helping a friend of mine move out of Hyde Park this past weekend and found myself around the corner from Barack Obama’s house. As we pulled over by the side of the road a secret service agent immediately arrived to investigate. We chatted (what with us being a couple of non-threatening girls in a tiny car) and as we left, I asked the agent to take good care of the Obama family. I was gushing, truly, blushing and everything.
The thing is, I’m a little in love with Obama.
I’m not completely blinded of course. Many of his policies, economic and social, frustrate me (I’m always hoping the Democratic party will dump the privatization of essential services), but what I really should be mad about is his utter refusal to step up and support gay marriage.
Many say it’s political suicide) to support marriage for gays and lesbians (that’s almost a bit of street cred for all of us – we are that risky) and the last thing I want is an aging Republican in office, but do I really have to adore the man that thinks I’m not quite as good as him and his wife?
So today, despite my crush, I’ve decided that I will be mad at Obama for not standing up for full rights for gays and lesbians.
Sure, his thirty second sound bite on Ellen sounded very progressive and Biden said last week that he supports my right to visit my partner in the hospital. Biden, especially, emphatically purported granting marital rights to gays and lesbians who choose to commit. Still, the word marriage will be reserved for heterosexuals.
Why the anger? Because our government is telling us that we are not like them. They are hoping to write that distinction into law. And even though in the near future same sex unions and marriage may grant the same rights, at any point, changes can be made that put same sex couples at a disadvantage all over again.
voting for someone because you are ‘in love’ is .. just plain scary. politicians are not to be worshipped. when did the u.s. morph into north korea ?! the fact is that barack does not support equal marriage rights “because i am a christian” and he is now backing off from challenging DADT for all the same reasons that clinton used to stick us with it in the first place. they say that love is blind.. how apropos !
Your rhetoric is pretty off the charts lame. Your crush is just juvenile. Do everyone a favor: Go back to your law firm. I used to like this site. If this is the direction of where they are going I’m done…
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Emma, my question is why is your “first post” a featured article on this site?
This is not Gay-Seventeen-Magazine.com.
All I can say is don’t quit the day job.
while I understand your article..at the same time as a 48yr old gay male…I AM Voting for OBAMA…under his administration WE ALL have a better chance of furthering RIGHTS for ALL AMericans. Under McCain, America will DEVOLVE further!
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
The political reality is that if anyone came out publicly for gay marriage, it would bring down a firestorm that might mean a Republican would get elected. Let the issue alone! Get a Democrat in office and let the Supreme Court justices that will invariably be nominated get seated. Then will be time for gay marriage.
I can wait for gay marriage. What I can’t wait for is four or eight years of another Republican administration with the weight of the Supreme Court going very conservative. That would stall all gay rights for at least a generation.
Sorry, but your article sounds naive. You can’t always get everything you want right away. Domestic partnership laws, equal rights laws, and civil unions lead in the right direction. That’s politics–the art of the possible. Oh–and worship God, not Obama. Obama is far better than anything the GOP has to offer.
First let me say congrats on 3 years of law school!
I must also admit that although I adore Barack Obama and the progressiveness that he represents, I am very disappointed in his half-ass support of gay rights. However, as an avid lover of the ‘real’ American history, we MUST understand that this fight to be recognized as equals IS an everyday battle. It will not be won overnight, over an election, or over a decade. What is most important is that the movement does not stop. Sort of like the US Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferg, maybe the US will have to set up what they think is the gay marriage equivalent (i.e. civil unions) only to realize that, like Brown v. the Board of Education, separate IS NOT equal. Hopefully, this time we can create change in half the time (30 years or less!)
Finally, there is a lot at stake in this election. We are bordering on dichotomous directions and I think as LGBT Americans, we need to put our country first on this one and choose, not just a tolerant leader, but a leader that listens and adapts to change.
Keep writing!
I’m glad that you at least recognize the reality that people who don’t get elected don’t get to make many changes. Please keep in mind that the Supreme Court, and Circuit Courts, are infested by “justices” who somehow got through law school without ever having heard of the 9th or 10th Amendments, which provide a right of privacy.
In principle, it WOULD be great if our candidates could come out wholeheartedly in favor of what we favor. And in principle it would be great if it were not necessary. But, in practice, it’s a different matter. The people who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 are the people who in practice elected George W. Bush, and boy, should they be proud of what their principles have brought us.
Take a deep breath and look around at the real world. Let’s get the man into the White House before we decide that we need to saddle him with another reason for prejudiced people, racists, bigots and the religious right to not elect him. We have waited this long for same sex marriage. We can wait a little bit longer. Let the man get into office and appoint some more liberal and moderate justices to the Supreme Court. Let some more gay people get married in the two states currently allowing same sex marriage and move back to their home states and the scene will be set for a constitutional challenge to the restrictive laws governing marriage. It will eventually have to go to the Supreme Court but it needs to have a hope of passing when it does and now is not the time.
I am very disturbed by the tenor of several blogs on this site. I remember the editor published a blog headed “I Like John McCain.” It was up for only a short time. But these postings intended to undercut Obama are deeply disturbing and makes one wonder if there are hidden agendas here. There is no comparison between the two candidates. One (Obama) supports gay rights; the other (McCain) does not. You don’t have to adore Obama, but it doesn’t help to play into the hands of Log Cabin Republicans at a crucial time.
Are you soft in the head? He HAD TO GET ELECTED. No one in their right mind would come out for gay marriage they would lose. Do you want to have a loser who comes out for you or a winner that doesn’t forget you?
I’m glad to read this point of view. It means at least some in the LGBT community don’t like being taken for granted. It shows maturity, lacking in many of the responses to it. It is possible to vote for Obama knowing that he’s a let-down, in order to prevent a disaster.
Keep your anger to yourself until November 5th. You should be terrified of McCain and Palin. Literally frightened for your life. So don’t discourage us from voting for Obama in this critical election.