Subscribe to Breaking NewsVanasco: The celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
One thing that Obama’s people have always done well is using spectacle to impart a sense of myth. They certainly did that today with the kickoff ceremony – really a concert – at the Lincoln Memorial.
There were Marines. Gospel choirs. Two (two!) live bald eagles. A lot of songs about America. And a wall of American flags that parted over and over again to reveal blockbuster musical artists like Mary J. Blige, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks (one of the best performances of the afternoon – even the press corps was dancing) and Beyonce.
There were also a few gay moments. One expected – and a few surprises.
(Apologies for not twittering during it – I couldn’t get a signal the entire concert. But we’re up and running again, and will twitter tomorrow occasionally, and Tuesday often).
Many gays and lesbians were especially interested in the invocation by the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the gay Episcopal bishop (which wasn’t shown on HBO. Shame on them.) Robinson’s invocation, for many of us, is a balm against the cut that is Rick Warren giving the inaugural opening prayer.
“Bless this nation with anger,” Robinson said, “against discrimination here and abroad toward immigrants, women and gays and lesbians.”
He reminded us all that the “new president is a human being not a messiah.” And, most beautifully, he called for “Freedom from mere tolerance – replaced with respect and the warm embrace of our differences.”
Every religion’s god, he said, judges people for how they treat the most vulnerable.
And then there were the two surprises. After a speech commenting about the evils of discrimination by Queen Latifah, Heather Headly and Josh Groban sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” – backed by the D.C. Gay Men’s Chorus.
I only knew that it was the Gay Men’s Chorus because another member of the media pointed it out. Only then did I see their AIDS ribbons.
It is pretty spectacular to have a gay chorus be welcomed at an event of this import – we had heard about the gay and lesbian band participating in the Inaugural Parade, but the chorus was a surprise. I wished, while watching, that Queen Latifah had spoken words that stressed that gays and lesbians are one civil rights movement in a great American tradition that has led directly to the first African-American president of the United States.
And the final surprise: Barack Obama mentioned gays in the laundry list of people who should come together.
This celebration isn’t about us – it’s about all Americans, and how we are called to serve our country, and how we DO serve our country through the hard work and service we do every day.
Still – laundry lists don’t make me happy. It is no longer enough to include us as along with Native Americans and others as just another group that makes up the diversity of America. It is no longer enough to include us – in the guise of the Gay Men’s Chorus – without identifying us.
We contribute a lot to this country – it’s time our leadership recognized that.
Although Gene Robinson did make the schedule published on pic2009.org, their own live-bloggers, Amy Hamblin and Sam Teller, didn’t even cover him. They should have known when he was to speak, and there’s just no mention of him at all. How you do invite someone (anyone, much less someone making history) to give the invocation, and then totally ignore him?
People STILL watch CNN?!? Well, good for them for continueing to sucker viewers into paying attention to their corporate/religious bile.
Anybody who reads CNN regularly knows that CNN is anti-gay. They put “marriage” in quotes when describing Ellen’s wedding. They routinely run Roland S. Martin’s religious anti-gay rants. Their headlines regarding response to California AG Jerry Brown’s position on Prop. 8 took a decidedly pro-Prop. 8 stance. Don’t think for a second that CNN is any more sympathetic to gays than is Fox News or the World Net Daily.
NEWSFLASH — Just in… it seems that Roy and Silo, the two Gay chinstrap penguins from the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan are to be reunited and flown to the South Pole after officials on the Obama transition team gave them permission to hold a pre-inaugural ceremony and prayer for Obama in Antarctica.
These Gay love birds have been carefully chosen to be joint Masters of Ceremony at this glorious celebration commemorating our new Fuhrer. And like Bishop Robinson‘s egg-hunt at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, this event will also be held several days before the “real” inauguration, and far enough away, so as not to generate too much press attention and stress for the incoming Obama administration.
The theme of this occasion, as well as the Ball following it (which was generously arranged by the HRC at the South Pole) will be titled: “Out of Sight; Out of Mind In Our New Obama Nation”.
Rainbow-colored leg-warmers and sequined purple parkas are being furnished, free of charge, by Uncle Tom’s Fashion Wear; while the US Military has volunteered to fly in and to air-drop guests at the event (parachutes, of course, are optional).
Entertainment will be provided by Ellen DeGeneres doing her famous “Step ‘em, Fetch it” dance routine to be taped and telecasted later for her post-menopausal hetero plantation mamas; while music will be furnished by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir which will be handing out magic underwear and free “sexual re-orientation” tickets to heaven after the event.
Finally, refreshments will consist of good old fashion Jim Jones Kool-Aid — complements of both the Democratic and Republican Members of the House and the Senate.
A great time is expected to be had by all.
* * * * * * * * * * *
UPDATE: All major news-outlets did not report on this event either, because Brittany Spears was spotted getting out of her car not wearing underwear again. Meanwhile, HBO is trying desperately to deny rumors that Gay writers, directors and actors are responsible for their most successful cable TV series, past and present, (i.e. True Blood, Six Feet Under, etc.). It seems that a rebellion by the GLBT slaves on the Entertainment Plantation has been averted. Corporate Media GLBT blackout has restored invisibility regarding the insurrectionists. The Job security weapon was efficiently used for GLBT crowd control.
Now for the weather report:
The political forecast for incoming President Obama: Sunny and Status Quo with intermitted ass-kissing; precipitated by White Guilt.
And for the GLBT community: Cloudy with continuing irrelevancy.
…That is all — for now.
~ Bud Evans
http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com
I was also annoyed that Gene Robinson’s invocation was not part of the HBO coverage. I thought that I may have missed it, or that he would be speaking later in the program (which would have been odd). But I’m not going to lay this on Obama. Symbolism, though, goes but so far. The real test is on the policies that come out of the Administration. We have to see real effort on DADT and ENDA, among other things, but I know Obama will be tied up dealing with the mess he’s inheriting, so this may take more time than we wish.
Isn’t it ironic that the president-elect claims he’s going to have the most inclusive inauguration in history and then sells TV rights to the kick-off celebration, making it impossible for more than 70% of American households (including mine) to see any of it?
Didn’t really matter how many gays were there to play or pray. As far as I’m concerned, the event never happened.
So much for change I can believe in and the end of “pay to play” in Washington. He isn’t even in office yet and he’s already selling out to the highest bidder.
To those of you who have bought in to media-fanned hillbilly science: Stop pretending that Obama’s mother either did not exist, or that her genetic, moral and maternal contributions were somehow trumped by his father’s genes. That’s utter 19th century nonsense.
Hopefully, and in the case of the LGBT community, tentatively; we’ll be beneficiaries of the product of a black man AND a white woman.
You can write to HBO all you want but they won’t pay you any attention.
A lame excuse is probably the best they’re going to give to some. This shouldn’t be no surprise since we’ve been getting short changed for quite some time now.
We all know they don’t really see us as their equals, the real event will take place Tuesday, this was just a bone thrown to the street mutts, that is to say us!
Tuesday will be a great day of celebration for many Americans but not for us.
I just think that it’s an insult to his mother calling President-Elect Obama black when in reality he is multi-racial.
His mother is the individual who cared and raised him from childhood. I’m sure she faced lots of bigotry and in the face of that bigotry she raised a man that she and now this nation can be proud of. I think a woman who faced all this should be give her credit and not forgotten.
At HBO.com you can click on “contact us” and let them know how upset you were that they did not show Gene Robinson give the invocation.
I asked them to play it just before Warren on tuesday for us to make up for it. Maybe if you all ask them the same thing we can make it happen.
In fact, to suggest that he’s not black, but only half black is an insult those who suffered a FULL portion of oppression and bigotry who were just “half black”. I’m sure this will be dissected to death.
I wish people would stop correcting other people about obama’s blackness, stating that he’s “only half black”. In these united states, he’s black.
Wow, my parnter and I decided to tune in and give the Obama campaign some slack. We sat down to watch the HBO event excited to see Gene Robinson but he never appeared???….we were hurt again.
We did perk up when we saw some gorgeous gay men singing but we had to guess it was a Gay chorus group.
None of the speakers mentioned Gays in their sweeping brush of one love and equality. I think Obama was the only one who included us in his paint brush. In the end, we were not part of the day to be recognized, celebrated or seen.
To add insult to injury, CNN’s Rolan Martin stepped all over Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper when they took a breif moment to discuss Gene Robinson. Every time Gays are mentioned in Roland Martin’s presence, he gets hostile and steps all over the conversation. I am just sick of him…fair and balanced…I don’t think so. I checked out his blog and he rants about homosexuality as being similar to promiscuity and recommends being chaste…he slams Rev. Sharpton for supporting Gay rights. He refers to hoomosexuality as a lifestyle choice…ect.
Martin comes on CNN as if he is a Liberal Democrat….full disclosure…he is not! I wonder when CNN will get around to full disclosure and more bloggers out this truth.
I wish people would stop referring to Obama as the first black president. He isn’t black but multi-racial. Everyone seems to forget that his father is black and his mother is white.
“which wasn’t shown on HBO. Shame on them.”
Holy Crap Vanesco! (Excuse My Language) Are you high or are you simply drunk!
Right when gays and lesbians actually think that things are going to be ok, we get slapped again.
This is not simply a “shame on them” moment. This is a reminder that we are not welcome or expected at the “real party.”