Just spreading the idea in case readers here haven't read Paul Rosenberg's post calling for people on the Mall to hold up pink triangles during Warren's invocation:
People are not going to be able to bring anything into the Mall so I don't think that this will happen.
JayR
· 11 months ago
Well not anybody. There aren't any Muslims.
Chris From Maine
· 11 months ago
the bloom is off the rose for many people, myself included.
I already knew Obama would waffle on bringing all the troops home, and he is going to "surge" in Afghanistan, but these choices show me he wants to be a "center" President, and thats not what we need right now. We dont need another spineless Democrat, we need a real President.
thingwarbler
· 11 months ago
Amen. we were sold a ticket of "change" and instead we're seeing more of the same -- either a continuation of Bush people and policies, or a return to the same ol' shit from the Clinton era w/ the clinton crowd. Good friends of mine had been huge kool-aid drinkers and ripped me a new one when I dared to challenge their blind faith in Obama during the campaign; they are now reluctantly but loudly agreeing that he's fucking things up quite quickly for himself, and they're bummed.
JayR
· 11 months ago
What Bush policies are being continued?
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
As I recall, you supported Gravel, Kucinich and Edwards, who didn't win one state between them.
Oh well, at least you're not pretending Hillary is a progressive, like many here are doing now.
Chris From Maine
· 11 months ago
i liked Gravel, and supported Kucinich and Edwards. I did not support Hillary because she voted for the war and never disavowed that vote, and continued to support it.
I liked Obama in the election of course, and am very happy he will be our President. However, his actions have led many, myself included, to realize that he isnt going to be a progressive Presdient. He is going to be a centrist, and there wont be much "change".
Where is Wes Clark? Why is Gates still at Defense? Hillary at State???
I'm willing to bet that by the 2012 election, there will still be maybe a hundred thousand (maybe a little less) troops in Iraq, and maybe that many in Afghanistan too.
Al
· 11 months ago
Well John,
Perhaps if you weren't spending all your time behaving like a Freeper moron, bashing Hillary every single thing she hadn't even done, while telling us how she had to be horrible on gay issues, you would have spent more time questioning Obama and holding his ass to the fire.
Obama made it clear that he doesn't give two shits about gays and if you read his book, which I'm sure you probably didn't, Obama details the struggle he has with the gay community. He doesn't understand the simplest thing when it comes to GLBT people. He sees someone who calls gays and lesbians dog fuckers, child molesters, and incest supporters, as a "disagreement." You should have realized this when Obama finally gave his only interview to a gay publication and was confronted, FINALLY, over Donnie "ex-gay" McKlurkin. Obama said that it was "our problem" that we had an issue with him.
Obama isn't only going to enact Right wing policies regarding Iraq, health care, and most likely the economy, he's going to be the first Democrat to make life worse for gays and lesbians. He thinks that bringing bigots to the table, is somehow bringing the country together.
Obama made it very clear: "We need to treat homophobes with dignity and understanding because they do not yet know that they are wrong." Obama was the one who came out and said that he wanted civil unions to be left up to the states. Hillary didn't. I'm only bringing up Hillary, because there was a contrast, and no one was allowed to question Obama on one damn thing he ever said.
It's a shame that you've finally have had to waken up over this event, when there are probably a billion other problems with Obama, not the gay ones, and you have yet to confront him on even those. FISA should tell you all that you need to know.
Obama cannot overturn DOMA, DADT, or put forward anti-discrimination laws himself. Congress needs to do it. Obama won't be worrying about any of it, and his supporters will explain it away as that there are "more serious issues to deal with." Basically, "sit down and shut the hell up."
Obama has no outed himself as bringing people that he doesn't agree with NOT on policy, but in every day circles. Warren is one of his best friends. Everyone used to scream that the line "bringing people to the table that he didn't agree with," had to do regarding policy. It doesn't. It has to do even with, "who to invite for lunch."
Professor_Farnsworth
· 11 months ago
is supporters will explain it away as that there are "more serious issues to deal with." Basically, "sit down and shut the hell up." -------------------------------------
it's hard to take when something isn't revolving around you, I'm sure.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Is it difficult to see others from your reservation?
Al
· 11 months ago
Warren is publicly gloating that Obama is putting us in our place.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
Link please.
GaryBrush
· 11 months ago
There are 2 gay people so far that are high up in Obama's team. Tutley who will be the leader of the energy task force is a lesbian and she is openly gay. Napolitano is gay but she isn't open about it. I expect that the first openly gay Secretary of the Navy will be appointed. Wait until the ENTIRE team has been created.
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
If you're right about Napolitano, she should come out.
timncguy
· 11 months ago
If Napolitano isn't "open" how do you know she is gay? Are you a personal friend of hers? Or, are you just guessing based on the fact that she is single or some other "gaydar" tha you have?
And, if she is gay but not open (which is her choice) how does her appointment do anything to advance the rest of the community? It doesn't. It just shows that gay need to stay in the closet to advance.
Kevin
· 11 months ago
Napoliano has in fact come out -- as heterosexual. In 2006 the Arizona Republic quoted her as saying that she is not gay, "just a straight, single workaholic." And I'm skeptical about Obama naming a gay man as Sec. of the Navy. William White's name is simply being floated around, just as Mary Beth Maxwell's, John Berry's, and Fred Hochberg's were -- and none of them ended up actually being appointed.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Wow, will we have an openly gay White House butler too? We should be so thankful for the crumbs that fall from the table! And as I have pointed out previously, Napolitano is not a lesbian unless you think she lied to the press.
JayR
· 11 months ago
Maybe Obama has bigger things on his mind like stopping our issues with Muslims and since he has nothing to do with gay marriage or civil rights legislation (other than not vetoing it) he's not working on the problem.
Professor_Farnsworth
· 11 months ago
hooray for reason.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
He actually has quite a lot to do with gay issues -- such as repealing DOMA, DADT and enacting ENDA. Those things are not mutually exclusive with foreign policy. In case you have forgotten your civics, the president has a lot to do with the legislative agenda (especially when his party controls Congress), and we will be looking to him for leadership on these notwithstanding that there are "bigger things" than our issues. We passed the civil rights act in the midst of the struggle against Communism, so I'm pretty sure a president can think about more than one thing at the same time.
Ben Dover
· 11 months ago
This is what they preach and teach about us at St. Ricky's Saddleback ATM:
MORE THAN WORDS conferences are being scheduled for 2007; if your church would like to host this event, contact us.
What is MORE THAN WORDS?
MORE THAN WORDS is a compelling 1-day conference geared to help you better understand homosexuality so you can minister to a friend or family member. You will learn how to respond to "gay theology", what the research really shows, and what your church can do.
MORE THAN WORDS goes beyond "talk" to walking people out of homosexuality. The complexity of homosexuality will crumble as you discover the root issues, explore the biblical record and witness the dynamic truths that lead to freedom from homosexuality.
Our churches, our schools and our culture are being bombarded with misinformation in order to legitimize homosexuality. Christians know that homosexuality is wrong, but many lack the knowledge and ability to refute the clever homosexual agenda. Millions of parents suffer silently with a homosexual son or daughter. Many pastors and counselors are ill-equipped to tackle the issue.
MORE THAN WORDS will get you to the "bottom line" where you can make a difference by witnessing the grace, love, and power of Jesus Christ who makes "all things new."
What Topics does MORE THAN WORDS Address? If a Friend Says "I'm gay" Loving and Reaching the Gay Community The Pivotal Parent Debunking the "Gay Gene" "What's a Parent to Do?" Untwisting "Gay Theology" "They didn't teach me this in Seminary!" Counseling the Homosexual Preventing Homosexuality A Biblical Bridge Out of Homosexuality The Church: "Walking by Faith, not by Fright" Demystifying Homosexuality If you are interested in hosting a MORE THAN WORDS Conference at your church- contact us!
Ben Dover
· 11 months ago
The reality is that we had better be scared to death that Warren has taken Obama under his wing and becoming the phony "America's Pastor". There is no "common ground" with these people and they would happily be part of a "Selection Committee" at any railhead if given the opportunity. To "sit at the table" with them would absolutely require the services of food tasters.
Will
· 11 months ago
By Raja Abdulrahim LA Times December 21, 2008 Fresh from being tapped to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, Orange County Pastor Rick Warren spoke Saturday night to about 800 members of the Muslim Public Affairs Council at its convention in Long Beach.
Warren's theme was about people getting along, forgetting their differences and focusing on areas of agreement. The audience cheered him, and many people rose to their feet.
Among the first to stand was singer Melissa Etheridge, a lesbian, who performed for the audience.
Recognizing the potential for controversy, Warren said near the beginning of his speech: "Let me just get this over very quickly. I love Muslims. And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights."
He said people ask him what he prays for when it comes to Obama. "I pray for the president the same things I pray for myself: integrity, humility and compassion," he said.
A council spokeswoman acknowledged that some members objected to the choice of the evangelical pastor as the keynote speaker.
"We're always looking to work with unlikely partners, and I think he's a new kind of evangelical," said spokeswoman Edina Lekovic. "We have a lot in common."
Warren, like many Muslims, opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. Lekovic said he was introduced to the council by Orange County Muslim leaders who held an interfaith picnic with his congregation.
Obama last week chose Warren, who heads Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, to deliver the invocation at next month's inauguration.
The action angered gay and lesbian rights groups because Warren supported Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban that California voters passed in November.
Obama and the conservative white pastor have often found common ground. After meeting in Washington in January 2006, they began speaking regularly by phone.
While writing his best-selling book "The Audacity of Hope," Obama asked Warren, author of the 2002 bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life," to review the chapter on faith.
Warren also served as part of a "prayer circle" of supportive clergy leaders during Obama's presidential campaign.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Yeah, you love the gays you try to "cure", you Dr. Mengele f#ckjob..
Joel
· 11 months ago
"And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights."" WTF does that mean?
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
It means he is a liar. He would gladly love you to death.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
Yes. if there's anything Rick Warren, the egomaniacal, professional bigot has, it's" integrity, humility and compassion." It's so encouraging to know that evangelicals and muslims have their hatred of gay rights and women's reproductive rights as common ground.
quark
· 11 months ago
The SBA appointment was a clear and likely effective move to help bring Olympia Snowe on board for future close Senate votes. The appointee was well qualified and brought another very significant political advantage. Also Snowe can sometimes convince Collins to do the right thing, once it isn't quite so bold and risky since Snowe has gone public.
It is fairly well known that the appointee to head up Homeland Security is a lesbian. She hasn't publicly acknowledged it, but then none of the straight appointees have "come out" as straight either. If she had come out she never would have advanced politically as far as she has.
The complaints are silly. Obama wanted to reach out to evangeicals so he did so with a gesture that has NO hope of influencing policy. The best way he could do so.
timncguy
· 11 months ago
What do you mean that the straight appointees haven't "come out" as straight? Are they all single and unwilling to acknowledge their heterosexual relationships? Are they secretly married to opposite sex spouses who are never seen in public and don't wear wedding rings? Youe statement is just foolish on its face.
frank
· 11 months ago
Obama is no better than Blago. The O is already running for re-election, he will play it safe and accomplish nothing. Di-Fi is giving him advice
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
((( "Obama is no better than Blago." )))
Yeah. One shook down a children's hospital for political contributions and tried to sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder, while the other appointed a heterosexual to be Secretary of the Interior. The equivalence is immediately obvious.
frank
· 11 months ago
O learned to play on the south side of Chi-Town. Think monkey and accept thE FACT that cowboy will deliver Colorado in 2012. Napo will deliver AZ. Hillary as SOS!! Change I can believe in
Professor_Farnsworth
· 11 months ago
there's a bad feeling because he...wore a hat at a press conference?
not everything is about gay rights...important issue but the world doesn't revolve around you.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
The difference is, Obama is looking for the best candidate for the job, while you're looking for the best gay candidate (and "best" seems to be optional). You're reading nefarious intent into these appointments as if you were privy to an internal memo from Barack Obama that forbids the hiring of anyone who is gay. This site is starting to sound like its run by a bunch of high school kids trying to run a gay guy for homecoming queen, and wondering why no one takes them seriously. You diminish your own cause.
RC
· 11 months ago
The only disturbing pattern I've seen of late is at the one-trick pony that has become AmericaBLOG.
Yes, there's the lack of high profile gay people in Obama's Administration, excepting for the high profile gay people in Obama's Administration.
As a westerner by birth, your friend Chris sounds like an ass. I'm sure Salazar feels real bad about offending his heightened sense of east coast haute couture. Some people west of the Mississippi wear cowboy hats. How gauche. Please get over it.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Who are the high profile openly LGBT people in the Obama Admin? Please, I'd like to know and to call them for their reactions to the Warren invite.
Savage8862
· 11 months ago
I am disappointed in how Obama has treat the gay and lesbian community. I have posted several comments on this site explaining my view points. But, are we in any danger of looking like just bitcy queens because we are nit picking Obama's choices and not waiting for him to actually take office?
I am angry but I am not sure if my anger is left over from Prop 8 passage or if Obama truly has punched the GLBT community in the stomach. I am confused at my own confusions if that makes any sense.
Obama was my 3rd choice
· 11 months ago
I have buyer's remorse.
Professor_Farnsworth
· 11 months ago
Native American issues are a major deal to me, but has Obama chosen Native Americans to serve? no.
I guess that means he hates Native Americans.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Did he invite an anti Native American, prejudiced, bigoted shitbag to hold a prayer at his inauguration, thus endorsing said views?
Funny, no he hasn't.
Sit down and be quiet until you can say something cogent.
Moderation
· 11 months ago
Once again...atheism, and non-belief in general. Rick Warren's attitude towards non-believers is as arrogant, as hateful, as bigoted as it is towards the LGBT community: (http://richarddawkins.net/article,825,The-God-D... NOTE: That is one of many, many links to such expressed bigoted views towards non-theists of all stripes, but especially towards atheists specifically). His intolerance of those who do not believe is steeped utterly in the fact that the weight of cultural bias is a legitimate metric by which to measure truth, fact, reality. Not data of what is around you, not proof or the lack thereof, but purely by an "appeal to authority" logical fallacy. Just as people believed the world was flat purely by weight of cultural bias alone, even though the ancient Egyptians had proved otherwise, the world is still an ellipsoid.
No non-theists in the administration at all. None. Not even one. Not in a high-level position, not in a low-level position, none. Nada. Zip. Zilch. There are approximately the same percentage of non-theists in this country as there are LGBT. By comparison, however, the former group is woefully underrepresented. At all levels of government. Across the board. None even IN THE RUNNING, unlike the comparative plethora of LGBT candidates, for any position in the administration. At least, none admitting it, none publicly acknowledged as non-theists of any stripe.
Yet, I do not see the non-theistic community up in arms over it. Some anger, some of the usual "this is the typical bullshit" irritation, what with the CONSTANT NON-REPRESENTATION AT ALL TIMES IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE.
So, yes, Obama did in fact invite an anti-atheist, prejudiced, bigoted shitbag to hold a prayer (A PRAYER) at his (SECULAR) inauguration (for his SECULAR government position), thus endorsing said views (and linking, once more, religion to government in a pervasive and subtle manner).
So sit down and STFU until you can say something cogent.
Robert Phillips
· 11 months ago
Am I mistaken but didn't he appoint a gay guy as head of the navy? Yeah it's not an official cabinet job, but isn't putting a gay guy in charge of one part of the military something big?
Craig
· 11 months ago
rumors are not the same thing as he has done it. why don't you use google before posting?
johnnyrocket
· 11 months ago
Oh man, I like John A. and this site, but please...don't turn this blog into a Lou Dobbs style single issue rant...you have to look at the totality of Obama, he's 10,000% better than Bush could ever wish to be.
I mean, really....like an earlier comment, no Native Americans? No left handed red heads?
He must hate them all!
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
If you can find me one person on this site who thinks Bush is better, I'll eat my hat. But that is not the point. The point is that our President Elect, after eagerly accepting the votes and dollars of LGBT people, has gone out of his way to deliver a big "FU" to the people who elected him. It was totally unnecessary and in the end not even helpful to him.
Bruce
· 11 months ago
Why is it always about gay people 100% of the time? Can't it ever be about the most qualified? This is really selfish. It should be about the whole country. not just LGBT citizens. Very narrow point of view on this site.
foxy
· 11 months ago
I guess Rick Warren is a qualified "God Person."
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Yeah, there never IS a time for us is there. It's always "sit down, be quiet, it's not about you, you're being selfish, there are other things to worry about, your needs aren't important".. always coming from people who never had to fight for anything.
foxy
· 11 months ago
Indeed we've been quiet way too long. It's our time now.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
Stand up for your equality. Make some noise.
timncguy
· 11 months ago
this is the same reasoning that was used to hold women back. There was ALWAYS the claim that there was a more qualified man available. The same for blacks. There was ALWAYS the claim that there was a more qualified white available.
You don't honestly believe that each person selected for the cabinet was the absolutely BEST person in the country for each position and that there were no qualified gays for any position do you?
fredndallas
· 11 months ago
Oh what utter shallow nonsense! There were a hundred ... maybe a thousand highly qualified people Obama could have picked for this. He picked Warren BECAUSE of his homophobia, not in spite of it. For our community to ignore being so targeted by a candidate who promised us the exact opposite to gain our support would be self defeating. Go peddle this nonsense to the gay Republicans in a Log Cabin.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
I agree, no gays were picked because the straight people were 100 percent the most qualified, hands down. There couldn't possibly have been any gays as well qualified as this illustrious bunch. I am sure Eric Holder's being black and Hillary Clinton's being a woman had nothing at all to do with their selection.
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
I think that it is time that we wake up to the fact that Obama is deeply homophobic. The signs as clues were there all along:
1) His statement used in the Prop 8 robocalls: "I believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman," he said. "Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God is in the mix."
2) His use of super anti-gay Donnie McClurkin and homohating gospel group "Mary Mary".
3) His longstanding friendship with Rick Warren leading to his special place of honor.
4) The fact that Obama's own church supports marriage equality, yet he chooses to pick the bigoted choice, and deny us full protection under the law.
5) The fact that he actually allowed his marriage quote to be used by the Yes on 8 team.
6) Every minority is represented in the Obama appointments but the gays. Remember that the LGBT community never had the benefit of any affirmative action programs to help us. When we achieve great things we do it often in environments where we can be fired for being LGBT.
Too many white liberals have very little understanding of the social conservatism in the African American Community. It is a unique brand of social conservativism that is very, very, very pro-choice, very willing not to condemn heterosexual premarital sex, and extremely homophobic.
Wake up!
foxy
· 11 months ago
7.) He refused to write in objection of the Department of Health and Human Services new Regulation that will make it ok for a Doctor or a nurse to refuse treatment to homosexuals based on moral or religious grounds.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Obama has said, though, that he will revisit this and all last minute Bush regs.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Affirmative Action for gays? Why would say, a white male from a middle or upper-middle class background, who happened to be gay, even need AA? Wouldn't white privilege be enough?
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Umm, I don't know what experience you have with the business world, but not being able to discuss your wife, kids, and golf handicap tends to limit your prospects. Oh, and in half the states you can be fired simply for being gay, even without some manufactured pretext.
fredndallas
· 11 months ago
Reluctantly (Bush weary and clinging to hope), I agree with you. In addition to some other pretty obvious character flaws, for whatever deep reason, Barack Obama is a homophobe.
I think this condition creates a cognitive dissonance in him. He is intellectual enough to know his hate/fear feelings are stupid and his other values probably collide with his homophobia. Those emotional complexities probably make him all the MORE dangerous to the gay community.
If these theories are true, what do we do? Perhaps deal with him like anyone addicted to a behavior/feeling that is destructive.
An intervention? Tough love? Education? Embarrassment? Bare knuckle political battle?
I suspect any tactic will have to be intense to be effective. This guy is the ultimate smoothy. Can gay people afford multiple years of being schmoozed?
Hardy Haberman
· 11 months ago
We need to let this administration at least take office before trying to snipe and criticize it to death. I agree we need to put some real pressure on now that we have an ear in Washington, but tearing down Obama before he even has a chance to do anything seems self destructive. The old Crab Pot analogy comes to mine.
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
But he has already slapped and reslapped and ulitmately bitch slapped the LGBT Community. Wake up, oh wake up, Obama Cultists!!! You worship him like the neocons once worshipped Bush and now worship Satnn Palin. Wake up!
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
You forgot "PUMA!!!"
James McConnell
· 11 months ago
There is an additional distinction. Have been thinking a lot about this idea that other minorities are getting their share and we are not. It's true enough. But the distinction is that 100% of all these other minorities...First Americans.....women....Italians...whatever....are already enjoying protected status at the Federal level. We are not. That is why it is our turn; we need the exposure as trusted, effective professionals taht these kinds of appointments can provide. Ike was first to appoint a female cabinet member, Labor, I think. The significance of JFK's election is that it elevated the status of Irish Catholics, and so on continuing through to Thurgood Marshall. Everyone else has had a turn, has had their status elevated in this manner and now it is our turn, dammit.
"Anyone but the gay," indeed. This morning now, we hear Biden edging away from GLBT campaign promises. Oh sure we'll keep our promises, he says, just not right away. Bigger fish to fry. Economy. Infrastructure. Etc. When would there be a better time to insert provisions overturning DOMA and DADT than in such a huge spending bill that everyone is so desperate to have? The Conservatives will vote their wallets not their Bibles, so now is the time to do this, not in some gauzy future second term. If they mean their campaign promises they will do it this way.. If they mean to hang us out to dry, they'll "defer" it (forever). This is why it is imperative to rattle every cage we can at the first sign of betrayal. Nip it in the bud.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Biden too, eh... always more important things to do.
Whatever happened to all that talk of multitasking?
*Snorts*
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
At least Caroline Kennedy supports the LGBT Community. Let's get behind her and others who support us. And let's slam Downlowbama everytime he screws the LGBT Community up the ass!
CrhisS
· 11 months ago
Actually Franklin Roosevelt was the first President to appoint a woman to the Cabinet -- Frances Perkins at Labor.
fredndallas
· 11 months ago
When you put the myriad "political" considerations aside for a moment and reduce this to personal emotions/motivations, I think it is apparent that there may be a "quirk" with the person Obama that creates a special problem for the gay community.
I'd bet anybody who sees him up close would agree that this is a very arrogant man absolutely full of himself (how could anybody have accomplished what he has and not be?).
His whole relationship with Warren seems dysfunctional in my view. But the ego boost Obama seems to get from shocking people (look at Obama's outrageous behavior on FISA) and being seen as a remarkably inclusive and "remarkable" leader, could be the motivation for the Warren invitation/relationship.
Since Obama apparently perceives the "risk" factor of spiritually assaulting gay people to be very low, Chris could be right -- our community could be in for a very long four (eight?) years.
UNLESS we increase the risk factor and deprive Obama of his ego boost entirely. On that basis alone, I think the "pink triangles at his inauguration" idea mentioned earlier has real merit.
On the other hand, I'm sure there are potential downsides that our community needs to think through very carefully before we collectively adopt that tactic. Obama's anger at us, for one?
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Obama's 'anger' will be irrelevant if his inaction or, dare we say it, lies keep gays from getting equal rights.
The result will be the same.
What gays need is leverage, and the best leverage is dollars and public opinion.
Craig
· 11 months ago
I agree there is a danger of arrogance with Obama. It's not helped by the supporters who think he can do no wrong. It's become abundantly clear they will spin whatever he does into being "Obama is a genius" or "it's not a big deal" or any number of other things. Never, oh, Obama made a mistake. In such an environment, with just advisors who will push him to the right- I am now concerned whereas before I was willing to believe he could balance these forces.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
Obama's refusal to listen to an entire minority, a minority that worked very hard for him, and his refusal to admit he's made a mistake is exactly what we've had from the president for the past 8 years. This is NOT what Obama promised everyone. We voted for Change. We voted for a President who listens and a President who admits his mistakes and corrects them.
tlsintx
· 11 months ago
i guess if being gay means you're merely a "social issue" or an "alternative lifestyle", it's a lot easier to pass qualified gays over and put equality on the back burner.
hauksdottir
· 11 months ago
If Obama nominates 2-4 gays, whether declared or not, he is doing well for that group.
He isn't selecting candidates based upon representational proportion in the American population. Do you see any atheists? Only one Asian? No American Indians? Not enough women! I expect that he has reasons for each person he selects, and some might be experience and some might be political. Remember also that there are ambassadorships and committee/agency positions... the Cabinet isn't the only high profile job focus.
That said, I am angry about the Warren selection. This is a secular nation... why do we require some fat bigot to open and close the ceremony with a prayer that will exclude not just the atheists, but Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., who are part of the American community? Warren is a merchant. He wants to raise his profile and sell more books and rake off more wealth. Why give him a spotlight?
The "divine right" of kings is a European belief, not American.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
That belief has never left the legacy families, nor the myriad other wealth and landholders in the US. The very notion that money, power, and divine right aren't the principal playground of the elite, just because of some golden hued fantasy about the US being a beacon of light on a hill, is somewhat ludicrous
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Bingo!
Craig
· 11 months ago
This is a lie. He has more Latinos because of pressure from Latino groups. He responds just like any pol to pressure. I am not sure I agree with Americablog about "anybody but gay" but you post is fantasy.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
This is a lie. He has more Latinos because there are 5-6 times as many Latinos in America as there are openly gay Americans.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Let's be clear: Janet Napoitano is not gay. She has publicly stated she is not a lesbian. So there are exactly zero gay cabinet members.
Angela
· 11 months ago
I've been an avid reader of this blog for years. However lately, all I seem to read is about the hurt feelings of the Gay communitee. I believe in Gay rights as well as Gay marriage! However, at a time when the country 's economy is falling over a cliff and there are still two wars going on, all I have been reading for a week is about the hurt feelings of the Gay communitee! There is a legitimate point to what I have read. But, enough all ready. What the social right was to Bush, is what the Gay ONGOING rant is to OBAMA.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Well there's an original thought.. sit down, shut up, there are more important things, you should feel and behave how I want....
The social right to Bush was pushing to install a theocracy in the US. We're trying to get equality, and you're equating the two?
Brainless.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
I don't blame PE Obama for prioritizing our entirely shitfucked economy over whatever a single-issue interest group is shouting about. Yeah, yeah, walking and chewing gum at the same time, equality is not a pet issue; I get it. However, the PE's mandate centered on the economy, and that's what he should be focused on.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
Exactly HOW is inviting an extreme professional homophobe to speak at our inauguration focusing on the economy?
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
We're only getting warmed up.
gary
· 11 months ago
ditto
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
I know it makes the Baby Obama cry when the dirty gays want to be treated like humans!
Ben Dover
· 11 months ago
"Hurt feelings"? This is far beyond hurt feelings. This was the religious reich's opening salvo at us this term, it will become far worse for us if Obama doesn't nip this in the bud here and now. Right now Obama is saying, "you're equal, it's just that we're a little more equal than you." Hate to break this to you, but this particular argument with Obama has barely gotten started, and won't end until he does the right thing.
JayR
· 11 months ago
Obama? It's not his responsibility to get gays equal rights. MLK marched. The NAACP and MALDEF sued. Get marching and get suing.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Hi Angela, so are you saying that if Obama had invited someone to share a place of honor at the inauguration who had said he thought YOUR romantic relationship was just like pedophilia and incest, that you'd be just fine with it and move on? You must be a lot more tolerant than I am.
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Well, I guess if politics is nothing but "tactics" and "strategy" I'm always going to have a problem with all of it.
There is no real honesty in politics, to be sure--as I'm sure there are probably some atheists in there as well--just not "out" either...
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Hetero Lib's Comments"
1) Wah! Saint Obama hasn't even entered office and you mean racist gays are picking on him. Stop it now!
2) Why can't you gays just STFU. So Obama thinks that you don't deserve Equal Protection under the Constitution. What's the big deal. Be quiet and let us worship Obama in peace.
3) So what that Obama picked someone who thinks gays are less than human for a special place at his table . Obama is sooooo smart, he works in mysterious ways. Shut up and trust him. Now get under the table and beg for crumbs like the good little dog f-er that you are no better than!
4) Wah! Why is this blog all of a sudden only about gays. God I feel like I am visiting a gay website. I need to take a shower. Quit being so gay John....
5) You gays are racist. When AA people hate you, it is due to their special and unique culture and their deep deep faith. Hating gays isn't as bad as hating blacks. If they call you F------ it is not as bad as you daring to bring up the fact that they might be homophobic.
BLAH BLAH BLAH and keep drinking the Kool-Aid.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Every post of your seems to take some nasty swipe at the AA community.
If there's one good thing that has come out of the passage of Prop. 8, it's that it has shined a light on the racism within the gay community.
Ohio_Dem
· 11 months ago
From where I'm sitting in S.C.I think it's shined a light on the homophobia in the AA community more than the other way around. I COMPLETELY support civil rights and have always been just as outspoken on the civil rights of AA as I am about the civil rights of the GLBT community.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Are you kidding me with this? Are you actually arguing that passage of Prop 8 was good because it taught all those racist gays a lesson? Sure there is racism among gays, just as there is homophobia among African Americans. But to pretend that Prop 8 is in any way a good thing is not helping to correct either problem.
NGLTF
· 11 months ago
What I find so dispiriting is to hear so many liberal media figures "lecture" the gay community about being respectful. A good example can be heard with African-American talk show host Brain Copeland on KGO in San Francisco: http://bayradio.kgoradio.com/kgo_archives/m3u/2...
He spent the hour rebuking gays for being so mean and vicious to those whose faith believe gays are evil. Yet the minute someone made a comparison to the struggle of African-Americans, Copeland became noticeably agitated. In an unusual moment he places special emphasis on the point that "Other African-Americans get so angry with me when I equate gay rights to civil rights". There is something very unusual about his claim to martyrdom. Almost as if he is threatening to side with the homophobes.
Then later in the program he laughs and giggles with a caller about "Can't wait to see those nasty gay divorces (multiple guffaws). They should make a tv show (laughs uncontrollably). This kind of snide homophobia from a so-called liberal is what I am hearing more and more. They seem to be saying "Tone it down fags, or we won't support you any more." BTW, I recommend listening to that archived show online as it only takes about 20 minutes if you fastforward through the commercials.
NGLTF
· 11 months ago
The specific calls I am referring to occurred at 40:00min and 53:37min into the recording.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
Yeah, it's the gay version of "I'm not racist, I have black friends, BUT...."
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
"If you have to have a straight Secretary of the Interior, couldn’t he at least avoid being tacky?"
americablog doesn't mind straight people, as long as they try to act gay in public.
Gridlock
· 11 months ago
straight = tacky?
Pfft, you said it.. not me...
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
if you think about it, it's a really good move. by picking salazar, obama managed to throw a bone to latino AND tacky voters at the same time. wearing a cowboy hat at a conference? i hoped it would happen, but i nver guessed it would happen in my lifetime. after all the struggle against bigotry and hatred, finally, there's some in government who represents me!
tlsintx
· 11 months ago
this is what creeps me out...i so hope Obama doesn't turn out to be one of those reasonable sounding bigots...
"We need to do more to help the Jews find their proper place in our society."
Adolf Hitler - March 13, 1932 Running for Chancellor of Germany
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Very Obama-esque.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
Are you really equating Obama with Hitler, now? AmericaBlog is becoming the queer version of FreeRepublic.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Agreed. This place is a becoming a cesspool of NoKKKuarter rejects.
Badger3k
· 11 months ago
Salazar has also been a friend to mining corporations, so his selection is also troubling for that aspect, but this seems to be what Obama considers "inclusion:.
mirth
· 11 months ago
The fuel for our government engine is provided by the Corporatist Party. They choose a figurehead depending on the mood of the country. Bush&Co were idiots - too much too soon and thus dirtying The Agenda - and, unforgivable, they stirred up the peons. So time now for the blue version. Their selection for the job was masterful, WOW!, but it doesn't much matter the face they put forward as long as the train moves in the right direction on down the track.
We been had.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
You could not be more correct. This is what the country is almost incapable of seeing. Maybe because the Corporatist Party has no specific face. It's nebulous, always shapeshifting. But it is the real enemy. The right and left wings of the Corporatist (Capitalist) Party select according to the mood of t he country, however, always in their own favor -- and consistently direct public discussion so as to avoid reference to their very existence. How very uber rich of them.
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
If you read " The Audacity of Hope" you would understand that when Obama speaks to the LGBT Community it reads more like "The Audacity of Nope". If you substitute the work black for gay in that book, it would be called racist, but it is okay to admit that you have a real problem with gays and how to deal with them.
Obama duped us. We need to admit that we were wrong and put our support behind those who truly and fully support us.
Oh and you veiled homophobes telling us to STFU. That will only make us shout louder and maybe throw a shoe or two at your baby Jesus Obama bigot.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
((( "That will only make us shout louder and maybe throw a shoe or two at your baby Jesus Obama bigot." )))
If you think that kind of freeper phrasing is going to win over supporters, you're sorely mistaken. Throw all the over-the-top, whiny hissy-fits you want, but don't expect anyone to be swayed by your sophomoric tactics.
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
"Hissy fit" I love it. Those gays are soooo dramatic, they throw hissyfits. "Whiny hissy-fits" F- U!!!!!! We are talking about our basic human rights. How dare the gays throw "hissy fits". And these vailed threats " you won't win over supporters".
I don't need the support of any more bigots. My rights are written in the Constitution, they are not subject to your approval. Monkey on that, Buddha!
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
if a straight person is appointed to be the sercretary of interior design, then i'll worry.
RainbowPhoenix
· 11 months ago
We're reading too much into this. While this is definately a warning sign, we really should wait until the new session starts and Obama does something about policy, before we get up in arms.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
Gays can't afford to put down their arms -- anytime. Haven't you noticed? There are dead gays lying in the streets, honey.
RainbowPhoenix
· 11 months ago
Like I said, this is a warning sign. We should be viligant, as always, but Obama continues to be a net gain for us, and we shouldn't be so quick to abandon that.
Garrett in SF
· 11 months ago
Agreed ... but he won't get another cent, another positive action from me until there is significant movement on the LGBT platform he as signed on to. Trust -- but verify. And at this point, trust is very much on the down side.
RainbowPhoenix
· 11 months ago
If he signs the ENDA and the hate crimes expansion, (the fully inclusive ones of course), that will be enough to get my vote again in 2012. Don't think I won't criticize him when he does something stupid though, being afraid to criticize our leaders is what got us into the current mess.
RitornaVincitor
· 11 months ago
I'm more worried about the pattern I see in ministers that Obama chooses to honor, i.e., McClurkin, Wright, and Warren. Speaking of Rick Warren, I see he is defending his invitation to the inauguration, saying, "You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand." I was asking myself if I would ever walk hand with a man whose mission was to invalidate my marriage. The answer is no. Not even if he took me out to dinner and a movie.
"I have many gay friends. I've eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Saddleback Church," Warren said in a recent interview with BeliefNet. But later in the interview, he compared the "redefinition of marriage" to include gay marriage to legitimizing incest, child abuse, and polygamy.
Warren also added that he has nothing against gay people.
foxy
· 11 months ago
Could it be that Obama is actually one of us?
Lets look back at the debates:
When a question was asked about HIV/AIDS among black teenagers, Senator Joe Biden answered the question, he mentioned that he had been tested for HIV/AIDS and then mentioned that Senator Obama had also been tested for AIDS. The camera then panned briefly to Obama, who by one account, looked "vaguely stunned" by the remark.
"Tavis, Tavis, Tavis," Obama interjected to laughter. “I just got to make clear — I got tested with Michelle when we were in Kenya in Africa. So I don’t want any confusion here about what’s going on." The conversation continued:
Joe Biden: Well, I got tested to save my life because I had a blood transfusion.
Barack Obama: I was tested with my wife.
Tavis Smiley: And I'm sure Michelle appreciates you clarifying that.
Barack Obama: In public.
It was described as a light moment in the press, but it left a bitter taste in the mouths of some observers.
"So while he's all for combating homophobia within the African American community, it seems he also doesn't want anyone to get the impression that he's on the down-low," wrote The New Republic's Alexander M. Belenky. "This seems to reveal not only some level of homophobia, but also a level of immaturity.
fredndallas
· 11 months ago
Thanks for this Foxy. I wasn't aware of it. . .
but I was becoming AWARE of it, if you know what I mean.
Um hmm. Any of us who have been around the block are beginning to "get a sense" of where these (defensive?) guerilla hits at the gay community might be coming from.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
There's nothing more dangerous to gay rights as a closeted gay man in control.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
And you don't have to be a closeted gay man in this sense. Human sexuality is so diverse (see the Kinsey Scale) many of our worst enemies are men who aren't exclusively gay closet cases, but merely men who have felt the stirrings or have acted on them at some time -- and have let our brainwashing culture scare the hell out of them. Overcompensation is easy to understand in those givens.
Doc Science
· 11 months ago
Accusing Obama of being anti-gay and a closet case is pathetic.
This is ridiculous. It's one thing to be disappointed with the choice of Warren but another thing to be accusing Obama of being a homophobic bigot.
It is possible for someone to be against gay marriage because of religious reasons. As long as they don't use their efforts to hurt gays, how is that a problem? Isn't that at the heart of why people were upset about the Prop 8 voters? People took their religious views and acted on them against gays at the ballot?
Where has Obama worked actively against gay interests? What about his pro-gay rights platform?
This hysteria is over the top.
fredndallas
· 11 months ago
Over the top?
A segment of your fellow-citizens have their very humanity (sexual attraction, a most basic human quality) spiritually/psychologically assaulted every hour of every day.
A man ran to lead the country as President. An important principle he emphasized was that all humans must be treated with respect and equality.
Another man leads millions in the country as a "religious leader". A principle vital to his "theology" is that the humanity of certain people is not at all valid and consequently not worthy of respect, or equality.
The newly elected President has the opportunity to "honor" a very limited number of leaders on the world stage in celebration of his inauguration. He has thousands of leaders to choose from.
From those thousands, he chooses to honor the man who condemns the humanity of millions and who every single day overtly betrays (in fact continually exploits the betrayal for his own benefit) the very principles the new President says he insists upon.
This is commendable? This is honest? This is consistent? This is moral? This is progressive? This is acceptable? This is change?
Millions of citizens accused of sub-humanity should STFU about having a leading loud-mouthed accuser being honored as a "spiritual leader" bringing a "new day" to the country?
If you think that is ridiculous and "over the top", Doc, then apparently you have something different you are seeking to protect other than your personal humanity.
And make no mistake: what you are seeing and hearing is not hysteria. It is anger and determination.
nicho
· 11 months ago
Time Magazine: Obama is a rational-sounding bigot.
Obama has proved himself repeatedly to be a very tolerant, very rational-sounding sort of bigot. He is far too careful and measured a man to say anything about body parts fitting together or marriage being reserved for the nonpedophilic, but all the same, he opposes equality for gay people when it comes to the basic recognition of their relationships. He did throughout his campaign, one that featured appearances by Donnie McClurkin, a Christian entertainer who preaches that homosexuals can become heterosexuals.
Obama reminds me a little bit of Richard Russell Jr., the longtime Senator from Georgia who — as historian Robert Caro has noted — cultivated a reputation as a thoughtful, tolerant politician even as he defended inequality and segregation for decades. Obama gave a wonderfully Russellian defense of Warren on Thursday at a press conference. Americans, he said, need to "come together" even when they disagree on social issues. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all about," he said. Russell would often use the same tactic to deflect criticism of his civil rights record. It was a distraction, Russell said, from the important business of the day uniting all Americans. Obama also said today that he is a "fierce advocate for equality" for gays, which is — given his opposition to equal marriage rights — simply a lie. It recalls the time Russell said, "I'm as interested in the Negro people of my state as anyone in the Senate. I love them."
clint
· 11 months ago
I will not vote for Mr. Obama again.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
I"m sure President Palin will have a cabinet chock full of gays.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
Maybe even as many as Obama has.
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Go worhip Obama. Oh and what did the Dali Lama (sp?) say about gays, oh yeah, that the "mouth and anus aren't used for reproduction". Not unlike Warren's comment about parts not fitting together. God, you religionists are all alike. Simple minded people who cannot get past a fifth grade understanding of sexuality or sprituality. Monkey on that!
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
((( "Go worhip Obama." )))
What does "worhip" mean?
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Typo you douche. We all know I meant worship. Now go chant something useful for a change. Maybe chant for a change you can believe in.
buddhistMonkey
· 11 months ago
((( "Typo you douche." )))
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe what you meant to say here is "Typo, you douche." Note the comma. Without it, it sounds as if you're trying to use the word "typo" as a verb.
P.S. If you're going to insult someone, the least you could do is proofread. That way, you won't look so much like a blithering, drooling, brain-dead tool with a fourth-grade reading level.
Tyke
· 11 months ago
Naw - even if it's post was grammatically perfect it would still look like a blithering, drooling, brain-dead tool with a fourth-grade reading level.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Anti-religious bigotry, too. How lovely.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Huh? Is it now "anti-religious bigotry" to call people on it when they say gay relationships are just like pedophilia and incest? If so, count me in as an "anti-religious bigot"!
lodestar
· 11 months ago
"God, you religionists are all alike. Simple minded people who cannot get past a fifth grade understanding of sexuality or sprituality."
Umm. Yeah. Nothing bigoted here.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Also, look at the comment right below, where s/he derisively tells an ostensible Buddhist poster to "chant something." Nope, no bigotry. at. all.
FLEX
· 11 months ago
Good. Next time vote republicans. They have done more for gays than Obama have or will ever do, right?
Bush must have really done great things for gay people for you to be pissed at Obama.
foxy
· 11 months ago
Doctors (and nurses) may now refuse to treat gay people...based on the doctors (or nurses) belief that homosexuality is wrong.
And so it begins....
In a new "Midnight Regulation" The Bush administration, in its final days, issued a federal rule Thursday reinforcing protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions and any other procedures because of religious or moral objections.
Although the law is intended to allow doctors to have more protection in refusing to do abortions, the ramifications are actually that a Doctor or a Nurse could refuse to treat anyone or anything that violates their religious or moral beliefs. And since homosexuals are not federally protected, it would be ok to deny them based on your beliefs.
Now, you still could not refuse to treat a hispanic, or a woman...as race and gender are protected....so if you are a lesbian or a gay minority you should still be ok....just pretend you are straight when you are in the ambulance.
In fact, Pastor Warren came out today and said this was a great stride forward.
Several medical associations, more than 100 members of Congress, governors and 13 attorneys general were among the many thousands who wrote the department to protest the rule after it was proposed.
President Elect Obama was not one of them.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
"President Elect Obama was not one of them." But don't you see? it would have been divisive for Obama to do that.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Lord help us! We can't have the President Elect doing anything divisive! Like perhaps inviting a well known homophobe to share a place of honor at the Inauguration?
Millicent
· 11 months ago
"Divisive" = scaring away evangelical bigots who might support him till someone better comes along, like Huckster and Palin.
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Why would he have to sign anything "in protest"? That's an impotent gesture and beneath a PE. When he's president, he can undo the reg entirely. There's nothing to suggest he won't undo this and hundreds of Bush's midnight regulations.
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
That sorry bastard (insert several names here).
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Talk will only resolve any of this to a point...we stopped the Vietnam war with action and we raised consciousness about it and oppression against blacks, women and gays with action back 40 years ago. When you want something revolutionary (and gay marriage is revolutionary), you can't sit on the computer and gripe about it. Even after all that work back then, we are seeing even more hate crimes against all of these groups and consciousness about civil rights faltering amongst the general population in the Age of Consumerism, in your face religion, and rightwing hijinks.
Sometimes I think technology dampens the fight for our freedoms. It might be okay to work within the system on a computer, but anything that is a basic freedom you're not getting is worth putting yourself out front, on the street, organizing, and raising consciousness (yes, I know--how 60s).
After all, Bush got through 8 years of criminal activity without anyone really doing anything about it. Physical confrontation such as marches and demonstrations are far more effective if they are highly organized--and that means physical meetings and discussions--it's the one thing politicians can never stand up to. As long as people can write blogs, gripe, and feel better about getting the complaint du jour off their chests, nothing will be accomplished that rights the real wrongs.
After all, we shouldn't be afraid of the govt--it should be afraid of us--and we outnumber them--they dread physical confrontation. And that just doesn't show up on a computer which is just a machine, and it can never really express the anguish of people who are oppressed.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
I believe you're right on. Forums such as this are great inasmuch as they allow some of us to express pent-up anger over straight tyranny, but if it doesn't result in physical action on par with the 60's, it will go nowhere very fast. If gays, like a herd of house cats, could cooperate long enough to make our economic influence felt, it might help some. But when do you think that is ever going to happen?
todd
· 11 months ago
Only slightly OT: a couple of disturbing articles in today's LA TImes -- they profile a gay couple who moved to CA from the midwest to get married and fight against Prop 8. They profile a devout family from San Diego, who are allowed to spew all of the BS that the pro-prop 8 crowd used -- gay marriage would be taught in school, pastors forced to marry gays -- and no correction from the reporter. I wrote both her and letter to the editor lambasting such shoddy journalism.
In another article in the same section "California' there is a story about Warren speaking to a group of Muslims and preaching tolerance. Melissa Ethridge is apparently there and gives him a standing ovation --????
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Here in the liberal SF Bay area, a lesbian was gang raped by three Lattino men and and an African American man in Richmond. She had the audacity to have a rainbow sticker on her car. According to reports they uttered antigay slurs and they beat and repeatedly raped her> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/...
lodestar
· 11 months ago
Of course, the races of the alleged attackers are very important. Any word if the victim was white?
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Just reading the report. There is rampant homophobia in the AA and to a lesser degree the Latino Community. So yes, it is relevant because homophobia leads to antigay bias. And pointing out homophobia in certain communities is not racism. It is merely pointing out facts. Being in denial does not good. Those of us who are victims of such violence cannot afford the luxury of being PC! But you wouldn't understand, you just want gays to quit whining about being denied basic human rights and about the fact that we are often the targets of violence and discrimination.
In most of the country LGBT people can be denied housing and employment based on their sexual orientation. So, I think we have the right to be a little bit upset, and yeah, we are allowed to describe those who rape us and bash our heads in. Also, 10 of the 30 people who were gay bashed to death so far in 2008 were African American. Don't say this had nothing to do with homophobia in the AA community. Wake up!
lodestar
· 11 months ago
If there is such rampant homophobia, is there anything you can think of to do combat it, instead of being a trollish scold on a blog? Outreach to those communities maybe? Going into black churches or Catholic churches in Hispanic areas?
whomod
· 11 months ago
As a Latino male< i agree with you. It's not racism to point out that there are cultural differences, chief among them in the African American and Latino communities is this idea of machismo and the stereotype of gays being effeminate and fey. With the Latino community I chalk it up to not being completely assimilated yet. Which judging from the high influx and generally insular immigrant communities, I don't see changing too rapidly yet..
To the African American community, I don't know since I'm not African American.
Doc Science
· 11 months ago
B.S.
There have been plenty of cases of whites raping and killing lesbians & trans people. The most famous case is that of Brandon Teena, whose murder was chronicled in a film. Similarly, Gwen Arujo was murdered by a group of mainly white teens.
Moreover, you may want to look at the murder of Lawrence King, the young African-American 15-year-old murdered by his white classmate. There's also the murder of Michael Sandy, an African-American gay man, killed by a group of white gay men. And, what about the brutal murder of the gay Fijian man in California by white Slavic immigrants?
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
Are you an idiot? I merely pointed it out in this case. Yes, there is antigay violence across the board, but 10 of the 30 LGBT people murdered in 2008 were African Americans. The homophobia in their community did have something to do with it. Read. One third of the gays killed so far this year in antigay violence were African American. LGBT people in minority communities are especially at risk.
Yeah, when gays are raped and bashed, they have no right to describe the attackers, for fear of sounding "racist". Must be PC, even when gang raped.
Gary SF
· 11 months ago
Unless it is part of a race war, or to be used to apprehend the attackers, just why is race important?
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
the only reason race would be important is to identify the suspects - but good luck picking out the guilty party with these descriptions- three latinos, with black hair, and brown eyes, and a black guy, who also has black hair and brown eyes.
now, if had been a 7 foot tall asian man with blue eyes and blonde hair...
pdxprobert
· 11 months ago
What promotes minority on minority violence? Of course its situational, but often times its a showing of one upsmanship.. An expression of I'm/were better than you....
If rape is an act of violence and an exhibit of power over the victim and anti-glay slurs were made, race may be an important observation in this incident as it implies in the hyerarchy of oppression..that many (straight) racial minorities believe queers are at the bottom of the ladder in terms of who is more worthy of respect and a legitimare position at the trough...
lodestar
· 11 months ago
I don't think it's important, except any of those reasons that you stated. The user who made mention of it is trying to make the point that blacks and Latinos are hopelessy homophobic.
If we are going to discuss homophobia in communities of color, I personally think that gay white racism needs to examined as well.
Doc Science
· 11 months ago
How does the ethnicity of her attackers have anything to do with her rape?
Boycottutah
· 11 months ago
I put it in there just to get the PC Police pantie's in a bunch. But facts are facts. Homophobia leads to antigay violence. When there is a high level of homophobia in a given community, it leads to antigay violence stemming from members of that community. But I am sure the lesbian must have been a racist, so she deserved it right??
Gary SF
· 11 months ago
Yesterday, he/she posted that they were all black - I posted a correction. He/she is too quick to jump to conclusions to not be a racist.
whomod
· 11 months ago
<<Rick Warren was disturbing, but potentially a tactically useful move, >>
and to think yesterday i was getting untold grief for stating the same thing.
Indigo
· 11 months ago
So this is "Change you can believe in."
That's the most impressive use of coded, back-stabbing double-talk I've seen since the big lie at Confirmation: "After you're confirmed, you'll understand." Yeah right. Maybe if you're a Mafios'!
larry
· 11 months ago
OK, I am furious about Warren because I think his part in the inauguration is far more problematic because of the past 8 years of hell and the threat to the democracy that is theocracy. As for the folks you are talking about for SBA or Interior I know nothing about them but see no more problem with no gay appointments in those slots anymore as a southerner there is not one single appointment from NC, Fla or Virginia which would be politically expedient for Obama. But the Salazar hat comment is the kind of cracks that gets what could have been a valid points dismissed as petty and marginalizes.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
I watched the presser and was amazed at the bizarre behavior Salazar demonstrated by wearing his cowboy hat. It made me more suspicious of him than most things could have during a presser, unless he had shouted, "Cut, baby, cut!"
Doc Science
· 11 months ago
He wore a cowboy hat because he is from a Western state! Jeez, what is wrong with you folks? You're acting like cultural snobs. The hat is part of his culture. If he were a Sikh and wore a turban, would you admonish him for that? How does Salazar's hat take away from his abilities?
On the one hand, you folks are demanding recognition of gays but can't seem to handle someone else who has a slight cultural difference shown by his choice of dress.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
Does that mean if he was from Maliby, he would wear speedos and lean on a surfboard? Your reasoning sucks royally.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
Malibu
Millicent
· 11 months ago
I lived many years in a western state but never wore a cowboy hat indoors and on the job. I guess I just wasn't a real cowgirl, huh.
Jessica54
· 11 months ago
As a Sikh who happens to be from a Western state, I have to say the turban is VERY different from a cowboy hat. The turban is an article of faith and cannot be removed. The cowboy hat, while not detracting from Salazar's abilities, is not mandated by his religion.
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
was it a black cowboy hat? if so, you are right to be suspicious.
Millicent
· 11 months ago
It was white. I guess that makes him a good guy, right.
wearing out my F key
· 11 months ago
it's a safe bet. i think we should trust this guy.
whomod
· 11 months ago
So I guess now it's the gays VS the Latinos, eh?
[shakes head at the pettiness and hyper sensitivity]
Y'know these past few days I've marveled at how eager people are to throw Obama under the bus before he's even enjoyed 1 day in office. I'll concede that Warren is a reprehensible bigot, granted, but that doesn't make Obama one for reaching out to the other side in the spirit of unity on inauguration day. But now is every appointment he makes going to have to pass the gay litmus test?
You'd think African Americans would be scrutinizing his every move to see if he's black enough. But they're not.
for that matter, progressive Jews, for al the postings about how the evangelicals and Warren himself have dissed the Jews, aren't calling for Obama's head and calling him anti-Jew.
Good grief!
It's starting to sound rather immature and petty now.
Doc Science
· 11 months ago
I agree. The vitriol here is near psychotic. No one can point to Obama having done anything to hurt gay rights but the level of hate for him is off the charts. Where was this kind of vitriol for Republicans and others who have acted against gays?
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
Oh believe me, the opposition to Bush was off the charts but didn't have to be stated because he didn't even pretend to be a friend.
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
And do you honestly expect us to believe you would be just fine with it if the president elect invited someone to a place of honor who had stated he believed your romantic relationship was just like pedophilia and incest?
Millicent
· 11 months ago
The very act of honoring this bigot to the entire world does enormous damage to gays and gay rights because it encourages bigots like him and those who follow him to be more emboldened in their anti-gay bashing and legal efforts.
cool blue reason
· 11 months ago
Paul Rosenberg has a great idea to demonstrate disgust with Warren: hold up pink triangles during the invocation.
I still rather like many, many people turning their back on him (http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/...). Very clear, very visible, very telling message to send, and very broad in scope (it covers his bigotry towards LGBT, non-theists, Jews, and everyone else he is a bigoted asshole towards, while pretending to "love them".).
Heck, go for the double whammy. Turn your back on him throughout his invocation, AND hold up a pink triangle (backwards, so he can see it, obviously), at the same time. The Jews can hold up yellow Stars of David, and so on. If I were able to go, I'd hold up a copy of the Constitution, what with him invoking a PRAYER at the inauguration of a person to the highest SECULAR position within a SECULAR government, in a country that (supposedly) separates church and state. >_<
Ugh
· 11 months ago
I think you're WAY jumping to conclusions. John, when you lose your temper you lose all sense of common sense. Now you're going after the jugular and don't care how many conclusions you have to jump to or how much damage you do
ChrisSF
· 11 months ago
What is the damage? I see absolutely no downside to pointing out the truth here.
Ugh
· 11 months ago
Pointing out the "truth" - he is making accusations that Barack Obama somehow is purposefully not choosing people because they are gay. Without any real proof other another one of his allegedly-super-connected friends taking guesses. He is accusing him of job discrimination!
The damage? Well, let's see - people on these pages are talking about Barack Obama as if he is some horrible person. As if this is the ONLY thing that matters about Obama. As if EVERYTHING is lost.
Before he even takes office. Before he even passes one act or makes one initiative!
I dont like Rick Warren at all. I'm a lesbian and he offends me. At the same time, his views are not that much different than half of my family...all of whom have eventually come around because I didn't just call them a bigot and cut them off. Instead, I engaged them and found common values to move us forward.
ComradeRutherford
· 11 months ago
Well it seems obvious to me. Obama is passing over highly qualified gay people to appoint republican types. And then there's Rick Warren, just to make sure teh gays get the message.
ComradeRutherford
· 11 months ago
Salazar was appointed specifically to tell the age-old anti-nuke movement that Obama says, 'Fuck You!'
Salazar is staunchly pro-nuke, meaning tens of thousands more Amaericans are going to die in the mining and processing of nuclear fuel, and we are going to generate tens of thousands of tons more highly deadly waste that will have to be safe-guarded for ten times the length of recorded human history, safe from those terrorists that would love to get their hands on even one once of the stuff.
The ONLY thing stopping people from making a nuclear weapon is that they can't get their hands on the nuclear components. Obama and Salazar propose making tons more of the stuff with no clue as to what to do with all that deadly material, once again, tens of thousands of tons of the deadly waste has to be carefully guarded for hundreds of thousands of years.
Only total and complete idiots that have no care for tomorrow would want nuclear power.
FLEX
· 11 months ago
If John McCain was elected president such an issue would never be raised. May be gay people are afraid of republicans. But then again, a lot of republicans are closeted-gays, so it makes me wonder why a gay person would vote democrat in the first place.
So, 4 years from now, make sure you vote your republicans to office or better yet, you can run for office yourself.
Mike In Texas
· 11 months ago
Please--why would Obama want a bunch of retreads in his appointments? The real issue here is why soooooo many people seem to think the only good picks are people who have some past involvement with the Clintons or were the 'right' kind of homosexual.
Get over yourselves, folks, the man is doing just fine.
All Comments
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid...
I already knew Obama would waffle on bringing all the troops home, and he is going to "surge" in Afghanistan, but these choices show me he wants to be a "center" President, and thats not what we need right now. We dont need another spineless Democrat, we need a real President.
Oh well, at least you're not pretending Hillary is a progressive, like many here are doing now.
I liked Obama in the election of course, and am very happy he will be our President. However, his actions have led many, myself included, to realize that he isnt going to be a progressive Presdient. He is going to be a centrist, and there wont be much "change".
Where is Wes Clark? Why is Gates still at Defense? Hillary at State???
I'm willing to bet that by the 2012 election, there will still be maybe a hundred thousand (maybe a little less) troops in Iraq, and maybe that many in Afghanistan too.
Perhaps if you weren't spending all your time behaving like a Freeper moron, bashing Hillary every single thing she hadn't even done, while telling us how she had to be horrible on gay issues, you would have spent more time questioning Obama and holding his ass to the fire.
Obama made it clear that he doesn't give two shits about gays and if you read his book, which I'm sure you probably didn't, Obama details the struggle he has with the gay community. He doesn't understand the simplest thing when it comes to GLBT people. He sees someone who calls gays and lesbians dog fuckers, child molesters, and incest supporters, as a "disagreement." You should have realized this when Obama finally gave his only interview to a gay publication and was confronted, FINALLY, over Donnie "ex-gay" McKlurkin. Obama said that it was "our problem" that we had an issue with him.
Obama isn't only going to enact Right wing policies regarding Iraq, health care, and most likely the economy, he's going to be the first Democrat to make life worse for gays and lesbians. He thinks that bringing bigots to the table, is somehow bringing the country together.
Obama made it very clear: "We need to treat homophobes with dignity and understanding because they do not yet know that they are wrong." Obama was the one who came out and said that he wanted civil unions to be left up to the states. Hillary didn't. I'm only bringing up Hillary, because there was a contrast, and no one was allowed to question Obama on one damn thing he ever said.
It's a shame that you've finally have had to waken up over this event, when there are probably a billion other problems with Obama, not the gay ones, and you have yet to confront him on even those. FISA should tell you all that you need to know.
Obama cannot overturn DOMA, DADT, or put forward anti-discrimination laws himself. Congress needs to do it. Obama won't be worrying about any of it, and his supporters will explain it away as that there are "more serious issues to deal with." Basically, "sit down and shut the hell up."
Obama has no outed himself as bringing people that he doesn't agree with NOT on policy, but in every day circles. Warren is one of his best friends. Everyone used to scream that the line "bringing people to the table that he didn't agree with," had to do regarding policy. It doesn't. It has to do even with, "who to invite for lunch."
-------------------------------------
it's hard to take when something isn't revolving around you, I'm sure.
And, if she is gay but not open (which is her choice) how does her appointment do anything to advance the rest of the community? It doesn't. It just shows that gay need to stay in the closet to advance.
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There is no "common ground" with these people and they would happily be part of a "Selection Committee" at any railhead if given the opportunity. To "sit at the table" with them would absolutely require the services of food tasters.
LA Times
December 21, 2008
Fresh from being tapped to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, Orange County Pastor Rick Warren spoke Saturday night to about 800 members of the Muslim Public Affairs Council at its convention in Long Beach.
Warren's theme was about people getting along, forgetting their differences and focusing on areas of agreement. The audience cheered him, and many people rose to their feet.
Among the first to stand was singer Melissa Etheridge, a lesbian, who performed for the audience.
Recognizing the potential for controversy, Warren said near the beginning of his speech: "Let me just get this over very quickly. I love Muslims. And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights."
He said people ask him what he prays for when it comes to Obama. "I pray for the president the same things I pray for myself: integrity, humility and compassion," he said.
A council spokeswoman acknowledged that some members objected to the choice of the evangelical pastor as the keynote speaker.
"We're always looking to work with unlikely partners, and I think he's a new kind of evangelical," said spokeswoman Edina Lekovic. "We have a lot in common."
Warren, like many Muslims, opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. Lekovic said he was introduced to the council by Orange County Muslim leaders who held an interfaith picnic with his congregation.
Obama last week chose Warren, who heads Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, to deliver the invocation at next month's inauguration.
The action angered gay and lesbian rights groups because Warren supported Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban that California voters passed in November.
Obama and the conservative white pastor have often found common ground. After meeting in Washington in January 2006, they began speaking regularly by phone.
While writing his best-selling book "The Audacity of Hope," Obama asked Warren, author of the 2002 bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life," to review the chapter on faith.
Warren also served as part of a "prayer circle" of supportive clergy leaders during Obama's presidential campaign.
It is fairly well known that the appointee to head up Homeland Security is a lesbian. She hasn't publicly acknowledged it, but then none of the straight appointees have "come out" as straight either. If she had come out she never would have advanced politically as far as she has.
The complaints are silly. Obama wanted to reach out to evangeicals so he did so with a gesture that has NO hope of influencing policy. The best way he could do so.
Yeah. One shook down a children's hospital for political contributions and tried to sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder, while the other appointed a heterosexual to be Secretary of the Interior. The equivalence is immediately obvious.
not everything is about gay rights...important issue but the world doesn't revolve around you.
Yes, there's the lack of high profile gay people in Obama's Administration, excepting for the high profile gay people in Obama's Administration.
As a westerner by birth, your friend Chris sounds like an ass. I'm sure Salazar feels real bad about offending his heightened sense of east coast haute couture. Some people west of the Mississippi wear cowboy hats. How gauche. Please get over it.
I am angry but I am not sure if my anger is left over from Prop 8 passage or if Obama truly has punched the GLBT community in the stomach. I am confused at my own confusions if that makes any sense.
I guess that means he hates Native Americans.
Funny, no he hasn't.
Sit down and be quiet until you can say something cogent.
No non-theists in the administration at all. None. Not even one. Not in a high-level position, not in a low-level position, none. Nada. Zip. Zilch. There are approximately the same percentage of non-theists in this country as there are LGBT. By comparison, however, the former group is woefully underrepresented. At all levels of government. Across the board. None even IN THE RUNNING, unlike the comparative plethora of LGBT candidates, for any position in the administration. At least, none admitting it, none publicly acknowledged as non-theists of any stripe.
Yet, I do not see the non-theistic community up in arms over it. Some anger, some of the usual "this is the typical bullshit" irritation, what with the CONSTANT NON-REPRESENTATION AT ALL TIMES IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE.
So, yes, Obama did in fact invite an anti-atheist, prejudiced, bigoted shitbag to hold a prayer (A PRAYER) at his (SECULAR) inauguration (for his SECULAR government position), thus endorsing said views (and linking, once more, religion to government in a pervasive and subtle manner).
So sit down and STFU until you can say something cogent.
I mean, really....like an earlier comment, no Native Americans? No left handed red heads?
He must hate them all!
You don't honestly believe that each person selected for the cabinet was the absolutely BEST person in the country for each position and that there were no qualified gays for any position do you?
1) His statement used in the Prop 8 robocalls:
"I believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman," he said. "Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God is in the mix."
2) His use of super anti-gay Donnie McClurkin and homohating gospel group "Mary Mary".
3) His longstanding friendship with Rick Warren leading to his special place of honor.
4) The fact that Obama's own church supports marriage equality, yet he chooses to pick the bigoted choice, and deny us full protection under the law.
5) The fact that he actually allowed his marriage quote to be used by the Yes on 8 team.
6) Every minority is represented in the Obama appointments but the gays. Remember that the LGBT community never had the benefit of any affirmative action programs to help us. When we achieve great things we do it often in environments where we can be fired for being LGBT.
Too many white liberals have very little understanding of the social conservatism in the African American Community. It is a unique brand of social conservativism that is very, very, very pro-choice, very willing not to condemn heterosexual premarital sex, and extremely homophobic.
Wake up!
I think this condition creates a cognitive dissonance in him. He is intellectual enough to know his hate/fear feelings are stupid and his other values probably collide with his homophobia. Those emotional complexities probably make him all the MORE dangerous to the gay community.
If these theories are true, what do we do? Perhaps deal with him like anyone addicted to a behavior/feeling that is destructive.
An intervention? Tough love? Education? Embarrassment? Bare knuckle political battle?
I suspect any tactic will have to be intense to be effective. This guy is the ultimate smoothy. Can gay people afford multiple years of being schmoozed?
"Anyone but the gay," indeed. This morning now, we hear Biden edging away from GLBT campaign promises. Oh sure we'll keep our promises, he says, just not right away. Bigger fish to fry. Economy. Infrastructure. Etc. When would there be a better time to insert provisions overturning DOMA and DADT than in such a huge spending bill that everyone is so desperate to have? The Conservatives will vote their wallets not their Bibles, so now is the time to do this, not in some gauzy future second term. If they mean their campaign promises they will do it this way.. If they mean to hang us out to dry, they'll "defer" it (forever). This is why it is imperative to rattle every cage we can at the first sign of betrayal. Nip it in the bud.
Whatever happened to all that talk of multitasking?
*Snorts*
I'd bet anybody who sees him up close would agree that this is a very arrogant man absolutely full of himself (how could anybody have accomplished what he has and not be?).
His whole relationship with Warren seems dysfunctional in my view. But the ego boost Obama seems to get from shocking people (look at Obama's outrageous behavior on FISA) and being seen as a remarkably inclusive and "remarkable" leader, could be the motivation for the Warren invitation/relationship.
Since Obama apparently perceives the "risk" factor of spiritually assaulting gay people to be very low, Chris could be right -- our community could be in for a very long four (eight?) years.
UNLESS we increase the risk factor and deprive Obama of his ego boost entirely. On that basis alone, I think the "pink triangles at his inauguration" idea mentioned earlier has real merit.
On the other hand, I'm sure there are potential downsides that our community needs to think through very carefully before we collectively adopt that tactic. Obama's anger at us, for one?
The result will be the same.
What gays need is leverage, and the best leverage is dollars and public opinion.
He isn't selecting candidates based upon representational proportion in the American population. Do you see any atheists? Only one Asian? No American Indians? Not enough women! I expect that he has reasons for each person he selects, and some might be experience and some might be political. Remember also that there are ambassadorships and committee/agency positions... the Cabinet isn't the only high profile job focus.
That said, I am angry about the Warren selection. This is a secular nation... why do we require some fat bigot to open and close the ceremony with a prayer that will exclude not just the atheists, but Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., who are part of the American community? Warren is a merchant. He wants to raise his profile and sell more books and rake off more wealth. Why give him a spotlight?
The "divine right" of kings is a European belief, not American.
The social right to Bush was pushing to install a theocracy in the US. We're trying to get equality, and you're equating the two?
Brainless.
Hate to break this to you, but this particular argument with Obama has barely gotten started, and won't end until he does the right thing.
There is no real honesty in politics, to be sure--as I'm sure there are probably some atheists in there as well--just not "out" either...
1) Wah! Saint Obama hasn't even entered office and you mean racist gays are picking on him. Stop it now!
2) Why can't you gays just STFU. So Obama thinks that you don't deserve Equal Protection under the Constitution. What's the big deal. Be quiet and let us worship Obama in peace.
3) So what that Obama picked someone who thinks gays are less than human for a special place at his table . Obama is sooooo smart, he works in mysterious ways. Shut up and trust him. Now get under the table and beg for crumbs like the good little dog f-er that you are no better than!
4) Wah! Why is this blog all of a sudden only about gays. God I feel like I am visiting a gay website. I need to take a shower. Quit being so gay John....
5) You gays are racist. When AA people hate you, it is due to their special and unique culture and their deep deep faith. Hating gays isn't as bad as hating blacks. If they call you F------ it is not as bad as you daring to bring up the fact that they might be homophobic.
BLAH BLAH BLAH and keep drinking the Kool-Aid.
If there's one good thing that has come out of the passage of Prop. 8, it's that it has shined a light on the racism within the gay community.
I COMPLETELY support civil rights and have always been just as outspoken on the civil rights of AA as I am about the civil rights of the GLBT community.
He spent the hour rebuking gays for being so mean and vicious to those whose faith believe gays are evil. Yet the minute someone made a comparison to the struggle of African-Americans, Copeland became noticeably agitated. In an unusual moment he places special emphasis on the point that "Other African-Americans get so angry with me when I equate gay rights to civil rights". There is something very unusual about his claim to martyrdom. Almost as if he is threatening to side with the homophobes.
Then later in the program he laughs and giggles with a caller about "Can't wait to see those nasty gay divorces (multiple guffaws). They should make a tv show (laughs uncontrollably). This kind of snide homophobia from a so-called liberal is what I am hearing more and more. They seem to be saying "Tone it down fags, or we won't support you any more." BTW, I recommend listening to that archived show online as it only takes about 20 minutes if you fastforward through the commercials.
americablog doesn't mind straight people, as long as they try to act gay in public.
Pfft, you said it.. not me...
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,859...
"We need to do more to help the Jews find their proper place in our society."
Adolf Hitler - March 13, 1932
Running for Chancellor of Germany
We been had.
Obama duped us. We need to admit that we were wrong and put our support behind those who truly and fully support us.
Oh and you veiled homophobes telling us to STFU. That will only make us shout louder and maybe throw a shoe or two at your baby Jesus Obama bigot.
If you think that kind of freeper phrasing is going to win over supporters, you're sorely mistaken. Throw all the over-the-top, whiny hissy-fits you want, but don't expect anyone to be swayed by your sophomoric tactics.
I don't need the support of any more bigots. My rights are written in the Constitution, they are not subject to your approval. Monkey on that, Buddha!
"I have many gay friends. I've eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Saddleback Church," Warren said in a recent interview with BeliefNet. But later in the interview, he compared the "redefinition of marriage" to include gay marriage to legitimizing incest, child abuse, and polygamy.
Warren also added that he has nothing against gay people.
Lets look back at the debates:
When a question was asked about HIV/AIDS among black teenagers, Senator Joe Biden answered the question, he mentioned that he had been tested for HIV/AIDS and then mentioned that Senator Obama had also been tested for AIDS. The camera then panned briefly to Obama, who by one account, looked "vaguely stunned" by the remark.
"Tavis, Tavis, Tavis," Obama interjected to laughter. “I just got to make clear — I got tested with Michelle when we were in Kenya in Africa. So I don’t want any confusion here about what’s going on." The conversation continued:
Joe Biden: Well, I got tested to save my life because I had a blood transfusion.
Barack Obama: I was tested with my wife.
Tavis Smiley: And I'm sure Michelle appreciates you clarifying that.
Barack Obama: In public.
It was described as a light moment in the press, but it left a bitter taste in the mouths of some observers.
"So while he's all for combating homophobia within the African American community, it seems he also doesn't want anyone to get the impression that he's on the down-low," wrote The New Republic's Alexander M. Belenky. "This seems to reveal not only some level of homophobia, but also a level of immaturity.
but I was becoming AWARE of it, if you know what I mean.
Um hmm. Any of us who have been around the block are beginning to "get a sense" of where these (defensive?) guerilla hits at the gay community might be coming from.
This is ridiculous. It's one thing to be disappointed with the choice of Warren but another thing to be accusing Obama of being a homophobic bigot.
It is possible for someone to be against gay marriage because of religious reasons. As long as they don't use their efforts to hurt gays, how is that a problem? Isn't that at the heart of why people were upset about the Prop 8 voters? People took their religious views and acted on them against gays at the ballot?
Where has Obama worked actively against gay interests? What about his pro-gay rights platform?
This hysteria is over the top.
A segment of your fellow-citizens have their very humanity (sexual attraction, a most basic human quality) spiritually/psychologically assaulted every hour of every day.
A man ran to lead the country as President. An important principle he emphasized was that all humans must be treated with respect and equality.
Another man leads millions in the country as a "religious leader". A principle vital to his "theology" is that the humanity of certain people is not at all valid and consequently not worthy of respect, or equality.
The newly elected President has the opportunity to "honor" a very limited number of leaders on the world stage in celebration of his inauguration. He has thousands of leaders to choose from.
From those thousands, he chooses to honor the man who condemns the humanity of millions and who every single day overtly betrays (in fact continually exploits the betrayal for his own benefit) the very principles the new President says he insists upon.
This is commendable? This is honest? This is consistent? This is moral? This is progressive? This is acceptable? This is change?
Millions of citizens accused of sub-humanity should STFU about having a leading loud-mouthed accuser being honored as a "spiritual leader" bringing a "new day" to the country?
If you think that is ridiculous and "over the top", Doc, then apparently you have something different you are seeking to protect other than your personal humanity.
And make no mistake: what you are seeing and hearing is not hysteria. It is anger and determination.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,859...
Obama has proved himself repeatedly to be a very tolerant, very rational-sounding sort of bigot. He is far too careful and measured a man to say anything about body parts fitting together or marriage being reserved for the nonpedophilic, but all the same, he opposes equality for gay people when it comes to the basic recognition of their relationships. He did throughout his campaign, one that featured appearances by Donnie McClurkin, a Christian entertainer who preaches that homosexuals can become heterosexuals.
Obama reminds me a little bit of Richard Russell Jr., the longtime Senator from Georgia who — as historian Robert Caro has noted — cultivated a reputation as a thoughtful, tolerant politician even as he defended inequality and segregation for decades. Obama gave a wonderfully Russellian defense of Warren on Thursday at a press conference. Americans, he said, need to "come together" even when they disagree on social issues. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all about," he said. Russell would often use the same tactic to deflect criticism of his civil rights record. It was a distraction, Russell said, from the important business of the day uniting all Americans. Obama also said today that he is a "fierce advocate for equality" for gays, which is — given his opposition to equal marriage rights — simply a lie. It recalls the time Russell said, "I'm as interested in the Negro people of my state as anyone in the Senate. I love them."
What does "worhip" mean?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe what you meant to say here is "Typo, you douche." Note the comma. Without it, it sounds as if you're trying to use the word "typo" as a verb.
P.S. If you're going to insult someone, the least you could do is proofread. That way, you won't look so much like a blithering, drooling, brain-dead tool with a fourth-grade reading level.
Umm. Yeah. Nothing bigoted here.
Bush must have really done great things for gay people for you to be pissed at Obama.
And so it begins....
In a new "Midnight Regulation" The Bush administration, in its final days, issued a federal rule Thursday reinforcing protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions and any other procedures because of religious or moral objections.
Although the law is intended to allow doctors to have more protection in refusing to do abortions, the ramifications are actually that a Doctor or a Nurse could refuse to treat anyone or anything that violates their religious or moral beliefs. And since homosexuals are not federally protected, it would be ok to deny them based on your beliefs.
Now, you still could not refuse to treat a hispanic, or a woman...as race and gender are protected....so if you are a lesbian or a gay minority you should still be ok....just pretend you are straight when you are in the ambulance.
In fact, Pastor Warren came out today and said this was a great stride forward.
Several medical associations, more than 100 members of Congress, governors and 13 attorneys general were among the many thousands who wrote the department to protest the rule after it was proposed.
President Elect Obama was not one of them.
Sometimes I think technology dampens the fight for our freedoms. It might be okay to work within the system on a computer, but anything that is a basic freedom you're not getting is worth putting yourself out front, on the street, organizing, and raising consciousness (yes, I know--how 60s).
After all, Bush got through 8 years of criminal activity without anyone really doing anything about it. Physical confrontation such as marches and demonstrations are far more effective if they are highly organized--and that means physical meetings and discussions--it's the one thing politicians can never stand up to. As long as people can write blogs, gripe, and feel better about getting the complaint du jour off their chests, nothing will be accomplished that rights the real wrongs.
After all, we shouldn't be afraid of the govt--it should be afraid of us--and we outnumber them--they dread physical confrontation. And that just doesn't show up on a computer which is just a machine, and it can never really express the anguish of people who are oppressed.
In another article in the same section "California' there is a story about Warren speaking to a group of Muslims and preaching tolerance. Melissa Ethridge is apparently there and gives him a standing ovation --????
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/...
Those of us who are victims of such violence cannot afford the luxury of being PC! But you wouldn't understand, you just want gays to quit whining about being denied basic human rights and about the fact that we are often the targets of violence and discrimination.
In most of the country LGBT people can be denied housing and employment based on their sexual orientation. So, I think we have the right to be a little bit upset, and yeah, we are allowed to describe those who rape us and bash our heads in. Also, 10 of the 30 people who were gay bashed to death so far in 2008 were African American. Don't say this had nothing to do with homophobia in the AA community. Wake up!
To the African American community, I don't know since I'm not African American.
There have been plenty of cases of whites raping and killing lesbians & trans people. The most famous case is that of Brandon Teena, whose murder was chronicled in a film. Similarly, Gwen Arujo was murdered by a group of mainly white teens.
Moreover, you may want to look at the murder of Lawrence King, the young African-American 15-year-old murdered by his white classmate. There's also the murder of Michael Sandy, an African-American gay man, killed by a group of white gay men. And, what about the brutal murder of the gay Fijian man in California by white Slavic immigrants?
http://www.gayamericanheroes.info/
Nuance.
now, if had been a 7 foot tall asian man with blue eyes and blonde hair...
If rape is an act of violence and an exhibit of power over the victim and anti-glay slurs were made, race may be an important observation in this incident as it implies in the hyerarchy of oppression..that many (straight) racial minorities believe queers are at the bottom of the ladder in terms of who is more worthy of respect and a legitimare position at the trough...
If we are going to discuss homophobia in communities of color, I personally think that gay white racism needs to examined as well.
and to think yesterday i was getting untold grief for stating the same thing.
That's the most impressive use of coded, back-stabbing double-talk I've seen since the big lie at Confirmation: "After you're confirmed, you'll understand." Yeah right. Maybe if you're a Mafios'!
On the one hand, you folks are demanding recognition of gays but can't seem to handle someone else who has a slight cultural difference shown by his choice of dress.
[shakes head at the pettiness and hyper sensitivity]
Y'know these past few days I've marveled at how eager people are to throw Obama under the bus before he's even enjoyed 1 day in office. I'll concede that Warren is a reprehensible bigot, granted, but that doesn't make Obama one for reaching out to the other side in the spirit of unity on inauguration day. But now is every appointment he makes going to have to pass the gay litmus test?
You'd think African Americans would be scrutinizing his every move to see if he's black enough. But they're not.
for that matter, progressive Jews, for al the postings about how the evangelicals and Warren himself have dissed the Jews, aren't calling for Obama's head and calling him anti-Jew.
Good grief!
It's starting to sound rather immature and petty now.
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10555
Heck, go for the double whammy. Turn your back on him throughout his invocation, AND hold up a pink triangle (backwards, so he can see it, obviously), at the same time. The Jews can hold up yellow Stars of David, and so on. If I were able to go, I'd hold up a copy of the Constitution, what with him invoking a PRAYER at the inauguration of a person to the highest SECULAR position within a SECULAR government, in a country that (supposedly) separates church and state. >_<
The damage? Well, let's see - people on these pages are talking about Barack Obama as if he is some horrible person. As if this is the ONLY thing that matters about Obama. As if EVERYTHING is lost.
Before he even takes office. Before he even passes one act or makes one initiative!
I dont like Rick Warren at all. I'm a lesbian and he offends me. At the same time, his views are not that much different than half of my family...all of whom have eventually come around because I didn't just call them a bigot and cut them off. Instead, I engaged them and found common values to move us forward.
Salazar is staunchly pro-nuke, meaning tens of thousands more Amaericans are going to die in the mining and processing of nuclear fuel, and we are going to generate tens of thousands of tons more highly deadly waste that will have to be safe-guarded for ten times the length of recorded human history, safe from those terrorists that would love to get their hands on even one once of the stuff.
The ONLY thing stopping people from making a nuclear weapon is that they can't get their hands on the nuclear components. Obama and Salazar propose making tons more of the stuff with no clue as to what to do with all that deadly material, once again, tens of thousands of tons of the deadly waste has to be carefully guarded for hundreds of thousands of years.
Only total and complete idiots that have no care for tomorrow would want nuclear power.
wonder why a gay person would vote democrat in the first place.
So, 4 years from now, make sure you vote your republicans to office or better yet, you can run for office yourself.
Get over yourselves, folks, the man is doing just fine.