When Barack Obama first announced his candidacy, my initial reaction was enthusiastic. I believed that he could be an invigorating shot in the arm for the Democratic party. While I never really expected him to pose a serious challenge to Hillary, his passion and eloquence could have stood in stark contrast to Clinton’s sometimes overly-scripted persona. But Obama has demonstrated a troubling tendency to try to be all things to all things to all people. Witness the controversy surrounding the gospel event his campaign sponsored yesterday, featuring a gospel singer who is well-known for his assertions that gays can be “cured”.
I have no doubt that Obama fully supports gay rights, but his willingness to allow a homophobe to stump for him is the hamfisted move of an amateur. The Democratic Party is a big tent and I don’t expect everyone to be of one voice on any issue, but it isn’t acceptable to appease one constituency by metaphorically kicking sand in the eyes of another. I’m a Democrat because I believe in some core principles, including the vision of an equitable society that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Obama should be leading his followers towards that vision, not tacitly reinforcing old prejudices.
PREACH ON!
Hi. I’ve been a lurker at your site for a while, but have never commented. (It’s a scary thing to argue with an attorney, after all!) But this got me thinking enough to want to comment. As a democrat and Obama supporter (from Illinois!), I have to challenge you on the assumption that those who believe that gays can be “cured” are by definition homophobes and oppose gay rights. I support gay rights, and wouldn’t consider myself homophobic (I don’t think my gay friends think so, although you’d have to ask them to know for sure). But also, a significant part of my spirituality is a belief in a God who can heal – not that God always does, or that everyone wants God to, but I’ll leave the option open – that’s between the person and God, after all. (By the way, the word we would use would probably be “healed,” not “cured,” but that’s a different topic.) But if someone wants to be healed of what they or their religion considers “sinful desires”, who are we to tell them they shouldn’t? While I certainly support equal rights for gays, it seems to me to be oppressive to insist that someone who wants to be heterosexual has to remain homosexual, especially if that person has found a way out that works for him or her.