GLBT Issues

Obama had this to say today regarding the angry reaction gay people and feminists are having at his choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation:

I am fierce advocate for equality for gay and — well, let me start by talking about my own views. I think it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something I have been consistent on and something I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency.

What I’ve also said is that it is important for America to come together even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues.

And I would note that a couple of years ago I was invited to Rick Warren’s church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion.

Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak, and that dialogue, I think, is a part of what my campaign’s been all about, that we’re never going to agree on every single issue. What we have to do is create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans. So Rick Warren has been invited to speak, Dr. Joseph Lowery — who has deeply contrasting views to Rick Warren about a whole host of issues — is also speaking.

It’s very easy to ask us to “disagree without being disagreeable” when it’s not you who’s asked to drink at a separate water fountain — or more accurately in the case of gay equality, to not be allowed any water at all.
Other than breathing and wearing clothes, the amount I have in common with Rick Warren is exactly zilch. He presents himself as a moderate, but he is certainly radical right. He’s offensive to the core.

I recognize a shit sandwich when I see one, Mr. President Elect — I’m sorry, I’m not going to eat this one.

UPDATE: From the comments at Wonkette: “Fine they can “disagree” on issues. Now give me All of my fucking rights.”

And here’s another good comment at Wonkette:

“Sorry – inc1usivess doesn’t include asshats. That’s dumb relativism being it’s dumb, illogical self. If I thought Obama was a relativist, I wouldn’t have voted for him. Inclusiveness isn’t about not making judgments, it’s about making the right ones with respect to humanity. Anyone who includes inhumanity with humanity is just going to be running in useless circles all day. There. Sermon over.”

And another great comment from Melissa McEwan:
“Human dignity and equality does not have to come down an either-or proposition. Symbolic equality is nothing without substantive equality, and substantive equality paired with symbols of oppression is not full equality at all.”

According to CNN, this lovely shit-sandwich, delivered right to my plate, courtesy of President-Elect Obama:

President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony will feature big names like minister Rick Warren and legendary singer Aretha Franklin, the Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced Wednesday.

Warren, the prominent evangelical and founder of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, will deliver the ceremony’s invocation. The minister hosted a presidential forum at his church last summer that challenged both Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain on a host of faith-related issues. Warren did not endorse either presidential candidate.

His public support for California’s Proposition 8 — the measure that successfully passed and called for outlawing gay marriage in the state — sparked the ire of many gay rights proponents, who seized on a comment in an October newsletter to his congregation: “This is not a political issue — it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.”
But Warren has long sought to broaden the focus of the evangelical agenda to include issues like the reduction of global poverty, human rights abuses, and the AIDS epidemic.

Also included in the inaugural program are cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the United States Marine Band, and other performers.

It’s not mentioned that Warren, in addition to enraging gay people, has kicked both women and Jews in the teeth thousands of times by equating the right to choose with the Holocaust. If Obama wanted to pick one guy that would piss off a large chunk of the progressive movement in America, Warren is the guy.

Thousands of religious figures in America that Obama could have chosen to deliver the inaugural invocation that wouldn’t have been an absolute slap in the face to large swaths of oppressed people. But no, he couldn’t go that route. He had to pick a guy that was all risk and no gain to anyone. Lovely.

As Melissa points out — “addressing the global HIV/AIDS crisis” is not an acceptible “get-out-of-jail-free card for homobigotry.”