UPDATED — A pre-inauguration brouhaha has erupted between HBO and the Obama Inauguration team. As we reported previously, HBO says that it was the Inauguration team who scheduled the openly gay bishop before the live concert broadcast, but this afternoon, HBO, the Obama Team and Gene Robinson all weighed in, with blame and confusion being tossed about from all sides.
Presidential Inauguration Committee communications director Josh Earnest shoots back:
“We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson’s invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday’s program. We regret the error in executing this plan – but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event.”
But HBO is not having it, and a spokesperson replied:
“It was not an HBO omission. We merely televised the show beginning at 2:30pm. Had the PIC told us upfront that this was to be part of the telecast, it would have been.”
For his part, Bishop Robinson is just as perplexed as you, telling NPR:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“I know very little about it,” said Robinson before telling host Neal Conan how he learned the news: “I had a delightful day meeting all the other participants in the program. … A little later in the morning I happened to see a schedule,” and it showed him giving the invocation at 2:25 and HBO cameras going live at 2:30 p.m.
Robinson said he had “no idea” why it was scheduled this way but postulated, “The fact of the matter is HBO is an entertainment station and perhaps an executive at HBO thought, ‘Well, who would possibly be interested in a prayer? People are tuning in to see Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.'”
Ha. Ha. Gay equality got lost in the paperwork shuffle.
Update: Both HBO and Obama are v. v. sorry and will do their best to mend fences. HBO is adding the Robinson invocation to its re-broadcast of We Are One, which will air on screens along the Mall in D.C. as crowds gather for the official inauguration, reports TV Barn. All future broadcasts of We Are One will also include Robinson.
The Gay Numbers
It sounds like screwed up communications. Either way, this is not good for the Obama logistics people. How hard is it to confirm a time of broadcast?
Leland Frances
AS IF anyone expected the self-serving STRAIGHT slimeballs in PIC eager to protect Obama’s outreach to the religious nuts to confess.
PROOF of how much they DON’T care is that they seem to be the last people on the planet unaware that “hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall” did NOT hear “his eloquent prayer for our nation.”
As the cliche goes, “with friends like these….”
And another: “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy [eight years]. As Edward R. Murrow used to say, “I can hear it now”
“We had always intended and planned to repeal DADT and DOMA; to pass T-ENDA and a hate crimes bill. We regret the error in executing this plan.”
NY Diva
I hope that we will all boycott HBO.
Dan
You can be sure, this was NO accident. I’m struggling to be constructive with my anger about Obama now.
Obama could publicly apologize and state his support for equal rights for gay people including marriage. This would be the minimum expected of any leader in the civilized world. But likely? Doubtful.
I can’t believe I’m having to say that Obama does not meet the minimum criteria for a basic enlightened human being.
So as an alternative, the entertainers who Obama lied to by telling them that this was the “WE ARE ONE” concert should let him know that they do not appreciate being used.
Bono, Springsteen, Latifah, Hanks, Wonder and all the rest of you. If you agree with gay people being kicked in the teeth as the literal opening sct of this administration, do nothing. Otherwise, tell Obama he lied to you and to us, and you do not like it.
gary
Gene, as always, had the kindest and most diplomatic answer.
And that is why he’s the man of God.
Check out this video of a spontaneous “kiss in” in front of religious bigots at the concert!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=670278609139
m2mswva
At least Bill Clinton waited until after his inauguration to stab the gay community in the back.
I voted for Hillary Clinton in the Virginia primary not because I thought she was the best for the job, but because I knew what to expect from the Clintons. They paid lip service to the gay community in order to get elected, then threw us under the bus with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA. I haven’t forgiven them for that, but at least I knew what to expect if Hillary had won.
I didn’t know a lot about Obama at the time and didn’t want to get caught up in the frenzy. I did vote for him in the general election, but still wasn’t satisfied with his gay rights positions.
In the end, when Obama was elected, I was as hopeful as everyone else. Now I’m beginning to see him as just another politician who will say anything to get elected.
I hope I’m wrong about that, but he’s going to have to work hard to win my continued suppoert.
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@Dan:
STOP blaming Obama!
Blame the WHOLE party!
Christ, he’s not a dictator?? He is basically a CEO of a very political organisation!?
Did he f*ck up for not making this happen as a CEO? Yeah. But do you really think that ALL Dems like gays when you have Rahm Emmanuel, brother of the very homophobic Ari as chief of staff????
Come bro.
http://www.defamer.com.au/2008/07/new_day_for_endeavor_kind_of_like_the_old_days_minus_the_conferenceroom_orgies-2.html
RichardR
Hopeful optimist as I am, I still want to wait and see what comes down with DADT, ENDA, DOMA. . . But seriously, it seems like the Obama operation, whether campaign staff, transition team, or the PE himself, has a real knack for screwing up when it comes to religious figures and the gay community . . . McClurkin (sp?), Warren, now Robinson. What can we expect regarding tomorrow’s benediction by purportedly gay-friendly Lowery?
ChicagoJimmy
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s):
Sorry, but the administration has his name on it, and the buck stops with him.
Michael
I don’t think that it’s HBO’s fault. Why would the program start at 2:25 instead of 2:30? The PIC wanted the prayer to be over before the HBO program started. Very disappointing.
The Gay Numbers
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): Sorry, but the buck does stop with Obama. I have noticed this tendency in the last few weeks to excuse him for any number of reasons from being held accountable.
My problem here is not that I believe they were trying to snub gays. My concern is that I don’t think they care enough to make sure they weren’t fucking this up. In that sense, this is on Obama. it does not matter if Obama’s people thought HBO was handling this. if they cared about the issue at all, they would confirmed and re-confirmed because this was important. The fact they did not, and this mistake was allowed to happen is damning.
Michael W.
@Michael: That seems to be the answer in a nutshell. For once I started to grow disappointed with Obama as I finally came to the realization.
But it seems team Obama is ready to make things right! According to Marc Ambinder,
“Tomorrow, before an audience of 2 million people on the Mall, the inaugural committee will broadcast an edited version of the program on Jumboscreens that includes his prayer.
It was, the aide says, “[a]n honest, unfortunate mistake in executing the program that for which we take responsibility.”
The team has apologized to Robinson.”
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/desnubbed_robinson_prayer_will.php
YES! OBAMA STILL LOVES US!
mark
Bishop Robinson’s prayer will play on Jumbotron tomorrow
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/desnubbed_robinson_prayer_will.php
think somebody got their ass chewed…ya think?
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@The Gay Numbers: @ChicagoJimmy:
I get that.
BUT I still think he is a ‘puppet’ and one who has integrity and depth BUT should not unofficially be held accountable.
I’m not like the others, I don’t think the sun shines out of his….but what I do think and I don’t understand why this is not questioned, is what I said in the last post.
Obama is stuck between a wall and hard place.
You both know your country…did you not think how AMAZING is was for a black guy to be pres??
Did you not think there were people behind this man beating THE Hilary Clinton?
Like Bush….do you really think it wasn’t Rumsfeld-Friedman ‘free market’ protege and Cheney?
A really good friend of mines Dad used to play golf with Bush and the stuff they said about him….
‘Not a bad guy, following Daddy’s legacy etc’
But we’ve all decided to blame the past actions on a guy who SHOUDLN’T have been president but was part of the politcal elite party…
Anyway, you either believe it or you don’t despite the facts…
I just believe you shouldn’t be hard on the first president who has EVER decided to include us in ANY of his speeches.
You think he’s pandering? Why? Cause the US gay elite are so powerful??
If you are then……
Mister C
Chidren please vote for Clinton in 2012 then when she fucks you. You’ll be okay with it!
PERIOD!
Mister C
I meant Children excuse the typo.
The Gay Numbers
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): You will never get anything in life by begging for it. You get it by demanding it. When I read your comment, it made me think of so many of my mistakes outside of these issues. I spent most of my life begging people for things rather than fighting for it. Now, with in the last year, that’s changed.
So, what is my point here? My point is I don’t need to be appreciative of Obama throwing me a few bread crumbs. He should include gays because we are a part of America. Not because we are something he should be forced to reach out to.
He will get minor thank you when he does something right, and major ones, when does something that changes the life of all gays. That’s just politeness.
However, I am not begging him for it. I expect him to do. If more gays stopped waiting for acceptance , and start requiring equality, we might be in a better place.
That’s the lesson of race. Black people started in the US to move forward when we stopped waiting for white people to give us our equality. We said given them to us or else…
That’s what’s missing from the discussion. The else here is that our support is not unconditional. He’s not going to get me to give him a pass when he fucks up. I am not going to cut him some slack. I will hold him to a high standard, and keep him accountable as far as I can as a single citizen to do so in this country.
It’s a simple as that.
Steve
If Rev. Warren’s invocation tomorrow starts five minutes BEFORE the television coverage, and is NOT included in the TV broadcast, and is NOT audible on the speakers, then we might believe this crap. Otherwise, this was an INTENTIONAL SLAP (AGAIN).
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@The Gay Numbers:
I hear what you are saying but I didn’t say we shouldn’t hold Obama accountable.
Regradless of your or my experience, I think we are entering one of the most complex political times.
And with that we have to be smart.
With that you can’t take your past experience with NON black or gay friendly pres and put it with this one.
This, what he DID including gays in the inaugaration IS ground breaking.
OR not?
I don’t think Bill had a gay choire, writer or religous poet…
So why use your tried and tested methods with the most progressive and ground breaking govt your country has ever had??
Chloe
so now they’re going to throw someones youtube vid up on the jumbotron and call it good?
UGH.
KB
I’m a progressive, liberal homo who wants equal rights. I want them now. For everyone.
Having said that, I’m embarrassed by the temper tantrum people are having about a perceived slight regarding this broadcast. Obama hasn’t even been sworn in yet, and people are already saying “Told you so!”
It’s not that big of a deal. Everyone makes mistakes. The inauguration and all of its attendant cermonies and celebrations are fraught with complex logistics being handled by a multitude of people. Taking this personally is just going to ruin your day and not allow you to see the big picture.
I’m appalled at how people are not celebrating the inclusion of the Gay Men’s Chorus, Ellen, Bishop Robinson, the gay appointees to the administration so far, and the imminent repeal of DADT!
Get over it!
The Gay Numbers
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): No, it’s not that complicated. It’s pretty simple actually. If you want to negotiate a better deal you don’t do that by saying “thank you for aknowledging that I am at the table. It’s okay you ingored me. Oh, sorry for making such a big deal over everything.” Versus, “Give me my rights now. I am not going away until we address these issues. I am definitely not going to quiet down. I am the squeaky wheel. Oil me.” Which approach do you think works? Hint- it ain’t the first one.
David Jay Patterson
@Michael W.: Make things right? No way! It is NOT making things right to have the prayer at the Mall tomorrow when it was supposed to be on television. That is a huge difference.
I find it exceedingly difficult to believe that this was a mistake. Why? Two reasons come to mind:
1.When you offer a consolation prize, you do it very sensitively. You know: if I piss you off, and then I try to make amends, I try to do it flawlessly to show you that I’m sincere. Heightened sensitivity would, it seems to me, have surrounded everything dealing with Robinson.
2. Robinson said, “A little later in the morning I happened to see a schedule,” and it showed him giving the invocation at 2:25 and HBO cameras going live at 2:30 p.m.” So it was on a printed schedule. The Obama team has tons of people checking and re-checking (I guess; I don’t know this for a fact, but could someone comment? I picture dozens of staff people checking and re-checking everything.) who would have said, “Gee, this looks wrong.” Okay, even if it’s not dozens of people, if Robinson himself saw it on a program on Sunday morning, surely a staffer or two would have said to someone in a decision making position: “This is a problem.” Have Robinson give the prayer at 2:30 or, to be sure, at 2:33.”
TheShow
Lots of talk but no walk. People, even if all the complainers (probably mostly made up of middleclass 30+ year old white dudes) decided not vote for Obama in the next election, the gay vote would probably come down to 50 or 40 something percent. Not close enough to influence an election.
I’m all for fighting for our rights but it seems like the most rash and kamikaze-like of us are the loudest and are probably living high and pretty despite not having gay equal rights.
We can’t let these guys lead us into a ditch.
sparkle obama
ok
all y’all get ready for rev. lowery’s prayer, which will finalize the inauguration ceremonies.
don’t forget to check for it, girls.
Michael W.
@David Jay Patterson: Quit your fretting. President Obama loves teh gays and everything’s gonna be alright.
hephaestion
Why the hell was this concert SOLD to HBO anyway? PBS and CSPAN should have been broadcasting it FREELY for ALL.
And clearly some homophobe at Obama HQ intentionally de-gayed the concert. The DC Gay Men’s Chorus was not introduced or identified either, as they should have been.
Someone has a LOT of ‘splainin’ to do!
agora17
If we think Obama is going to waste political capital on us queers, think again. It is time to demand our place at the national table. How many times does Obama have to show us that we are not worthy of his attention. He might offer us some facile words to keep us quiet, but he has proven he will not stand up for us. The real proof of what I say is to simply watch the man when he is around gay people. He has that all-too-familiar, uncomfortable body language most straight men adopt, when they are told there are fags afoot. You know what I mean: the fake smile, rigid posture and the “Oh, God, please don’t let any of them touch me!†expression. Seriously, I’m not joking. Watch him next time he is with any prominent gay man. (Remember, he’s a straight man, so lesbians are all right.)
I was a supporter of Obama before his ostensibly casual remarks before the election, which showed his disapprobation of gay marriage. It was not until I found out how many blacks were driving cars with bumper-stickers, supporting Obama and opposing gay marriage, that I understood the implications of what he said. The minority, which should most understand what it means to have one’s civil rights violated, had decided to vote against ours. I felt stabbed in the back. None of my liberal African-American friends could explain it. Most were confused and some downright hurt. It is doubly painful for our black gay brothers and sisters to know that the majority of their straight friends and family do not think they are worthy of basic human rights.
We need to be strong, and angry if necessary, before Obama becomes complacent. I voted for Obama; however, it appears as though we must start a gay civil rights version of ACT UP
PearlsBeforeSwine
This invite Rick Warren (slapping the gay and progressive communities), then invite Gene Robinson (slapping the religious right), but then don’t televise it (and the sound system failing so even the people who are there don’t here what Robinson has to say?) makes the whole thing kind of screwy. I suspect there is some kind of power struggle going on inside of the administration. And he isn’t even in office yet.
I wonder what will leak out on this. It certainly makes them seem incompetent to the gay community. I expected this to quickly die down once the inauguration was over, but now I have my doubts. How long until this transforms from tragedy to farce?
Robert
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): But wait… he gets all the praise when something is good, but its the party when something is bad?
I have always believed that blaming the ‘president’ is stupid, that the individual is a figure head, and not the true decision maker.
However after this church this Sunday where every time Obama’s name was mentioned there was 2 to 3 minutes of clapping, I truly feel many people are setting themselves up for disappointment.
He has already proven that he isn’t a 100 % supporter of gays, on two very important issues, and by not standing up and saying I won’t include someone in my inauguration that spews hate, he has shown by his actions that we are not a primary concern for him or his agenda despite his lip service.
Bottom line, Obama is a politician, its what they do. Yes, its amazing and a wonderful achievement that he is our first black president, but why does that mean he will be any different then any other person…
Just my .02
The Gay Numbers
@Robert: I am getting some scary comments from friends about how we should “pray that others will let Obama do what he needs to do”, and, if things are not sucessful the way they want it to be, then, “that’s just outside forces preventing Obama from doing what he needs to do.” At no point is there the concept of accountability or responsibility involved in what they are saying to me. It seems I fought one faith based community only to see it replaced by another.
Pete
I just don’t understand why Obama goes out of his way to dismiss gays (and women) with Warren, a homophobic and misogynistic bigot, and now this. Others have dismissed us, but Obama makes the extra effort and it’s just bizarre. He doesn’t need to do this politically. It’s almost as if he wants to do this.
And what the hell is up with gays who continue to cover for Obama? Let’s pretend Obama is this innocent lamb: what’s so wrong in pushing him to do more?
Ryan
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/desnubbed_robinson_prayer_will.php
Per the above it is going to air tomorrow and Obama team taking responsibility. Not sure if this is the only source still looking.
Buddy
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): John, you’re saying we shouldn’t blame Obama, but we shouldn’t not hold him responsible, but it’s the party and we are entering one of the most complex political times, and with that we have to be smart. Oh, and since he included any gays at all….
Forgive me, but I’m having challenges untangling what you’re trying to say.
Is it we should just appreciate what we got, because… it’s the best we can expect? it’s better than the GOP would give?
Are you worried that we’re making a bad showing for ourselves by criticizing Obama? Worried that we’re paving the way to be justifiably thrown under the bus? Worried that the worldwide supply of fresh cedar chips may dry up for your comfortably complacent closet??
Just curious.
Buddy
@Ryan: Yes Ryan, they are supposedly going to show an edited version of the concert on the mall jumbotrons tomorrow for the crows assembled there, and this time they intend to include a version of Bishop Robinson’s prayer. And the Obama team first tried to lay the blame at HBO’s feet, but when HBO wouldn’t play ball, they finally took responsibility for the “serious oversight.”
And the Obama supporters managed to transition from “what are you wining about – it’s not a big deal?” to “He loves us isn’t it wonderful!” without the slightest detour to irony, apologia, or self-awareness.
Buddy
And while I’m sure the crows will enjoy the jumbotron too, I did mean crowds.
stevenelliot
You know what I think about all this drivel Ive read here about robinson getting snubbed? It sounds like a bunch of intellectual jews be4 the holocaust. We gay people need to get angry whether this situation is valid or not. Who cares if it was a mistake or an intentional snub on part of the Obama staff! We should fight it and get angry anyway.
Im f****g sick of our kind being passive. We’re everybody’s punching bag. I think its time the table was turned and we all become bitches from hell!
Michael W.
@stevenelliot: Indeed, it’s exactly like that. It’s getting real holocausty up in here, as if Obama is biding his time while he draws up a solution for us gays. A… final solution, ZOMG!
The Gay Numbers
@stevenelliot: Your post reminds me of joke from Will and Grace.
Karen says to Jack that she likes the gays because “someone can hit [us] on the head, and [we] will get over it.” At first, Jack is angry at her for her slight about gays. He settles into watch the show.
Someone randomly tosses a shoe hitting Jack. Jack gets angry again, but, quickly says, “Oh well, what are you going to do.” The studio audience laughs at us. Some of us probably laughed at oursevles. The joke being our acceptance of our own suffering.
This is the mentality of gays in a nutshell. We identity with those who punch us in the head. Therefore, we are happy when they are not hitting us in the head. The mere aknowledgement that we exist is to be lauded as something incredible because most of the straight world spends much of its time pretending we are invisible. “My gawd they finally noticed me.” When Obama first did that I found myself doing that. But, then, I stepped back enough to say, “wait this is fucked up. Why shouldn’t he aknowlege a major constituency? This is politics.”
But that’s not the response of many to being hit on the head. In response to actually doing something about this, we respond with passivity and apathy.
Many, in fact, confuse passivity and apathy with sophistication and worldliness rather than what it is- cowardice because the world makes being gay hard. We are not the first minority group to experience pathologies related to our status as a minority. Hell, whole books have been written on being African-American and living the race divide in this country. Gays have similar issues.
These pathologies can take different form. Some obvious. Some less than obvious.
“Acceptance at all cost” being one of the less obvious forms. We spend time pretending we don’t want it or care. But, when someone dangles a bone (no pun intended), what do we do? We salivate like Palov’s dog after having been denied our treat, and seeing that treat tangled in front of us.
Our ultimate response gives away the truth to those for whom we are bargaining for rights. We are an easy lay. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
It’s this attitude that holds us back because no one respects powerlessness.
The Gay Numbers
@Michael W.: It’s funny when someone brings up historical analogies to watch another more lazy poster mangle the analogy.
I am going to guess that the analogy means that we are in a battle for rights and lives, and, that we can do nothing, in which case, we will lose as did the Jews pre-holocaust, or we can do something, to have a chance of winning.
It’s not that we are going to be exterminated that you should understand from reading the analogy. It’s that you should realize the cost of doing nothing is not the status quo, but that life can get worse for gays.
In other words, assuming that reactionary behaviors in America are not possible is to ignore the rise of George Bush. Reactionary being worse than conservative because the former is taking us backwards while conservative is maintaining the status quo. Bush did not exist in a vacuum. He existed because majorities are capable of going to some really dark places if the majority isn’t suffering (a la torture just to name one example).
Now, don’t quote my use of torture as if I meant that’s what I expect to happen. I am using the “analogy” to illustrate how far the American majority is willing to go if they think it’s justified. Do you really think they aren’t willing to harm gays legally in soe form if that’s what the majority believes?
HYHYBT
@Mister C: Chemistry.com ad: “Nope, still gay”
The Lesbian Mafia
@Dan: @Dan: I second that!!!
Right. I’m sure Barack had noooooo idea what would happen during his own concert. Okaaaaaaaaaay! Uh … it’s HBO’s fault, yah tha’ts the ticket!
Gay’s are pretty damn silly jumping right back on the Barry Bus bc he invited this guy to speak. He uses them, they get the fame bug. Mutally beneficial deals Barack works out with these fame starved sellouts. Gene Robison compared Jesus’ vision with Obama’s on Rachel Maddows show. Not even a blink did this lunacy get. It was positively jaw dropping to hear this come out of this guys mouth considering he was just critisizing him a few weeks ago. Self serving amnensiac. They’re all in it for themselves, and the sad desperate gay ppl believe any horseshit Obama Winfrey peddles. They can’t admit they got duped … conned. So they will sign on to everything he says. They sit in front of their TV’s because they think revolution can happen sitting in your cushy Hollywood sofa, and drink the milk of amnesia, forgetting anything they don’t want to hear. They’re invested in Barack. They cannot possibly admit they are wrong now. They’ll sooner jump off a roof if he tells them to.
InExile
Many of the posters here sound like they are placing ALL of their faith in President-Elect Obama to grant us equal rights, repeal DOMA, DADT, and so on. He has said “WE ARE THE CHANGE” over and over! What that means is if we are not in the streets DEMANDING EQUAL RIGHTS, nothing will happen for us! The politicians need ALL OF US to force their hands to act on our behalf.
I was hopeful after the passing of prop 8 because it ignited a loud cry of outrage in our country with LGBT people and straight people protesting in the streets. When we are in the streets, we are in the news and the public is being educated. When we are not in the news cycle, we are the forgotten people, out of sight out of mind. The HRC’s of the world are not going to bring equal rights to us as a community, we must do it ourselves! WE ARE THE CHANGE!
When is the million LGBT march on Washington? When?
shaun
What perplexes me is that the gay community has been out up-in-arms since the Warren appointing and you would think that team Obama (if they were serious about mending fences and smoothing everything over) would have gone to great lengths to guarantee that Gene’s prayer go on without a hitch. The fact that it didn’t proves that team Obama cares little for the gay community and/or only wanted to quell the anger that the Warren appointment caused.
agora17
@shaun: You have gone to the heart of the matter. Thanks, Shaun.
Dan
@KB:
“I’m appalled at how people are not celebrating the inclusion of the Gay Men’s Chorus, Ellen, Bishop Robinson, the gay appointees to the administration so far, and the imminent repeal of DADT!”
KB, this is exactly the point. They SAID Robinson would be included, and then scheduled him to be excluded. The Gay Men’s Chorus was not identified, when others were. Both of those promises were in fact lies.
This makes it seem very unlikely that DADT will be repealed. It is very difficult to believe that Obama will follow through now on something major, when he lied about “little” things.
So far, he has reneged on *every* promise when the time came.
Obama chose as his literal first act of inauguration week to humiliate gay people.
He refused to follow through on the easiest promises. What makes you think he will follow through on something difficult?
Get over it.....
For one liberalism is not interested in gay/lesbianism anymore than Obama’s camp gives a crap about it as well. Rachel’s a weak reporter and MSNBC is desperate to win over any audience they can in lieu of interviewing gay Robinson. Morality and following Christian values are the core of what America was built upon and will always be the popular tenet. Enjoy your short lived chance to have any voice at all for the racist BHO camp is about to work their magic(BHO preacher man, Lowery) and it won’t be for gay/lesbianism nor for the white majority. It’s ashame that BHO was the only first black president that we had to choose from, his closet being riddled with thugs and bigots…..
lyssa
I am shocked! Incensed! Dropping the audio os a gay sympathetic prayer! The Horror!
Oh wait…I forget. The gays are busy trying to write transfolks out of Stonewall. They are calling trans women fags to boost their claims of oppression while excluding trans women from hate and employment legislation.
The rewiting of trans women’s history to turn Two Spirit people into fags is particularly noteworthy here.
I see a chance for some real empathy here folks… assuming gay men are capable of that emotion. All the evidence seems to indicate otherwise.
lyssa
@InExile:
“When is the million LGBT march on Washington? When?”
In 1993. Transpeople fought to be included, but were denied. I went anyway.
Of course, LGBT has always meant “gay male only and fuck everybody else” hasn’t it?
sean
The comments excoriating Obama and his political team are of tenuous relevance.
Little Barry used to wander the halls of my graduate department (you won’t be able to find me)…and as a budding scientist of history, I must advocate for the patience, strength, and tolerance a successful sociopolitical change entails. The seeds of stonewall may come to fruition if the zealots don’t drown us in vitriol.
Don’t bitch. Show your value, don’t explain it. That’s what I want to do anyway. I wish older members of the gay community would, but they always seem to have a chip on their shoulder. Even if that chip is earned, it makes my shoulders heavy.
I’m really not arrogant (just to preempt crit), even though I’m 22. I don’t think I’m smarter or wiser than anyone on this message board. I just think I’m younger, attuned the telephone games of contemp society. The mistakes. The misunderstandings. I’m just not cynical enough to love someone I don’t know. I hope everyone can find that within themselves.
if you didn’t get it, i think the proportions are blown wide, weakening lines of political communication. It will not be a revolution but revolutionary steps. it is the same struggle, it doesn’t end here. it changes here. with all my heart and love for those who feel slighted.
sean
amanwithanedge
gay men and women have been the whipping post for political slacks on both sides for more than 30 years, athough alot more from the republicans. ok, so the whole world knows prop 8 passed in california. it was BITCH SLAP to us. then during the prez campaign both sides chided in with their ridiculous protection of marriage BULL SHIT. some of us wondered why their marriages needed protection and from whom. then during that rick warren church Q and A with both candidates stating that they were adamantly opposed to same sex marriage again. they seemed to need to repeat this process of oppressing the oppressed a few more times before the whole damn thing was once again at the top of americas political agenda. 2 wars going on. bridges, tunnels, schools healthcare completely falling apart. the economy falling off the cliff and the millions of dollars of golden parachutes for the very few.
then obama wins and we have some sunshine. a glimmer of hope for our gay futures. rick warren is asked to pray at the inauguration, on stage with the president right there. bishop gene robinson who happens to be gay was asked three days later. i knew like so many others, we were slighted in the first place. he was NOT a planned speaker. another BITCH SLAP. then, they didn’t even show him live like they had with the people before him. BITCH SLAPPED again. his prayer was an amazingly courageous one. worthy of the MAIN STAGE.
the LGBT MARCHING BAND had practiced and practiced to impress the new president. he and the first lady applauded and smiled as the band proudly marched by. the live coverage ceased. cameras cut away to the group before our band and then after our band. BITCH SLAPPED again… the obama campaign said sorry for the “mess up.” the stations carrying the live feeds had their own excuses with one exception. GOD BLESS CSPAN. obama ran a nearly perfect campaign, NOW he’s the president and these kinds of things happen only to the homos participating?? let’s get real here.
amanwithanedge
i’m including the challenge from david mixner’s blog. it’s below.
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Here is the real challenge for each and every one of us and it fits perfectly into the call by President Obama’s for individual responsibility.
No one is going to smile, pat us on the shoulder and tell us what good people we are and therefore here are all your rights, benefits and privileges! Like every other great historic struggle before us we are going to have to earn them the old fashioned way……fight for them, don’t blink in the eye of adversity and don’t compromise when others feel uncomfortable. We must be so self assured, so certain of our own inalienable rights and so determined that even the most skeptical among us can not misunderstand the righteousness of our cause. We are the ones that must be unrelenting in the battle for our own freedom. We are the ones that must insist that others join us in this great civil rights movement for marriage equality, the right to serve and the right to love and live with citizens of other nations!
We must not waste time, energy or political IOUs on symbolic gestures. We must stand so tall that no one can mistake that we are about marriage equality, service to our nation and insisting that the amazing talents and gifts we have developed be allowed to be given unconditionally to this nation and this planet. At all costs, we must avoid victim hood, pettiness and being drawn into angry debate that does not represent who we are as a people. Leave the anger to the haters and embrace love as a way to communicate our power.
So what Obama represents to us is mere opportunity; a president we can reach with our powerful voices. A leader of the free world that can change the mistakes of the past. But we can’t allow those inside to determine the timing of our march to freedom because they will always choose issues that seem more in the forefront like the economy and peace. We do not have to wait until wars end and people are working for freedom. God, that could take forever. We must insist that our struggle for full equality is important enough and has such value that it should be a priority. The words “later” or “down the road” should not be acceptable to us.
So our march to freedom and equality is not in Obama’s hands. It is not in Washington’s hands. It is in our hands. Our pride, our dignity and our willingness to appeal to the “better angels” within ourselves and others is what we need to share with the world.
Go for it.