Normally we don’t reprint full statements from anyone because, well, releases read like garbage. But here’s Barack Obama‘s full missive declaring June 2009 as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” which means we broke our own unwritten rule twice today, since this is such a bold move from the White House.
For the moment, we’re going to let you have at it. We’re not going to say things like “this is just more lip service without action from the president” or “we don’t need someone who doesn’t believe in marriage equality to approve of our own pride celebration” or “you’re blatantly lying to us about efforts to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Instead, we’ll acknowledge the statement — which took some engineering — for what it is: A recognition from the highest office in the nation that gay Americans should be proud.
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 1, 2009
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.
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
– – – – – – –
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration — in both the White House and the Federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
PJ
Where has Obama been for the past 30 years? I always thought June was Gay Pride Month. Now, I guess it’s official; all politicians are idiots.
atdleft
@PJ: Bush never recognized it, and I don’t remember if President Clinton did. Yeah, it’s a crumb when we really need a good loaf of equality bread. Still, it’s at least a (baby) step forward.
naprem
@PJ: Of course it always has been. he’s just saying that he now acknowledges that fact and makes it official with the office of the President.
InExile
Finally, the silence is broken!
atdleft
Btw, it’s nice to see this too:
http://www.queerty.com/the-persecution-of-gays-and-lesbians-is-a-violation-of-human-rights-and-an-affront-to-human-decency-and-it-must-end-20090601/
So who else in the Administration will do it?
dgz
Queerty, your credibility is draining away. i’m not the biggest obama supporter, but your passive-aggressive approach is simply an exercise in ridiculous piling-on. what’s the advantage of doing anything good for us if you spit in his face every time he does?
am i enamored of his record so far? hell no. but weren’t you just complaining about him not issuing a statement like this? make up your damn mind.
Lee
Even I can applaud this good thing in his first year, absent as it is of ACTION, but it contains a TOTALLY FALSE claim.
He is NOT “the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration.”
Bill Clinton announced the nomination of lesbian Roberta Achtenberg for Asst. Secty. of HUD less than TWO WEEKS after his swearing in:
“THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release: February 2, 1993
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR TOP HUD POSITIONS
(Washington, DC) The President today nominated four recognized leaders in the housing field to work with Secretary Henry Cisneros as top officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. … Also nominated [was] San Francisco Board of Supervisors Member Roberta Achtenberg, to be Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity…. ‘I am committed’, said the President, ‘as is Secretary Cisneros, to turning the Department of Housing and Urban Development into a center for action and a home for innovation. Terry Duvernay, Andrew Cuomo, Roberta Achtenberg, and Jean Nolan have a big task ahead of them… These four outstanding individuals have the experience, the knowledge, and the ability to make that happen. They will be an essential part of my team’.”
After a vicious battle led by Jesse Helms [“I’m not going to put a lesbian in a position like that. If you want to call me a bigot, fine.”] against that “damn mean-spirited activist lesbian,” she was confirmed by the US Senate on May 24, 1993.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/archives/whitehouse-papers/1993/Jan/PRESIDENT-ANNOUNCES-NOMINATIONS-FOR-TOP-HUD-POSITIONS
Alex
@PJ: Surprisingly, he wasn’t President as an 18-year-old black kid living in Indonesia in 1979.
It’s pretty disheartening to hear the anti-Obama crowd denouncing Obama when he has done something, even token, for us.
Finally, I would be very interested to know if Clinton ever made such a proclamation.
Lee
@Alex:
Clinton did, at least in 2000 as I recall. And the criticism that this was after he was a lame duck is fair. But it fails to take into account the potential damage it did among homohaters to Hillary’s political future, just as those who pooh pooh her marching in NYC pride parades as First Lady and Senator do.
J. Clarence
I disagree with Queerty’s general assertion that Obama is Anti-gay rights, but wholefully agree that the President has not lived up to expectation. Mainly due to how divisive the country his politically, and I suspect many advisers around him are telling gay rights is a can of worms he doesn’t need to open yet.
He’s always been pro-gay rights, just even at the moments when it is really necessary. Acknowledging that June is Pride Month is a sign that he hasn’t (fully) backed away from the gay community, though it also is a clear attempt to pacify a demographic that has grown upset with him since taking office.
Cam
Hmm, So he is OK with us having Pride, but Dick Cheney “Ugh” just comes out and says he supports gay marriage. Who’d a thunk it?
Lee
Priding myself on being fair even to someone I criticize, NO, Cheney did NOT say he supports gay marriage. He said, in essence, I support gay marriage as long as any given state doesn’t ban it. Then I support the state.
That doesn’t make up for the false claim about gay appoitments in Obama’s pride statement but facts are facts.
Alex
That said, I’m always pissed off at these for saying “in the year of our Lord…” and thus excluding the 21% of Americans who aren’t Christians (and who supported the President fairly overwhelmingly).
Alex
@Lee: To be absurdly semantic, the statement says “candidates” not “candidate,” so unless Clinton appointed another person or Obama only appointed one (I vaguely remember two or three) the state is actually correct. It’s a meaningless (except that 2 gays are better than one) distinction, but it is technically true.
audiored
Is there no link to whitehouse.gov?
Lee
I am happy to correct myself:
At least John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, was confirmed within the 100 days.
Qjersey
@dgz:
To DGZ and others: The wonderful thing about the internets is that so many blogs cover the same stories, even the queer ones.
If you don’t like the editorial snarkiness on this site, there are many other LGBTQ websites you can visit that report in a less entertaining manner.
Tony
I guess being denied the right to marry is not discrimination because “God is in the mix…” Just another double talkin’ polidouchebag. Show gratitude for crumbs. Full equality now….
Tony
I have no pride in the fact that God thinks my marriage and family are less than the non-gays. Just sayin’.
Rob
I am more than happy to ‘eat-my words’ on this one [see Rob’s posting on the earlier published story about Mrs. Clinton]. Thank you Mr. President!
alan brickman
he’s moving slowly forward just like i thought he would…
douglasgibsonjr
Clinton did do a proclamation in 2000, Bush did no such proclamation for his 8 years, so I am very grateful that President Obama did this. This is a small step, but a very important one. Let’s hope he continues.
Michael
eh, it gave me SOME hope that he cares.
if anything, at least he recognizes that as a whole, he can’t afford to lose the LGBT community.
Lee
OK, now that I’ve corrected my calendar error, and some of us have done a good Sally “You like me, you really like me” Field impression, let’s look at the important differences behind “then” and “now.”
Achtenberg’s confirmation was, as I stated, held up by actions led by Jesse Helms, one of many homohating bombs he threw during his career.
And if he were STILL ALIVE and in Congress, he would have held up Berry’s confirmation, too.
BUT OBAMA basically faces ONLY ONE person in Congress with that degree of homophobia AND as much clout. No Helms, no Nunn, neither Dole, no Dick “Barney Fag” Armey, no Barr, no Dornan, no Thurmond, no Lott, no Delay and yet he is STILL sitting on his hands mouthing pretty WORDS, or should I say merely lipsyching most of the same pretty words he used in his 2008 pride statement.
Yes, there are homophobes left in Congress, but only Ike Skelton who currently opposes DADT repeal comes close to the clout Helms and all those above had via their seniority, so WHAT’S HIS FUCKING EXCUSE for having done NOTHING of any substance to fight for his gay-related federal legislation promises?
In addition, the support among voters for gay rights has radically increased since 1993.
And NOTHING, including Berry’s sweet ride through confirmation, excuses Obama’s refusal to use his Congressionally mandated power to freeze ANY discharges he wants to NOR his commitment to DEFEND DADT IN COURT.
drew brown
i am so extremely confident that Obama is on our side. he is just moving slowly so as to avoid a backlash. (and really, it’s only been less than four months; give the man some time!
Lee
@drew brown:
This is not “moving slowly,” this is serious constipation, an impaction deep in the bowels of the White House.
“Avoid a backlash”? Uh, is he waiting for them to simply die? See a burning bush? For the Tooth Fairy to leave a heart under their pillows?
It’s called….as he told us himself again and again and again and again while begging for our votes…LEADERship.
Tony
@drew brown
lol. You sound like the person who says “I am sure he loves me even though he hits me and cheats on me because he because he bought me flowers. See he loves me, he does, he does!!!!
Bertie
Civil Unions are inferior to federal marriage.
Cheney and Hillary made pro-gay rights headlines earlier — so Obama came out and did this proclamation. big deal.
As Mayor of the Munchkin City – I proclaim Obama to be still a play-it-safe COWARD.
drew brown
he has been in office for less than FIVE MONTHS, during the worst economic catastrophe in modern history. Major corporations are crumbling to the ground, millions of Americans are jobless, we are still fighting two global wars… y’all need to gain some serious perspective and understand that five months is a tiny blip on the timeline of civil rights, and certainly not enough time to judge anyone’s record. stop the whining, seriously!
michael
Obama will not be the one to give us our rights. They are on the way boys and girls. Throughout this whole ordeal the last few years I was never confident about any of it. Not California and the first Supreme Court decision, not about Obama doing anything real for us. Its not going to be in his power, he will soon be ordered to carry it out no matter what his views are, religiously, or as a political whore, (all politicians are whores, the terms are actually synonyms for each other) The Supreme Court of the United States is going to rule in our favor very soon and that I am confident. I have just had the most peaceful feeling the last week about it when I meditate and sit still.
lileasy
@Alex: Ambassador Hormel. Wasn’t he also appointed by Clinton?
InExile
It is great that he issued this press release but it would be better to hear the same words in a public speech. While I am happy he finally broke his silence, I would like to see some action to back up the words. I guess we will know tomorrow if this press release was just for us or if the media will run with it? I hope for the later.
Michael W.
@Lee: So you ran around to every gay site that you could under your various pseudonyms, shouting from the top of your lungs about this supposed incorrection, only to be wrong yourself? LOL.
If you weren’t so anxious to build up Slick Willy’s limp reputation at every opportunity, you probably wouldn’t have made a fool of yourself.
But yeah if it weren’t for that then I’m sure you had nothing but props to give. NOT!
dgz
@Qjersey: yeah, cause the reason queerty reports on obama is to entertain. or not.
Dabq
@Michael W.: No truth has ever been better than this one! if, I as a out, loud, proud gay man had the right to declare all in the glbt community freedom and equality, I would ban this Lee man or woman to perpetual bitterness that each and every post he or she puts up here. And along with a few other clueless, wealthy folks who post here have no clue about the real world and the issues that real gay’s face, like jobs, health insurance and the like, but, here, that does not matter, they have it all, they have no need for a president who is trying to fix the messed up economy and two winless wars its all bout their downtrodden, captive of some imaginary discrimination, which as they are rich, can’t they but their happiness???
Obama is far from perfect, but, word to the clueless, HRC would have had the same MAJOR issues on her plate to deal with, and, I would bet my house that the bitter, hostile posters here would give her a pass. None of these loud, over the top shrill posters care about gay rights, they care about THEIR rights and no one else who is gay, bi or trans.
Dabq
@drew brown: That does not matter here, these are trust fund kids who don’t have to worry about working, food on the table, taking care of kids, all they have to do is put and be bitter and angry at the world for not being 6’2″, 175#, well endowed,smooth swimmers build blond gay guy! That’s the root of the rage, hate and anger, and, or the fact that they got beat up by a black kid in the second grade!
ChicagoJimmy
It’s sad that the statement contradicts itself.
He says his administration is working for our equality by “supporting civil unions.”
Later he says…
“As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected.”
Sad that in the very statement demanding our equality he also points out to us that we deserve our rights as long as they come with a different name. Kinda like asking us to use a separate water fountain but pointing out that the water all comes from the same place.
I’m disappointed he doesn’t support equal marriage rights. I’m disappointed he hasn’t made serious moves to end DADT even though doing so enjoys wide public support given those two wars we’re fighting
Brian Miller
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born.
They didn’t even get the history right.
The first mass movement of LGBT Americans was a protest organized by Frank Kameny on Independence Mall in Philadelphia calling for full and equal treatment, which predated Stonewall by several months.
Oh well, can’t have it all.
And again, talk (and press releases) are cheap. More actual policy, less empty rhetoric please. A repeal of DADT and DOMA would be a minimal start.
michael
@drew brown: And you know what? I sit here in my million dollar condo overlooking the ocean thats located in one of the most progressive cities withing one of the most progressive countries in the world. Here I have exactly the same rights as everyone else. I am married to the man I love. I have a great income, a great dog, I travel the world. I have no reason to complain. But I do. Why? Because no matter what the fucking economy may be, no matter what other things that are and always have been more important than us in the states, it is no excuse to put human rights on hold. What? Obama cannot rub his head and pat his stomach at the same time? These excuses are bullshit, just bullshit and are just part of the disease that many gay people have after a lifetime of sitting on the back of the bus. Did Martin Luther King suspend the civil rights movement or say “when they get Vietnam sorted out then we will start working on civil rights, but now the poor government is just overwhelmed”. I am fortunate to have choices in life, but there are my brothers and sisters who don’t have the choices I have, they cannot up and move to a more progressive country. They want to be married, they need the benefits of marriage. My brothers and sisters who are being dismissed from their jobs in the military are losing their careers and lifetimes of hard work and their pensions. I can go on and on, so while we wait to see what AIG or Chrysler is going to do, we can certainly hold Obama’s feet to the fire. There will always be plenty of troubles in this world to make excuses for government leaders. Anyway, Obama is a fucking lawyer, he’s not an MBA or an economist, he’s got plenty of people who are telling him what to do, maybe he should put what he does have, experience in constitutional law to work while the rest of his staff take care of writing bonus checks to Wall Street bankers.
Brian Miller
@drew brown: he has been in office for less than FIVE MONTHS, during the worst economic catastrophe in modern history. Major corporations are crumbling to the ground, millions of Americans are jobless, we are still fighting two global wars…
I’d much prefer he take the time he’s wasting in nights on the town in New York City and meaningless press releases and instead:
1) Sign an executive order to immediately and indefinitely suspend the anti-gay military policy (his right as commander in chief);
2) Sign an executive order instructing the Attorney General to join the lawsuit against DOMA due to his belief that the law is unconstitutional.
Both would take less time than writing two sentences of his sill press release, and FAR less time than fancy dinners and a show on taxpayer expense in Manhattan.
ProfessorVP
@Lee:
Hillary Clinton marching in a Gay Pride parade is like Bullwinkle marching in a Moose Pride parade.
craigers
Thank you Mr. President.
Lee
@Michael W.:
Every desperate piece of shit you hurl could be true, Sweet Lips, and it would also still be true that:
the ONLY act of any substance Obama can be “proud of” so far is putting Berry on his payroll….which, in addition to doing NOTHING for gays in the military or military gays in court, does NOTHING for domestic gay couples, does NOTHING for gay couples in which one partner is foreign born, does NOTHING for gays being fired in the states, does NOTHING to stop hate crimes.
Now that you’ve shown me the error of my ways,
Everyone else: WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LEAVE BRITNEY ER BARACK ALONE!!!
[img]http://images.hollywoodgrind.com:9000/images/2008/1/chris-crocker-whacko.jpg[/img]
Joanaroo
Reading the headline my first thought was “The Prez is really making us straights look stupid!”. Then reading the proclaimation is more of an embarrassment. As an Obama voter I feel he could’ve done much more than this rehash by now!
pluti
Thanks Obama! No harm came from this, so I am NOT going to complain and act like I was wronged by your statement.
I’ll leave that to the spoiled children who are gifted a laptop on a random Saturday and STILL manage to complain that they didn’t get a car. They always forget that their birthday & Christmas are still to come; who knows what Mom & Dad will get for them then! Oh well, for now let’s resume listening to the bratty, self-righteous winings of those who take every opportunity to NOT show any support or appreciation. Yes, let’s listen to those who seek only to tear down and defeat a potential ally’s spirit.
Change takes time. This is NOT the first Civil Rights movement, and Lord knows those past movements were not swiftly completed. They were/are gradual and overtime ARE BECOMING comprehensive.
SMH at the spoiled ones…
Jason21TX
@PJ:
And by my count, in the last week he has appointed 4 gay men to offices heading up many govt groups, including the safe schools group (the religious right is having diarrhea from the mouth), the office of mgt and Administration, office of Nat AIDS policy, and the White House office on environmental quality
And Judy Shepard got invited to meet Pr Obama. Unfortunately the meeting was only a min or two for a Photo op, as the previous meeting ran over
He does have a full plate – eg preventing the maturation of the 2nd great republican depression. The first one btw, was one of the key factors in destroying the world economy and resulted in the totally desperate Germans (mailing a letter cost 30,000 totally worthless DM) electing hitler.
The other issue that brought about hitler gaining power was the hstred of the Jews that poisoned european society. A hatred leveraged by hitler, and given to the world by the catholic church of “life”.
And guess what hitlers religion was.
Lee
@Jason21TX:
“And Judy Shepard got invited to meet Pr Obama. Unfortunately the meeting was only a min or two for a Photo op, as the previous meeting ran over.” “got invited to meet” I thought he was the Messiah not the Queen of England.
And WHICH, pray tell, NATIONAL EMERGENCY was he required to run to after “about a minute” with the iconic mother of the murdered gay man for whom THE BILL IS NAMED.
WHO was so important that he couldn’t be late for THEIR meeting, too?
And you left out that Mrs. Shepard then joined several others in at a luncheon with Mrs. Obama but the latter couldn’t be bothered to speak to her. “Pissboy! That short blonde woman over there…who is she?”
Brian Miller
@pluti: I’ll leave that to the spoiled children who are gifted a laptop on a random Saturday and STILL manage to complain that they didn’t get a car. They always forget that their birthday & Christmas are still to come; who knows what Mom & Dad will get for them then!
You’re absolutely right!
Our lives have been utterly changed by Obama’s BOLD proclamation!
And our civil rights are a big bonus item, a luxury like a car that Big Daddy Obama is gonna deliver someday. Maybe.
We fags should know our place. Our rights aren’t fundamental — they’re a goody to be distributed when our Big Daddy Democrat masters decide that they’re good and ready to provide them to us! We should be good homos, shut up, and humbly accept what little crumbs the Dems hand to us.
Paul
So who needs Obama’s prolamation of lies? The proclamation is all about Obama and supposedly all the things he has done for the GLBTQ community, so let’s take a closer look at what he has proclaimed here shall we?
“Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans”. Ok, name one single thing you have done to bring equal rights to LGBT Americans. Thought so, you can’t name one thing. Pathetic.
“These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security”.
Again, let’s look at what he is taking credit for: enhancing hate crimes laws. Nope, has not done a damn thing there. Supporting civil unions….Nope, no support there. Complete silence with new domestic partner rights in Nevada and new SSM rights in Iowa, Vermont and in DC. Pathetic.
Discrimination in the workplace: Nope, no movement on ENDA…not a peep out of the pres.
Adoption rights: Nope, no statement when Arkansas and Florida again passed draconian anti gay laws that strip GLBTQs from their childeren….illegal to adopt. Pathetic.
Ending DADT: Nope not a word except to say that his administration would enforce the discriminatory law until it was overturned. Did he say a damn thing about how it is ruining the lives of many military men and women or stop their continued firings. NOPE. Not a damn thing out of Obama.
Want somemore? Ok here we go again….
“We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States”.
Interesting. The last time I checked over 60 HIV people were stopped at the Canadian border who were delegates and speakers to the annual HIV convention, this year in Washington DC. The president could have let them in but NOPE, not a damn thing.
For all of you Obama apologists out there feel free to praise him but those of us who are not brain dead see the King’s clothing for what they really are…..nothing but naked lies and inaction. Pathetic.
troy
@Paul: Give the man a break, there are many more important things going on than our rights. Jesus, stockbrokers, investment bankers, auto executives are all losing their second homes & Porches because of this economy. There is a war that needed to be escalated and we still need to spend more of that money we are printing off on it. Oh yeah, and he’s closing a prison, you know what that must be like? Loading up the vans, making sure all the boxes are packed and ready to go. Also you don’t think he just relies on the CIA to do his spying on Americans, no I am sure he rolls up his sleeves and is right there with the other boys. He’s got fund raisers to attend cause he’s spent our contributions and the homo’s aren’t forking it over like they did before he started working so hard for us. Plus there are plays in New York to attend, etc. etc. The man is busy. Johnny Mac told us about electing celebrity so we need to be understanding. But remember, he’s having all the really important fags out to his new house for little tea party’s. He knows how our leaders are just looking for a place to wear this seasons Banana Republic separates. He’ll get to us, I am sure he will.
drew brown
@michael: Very hard to argue with this extremely well-articulated point of view. I appreciate your commitment upholding the ideals of fairness and equality. It is inspiring. I just don’t want to be bitter if we don’t get all of those rights this very moment. I am confident they will come over the course of the next few years. I don’t want us to be deflated because we haven’t gotten them in the first five months of the new administration.
TwoBuckChuck
David Unger is really the one person who started gay pride when he put his own money into all the Window Media brands. His name means Gay Pride and everyone should celebrate the selfishness he put into gay media. Honor him!
Dennis
“O Brother”…race bait much, Queerty douchbag editors?
Gives us permission? What more has ANY OTHER POTUS done to recognize Gay Pride month? Nothing…Were you bitches in a coma from 2000-2008? Remember, when we were trotted out as punching bags for rethuglican assholes at every opportunity? Where was the Bush hatred? Was it even a fraction of the crap you throw at Obama?
This site continues it slide into parody…where this is room for legitimate criticism of this administration, Queerty has NO IDEA what that means.
Brian Miller
@Dennis:
Thank Goddess we have you to save us from Queerty’s Nazi-like racist hatred of this valiant and flawless leader who is putting his career on the line every day for full marriage equality NOW!
GBM
UGH!!!! Another exaggerated rant.
This post has been brought to you by the folks who NEVER supported Obama anyway.
troy
@GBM: And why should they have? Maybe cause hiss philosophies on marriage never supported us. God is in the mix you know, and we know how his God feels about same sex marriages, they are for one man one woman only. And Obama’s God is the only God there is.
mb00
gee, thanks Obama, I really needed your permission to be proud and to celebrate my community.
mds
I am not against Obama, I am just not letting him off the hook, nor am I going to accept what he thinks is best for me. That said, I will hold his feet to the fire. I will complain. I will point out his shortcomings. I will put expectations upon him and I will hold him responsible for his actions and in actions and I will not make unreasonable excuses for him and I will not accept crumbs from his table.
In 1999 I was in my 30’s. I had met the man of my dreams. We moved in together and built a beautiful home. A starving puppy showed on our doorstep and we made him part of our new family. I did not think a lot about gay rights. I was fortunate financially & in my personal life. I carved out a great existence and felt like that was enough. I had expected a lot from life and in many ways gotten what I expected. But as far as equality goes, I never expected because I believed it was a pipe dream.
I was politically and socially active. I gave money to help those less fortunate than I. When George Bush was elected I was right there with the minority who saw that he was a disaster in the making. I stood up against the war based on lies. I spoke up against his violations of our civil rights as Americans as a whole, the spying, the abuses of power. I held firm in those convictions. But gay rights? No, I suffered from low gay esteem which says the part of me that is gay is private and unworthy of anything more than I have the immediate power to give it. But George started using me and my brothers and sisters as a wedge issue. Not content to just leave me be he forced me to listen to his anti-gay bullshit when I turned on the news. The more I heard him and his kind, the more something within me awakened. Eventually I grew sick and tired of hearing on the television what I could usually avoid hearing by staying away from church.
I realized I was none of these things that these evangelical, Republican, right wing idiots were saying and by the time Bush’s reign of terror was closing to an end I had changed completely. I know expected something more than just I could give myself, I expected my government to honor me and protect me the way others knew.
Now we have a new president. A president who was given a chance by Americans because enough had awaken from the slumber they had been under with the last one to want change. Now a lot has happened, he has inherited quite a mess thats for sure. But just because there is a mess does not mean I will accept stepping to the back of the line. My rights are a mess, my brothers and sisters rights are a mess. A mess that is equally as painful, unjust and life affecting as any of the other messes and this time I want to see as much effort being put forth to straighten out the mess that effects me the most as the messes that affect others. Many of those other messes were created by those that are suffering the consequences anyway. The only part of my mess that I am responsible for is that I was created gay. So for those of you who think that Obama should be given a go easy pass on gay rights so that he can put his time and attention on other things, forget it. I will not give him credit for something until he has earned it. I am not going to give him my confidence until he shows me concretely what he is doing for me. Trust is earned, only a fool trusts someone who has given no evidence that they are trust worthy. Now he is failing, the Rick Warren thing started him off with a bang in that regard. Before that is
belief that marriage does not include me and my same sex partner put him in the hole. His press secretary has not helped him earn my trust, his lack of knowledge, his bumbling when questions are asked tells me not jack shit is going on in regards to the fight for my rights. His refusal to comment on the many things that effect us these past few months speaks volumes about his attitude. So if his little proclamation is a sign that he is afraid and beginning to awaken to the reality that there are a lot of us who are teetering on the edge with him then good, because if we are a group that can help decide if he gets a second go around then he needs to be afraid, very afraid. And because he is “better” than the other side isn’t good enough. If I don’t come first then let the ship sink because I am tired of living on a patched up vessel anyway.
James
@Alex : I don’t see a problem with “In the year of our Lord”, while the “our” might be a bit presumptuous, we /do/ all use the same Jesus-based calender, and it /is/ traditional (Just like “one nation under god” or “in god we trust”)
Also: oh my gawd you guys Rome wasn’t built in a day. And marriage is the least important issue, the whole prop-8 thing not withstanding. Yes, you heard me, being able to get legally sanctioned marriages is a tiny, bland crumb. Yes it’s nice for people who want to get married or want spouse benefits, but it doesn’t really further any protections like, say, ENDA or DADT, or the HIV travel ban would. So be pissed off about /that/, if anything.
But really, to claim Obama is a total turn-coat because he’s done rather little for us in the first five months of his four-year presidency is hasty, to say the least. The economy, national security, and the wars are far more pressing issues for at least the first year.
InExile
No mention of this press release in the mainstream media????
Are we the only ones who know about this press release?
Where is the media coverage?
Angus
Pity he didn’t make it gay rights month.
timncguy
Many of you who are claiming that Obama has done nothing for LGBT equality during his first 100+ days are being unfair to Obama. He may not have done everything yet, but there are things he has done. Here is just a short list of Obama’s actual ACTIONS in regards to LGBT equality.
First, he modified the White House web site to water down the administration’s LGBT equality agenda.
Next, as a way to acknowledge the victory for marriage equality in Iowa, he made that victory the butt of a joke at the Annual White House Correspondants dinner in Washington.
Then, to acknowledge our disappointment with Prop 8 in CA, he turned the protesters outside of his CA fundraiser into the butt of yet another joke.
So, you see, Obama has actually taken action on LGBT equality issues. It just hasn’t been POSITIVE action.
So apparently Obama is taking a course of action that we would all recognize based on what our mothers taught us as children. That being… If you can’t say anything nice about an issue or a group of people, the BELITTLE them.
When the president makes LGBT equality the butt of jokes, it gives license to others to not take our issues seriously. You will all recall that when Obama made an appearance on the Tonight Show with Leno and made a joke about the “Special Olympics”, he was forced to apologize almost immediately. So, where was the apology to the LGBT community after his recent jokes about our equality? Crickets chirping….
The LGBT community is always told we need to be able to take a joke, not be so serious, not take offense so easily. Why wasn’t that the line taken with the Special Olympics?
Is respect for the Special Olympics more important than respect for the civil rights ofthe LGBT community? I guess so. You may say in Obama’s defense that the Special Olympics is CHILDREN. IT does good work to build up the self esteem of the participants. And you would be right. Of course, that would mean you have completely forgotten to acknowledge that the LGBT community is filled with teens with a suicide rate that is much higher than that of other teens. So, it must be OK to belittle the entire community with jokes at a time when you are taking NO ACTION to improve the state of civil rights for LGBTs and those teens who are a part of it.
It was Obama himself who said he would be a FIERCE ADVOCATE for LGBT equality. IT was Obama himself who said he would use the BULLY PULPIT of the President to advocate for LGBT equality. These expectations were not put on him by the LGBT community. These words came from his own mouth. And, what have we gotten instead? He has used the bully pulpit to make us the butt of jokes and has offered no apology for it.
InExile
@timncguy: Your points are VERY valid! It is easy to issue a press release with just words because words are just words. The Presidents actions are what he should be judged on.
When this press release came our yesterday it was great because it seems he broke his silence on LGBT issues. The problem is it is just a press release not a speech being replayed over and over by the mainstream media. Will the mainstream media add this to their rotation? So far it seems no. If only the gay community knows about this press release it does little to nothing to get congress moving. We need congress to move their ass for any meaningful change to happen. From yesterday’s article in the Blade regarding legislative time lines, it seems congress is taking their sweet time as usual. Equality delayed is equality denied.
Brett
Release Barabbas!
jason
Enough of the symbolism, Barack. We want results.
timncguy
A rather glaring omission from the proclamation. The action statement from this is as follows:
“I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Where is Obama himself in this call to action? Why isn’t he calling for these groups to work WITH HIM instead of work together?
Mark
Look at what just happened for the first time in this century and still the RAGING QUEENS tell us it’s not enough.
TAKE IT. Support this administration. They’re reaching out their hand. Take their hand and show them why we are a group that needs their support so they’ll support us EVEN MORE.
Remember, this admin has been asking for HRC to attend their briefings since they came into office.
Bush just ignored us. Support the Obama administration.
Fitz
@Mark: You have got to be kidding. We were not invited to the table, we are not part of his plan, and the Alan Alda, Prius driving liberals were very quick to throw us under a bus to get there man in. What he has for us is just shy of contempt, and I return the favor. At least Bush and his supporters had the guts to tell us that they didn’t like us.
Andrew W
Oh, come on, Queerty. I’ve been completely on your side about holding Obama’s feet to the fire on gay rights, but this may be the most wretched piece of pathetic have-your-cake-and-eat-it nonsense ever written on your site:
“We’re not going to say things like “this is just more lip service without action from the president” or “we don’t need someone who doesn’t believe in marriage equality to approve of our own pride celebration” or “you’re blatantly lying to us about efforts to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Shame on you. Either run the piece without comment, or run a comment, but don’t get all Fox News about it.
GJR
Look, on the one hand, it is significant, it is a bold statement. It is yet another place where Obama wrote down his campaign promises, making them even harder to back down from, even though DADT thing is a bit watered down, “Repeal it in a way that is beneficial..” That’s fine if it’s CYA language to get this thing through, it’s not if it’s CYA not to get it through. It is also worth noting that they at least see us as a force that must be listened to. Funny how the Sottomayor announcement happened the very same day as the Prop 8 ruling. Funny how Hillary came out with her benefits for same-sex domestic partners thing a day or so after that. And this is something that they seemed to have engineered in the space of time after the Prop 8 ruling. So we know that they know we are pissed and that we as a voting block must be listened to. That’s good. If this is a big first step, that’s very good, after all, the man truly has been in office 4+ months.
However, again, this is a nice soothing gesture but nothing concrete. In all but around 8 states or so, someone can look you in the face and say your fired for being gay. The DADT dismissals are still disgraceful (don’t like Dan Choi, fine, there’s an average of one person a day you can pick to sympathize with). Violence against LGBT people is getting worse. GLBT people lack proper protection against discrimination. Housing discrimination is rampant. We need civil union legislation if Obama can’t be for full marriages (and I am aware of the fact that he could have lost the election in certain swing states had he openly come out for gay marriage). So to make a long story short, this is great if it is a first step. On the other hand, if you are being beaten up, can’t marry the person you love, are being fired or kicked out of your home for sexual orientation, somehow clutching Obama’s proclamation on gay pride won’t help much. Soothing speeches are only helpful if followed up by real action.
Kevin
@Lee: Yeah, as someone who worked on Roberta Achtenberg’s SF Board of Supervisors and Mayoral campaigns, I wondered about that. Perhaps copy editors tweaked the original, which might have said something like the first President to have an LGBT nominee confirmed within the first 100 days? (Achtenberg was confirmed 124 days after Clinton’s inauguration.)
Andrew
“I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate our diversity, and to remember throughout the year the gay and lesbian Americans whose many and varied contributions have enriched our national life.” — President Bill Clinton, excerpt from 1999 proclamation recognizing June as LGBT Pride Month
I’m pleased Pres. Obama issued the proclamation. It’s sad, however, that Clinton’s first proclamation was a decade ago and we’re still in the same boat (on the federal/national level). We’ve made progress, no doubt, and I suppose we just have to hang on to that and keep looking forward and pushing.
Tony
@Chicago Jimmy
” Kinda like asking us to use a separate water fountain but pointing out that the water all comes from the same place. ”
Well put. Take that Obamabots.
David
As a Gay man that turns 52 on June 30th and someone who Buried my first Love and Partner in 1991 from Aids (we were together 13 yrs). I found out that marriage does matter I lost my home half my Income and The Insurance Policy that would have saved my home and allowed me to live without fear of being destitute. His family who was never there to take care of him or help they took the Insurance money and wondered why I wanted to attend his Funeral. I worked forty hours a week and was soul caregiver that meant hooking him up to IV’s once before going to work and then again by 6 pm the same day and then bathe him cook food for him and myself and then go and cry begging some Diety to give me strength. And then in 1993 after just existing I met someone was’nt looking who I’m still with we just Celebrated 16 yrs on April 24th which is the date of a Mass Wedding we took part in in Front of the Irs building by the Reverand Troy Perry that took place on the March on Washington I said all this to say That I have been with My Spouse as long as the President and his Wife have been together and I do deserve the same right as the President has so civil Unions are not the same and he needs to leave his prejudices at home so Please Mister President Do whats Right and what you promised Our Community I voted for you and campaigned for you and Donated to you so please Keep your Promises and Civil Unions are not Equal.
QICM
@GJR: That’s what I consider a reasonable reaction.
Queerty, perhaps you’d like the Southern Baptist take on this:
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=30597
Lonine
Seriously, I’m shocked that some of you people consider yourselves lgbt rights activists and yet you’re falling for the Democrats’ biggest and most successful trick in the book: drop some crumbs and let the queers think you’re on their side. Seriously, there is a HUGE difference between fighting for lgbt equality and making excuses for homophobes in the Democratic Party. We won’t move forward until you guys figure that out. In the meantime, let’s take it from previous civil rights activists on those who flip flop between support for equality and excusing homophobia:
MLK, Letter from a Birmingham Jail: “I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”
Brian Jones reads John Lewis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8QhaX7xi6Q
“We must say that “patience” is a dirty and nasty word. We do not want to be free gradually. We want our freedom NOW!”
CW
It’s absolutely mind-boggling to me that on both sides of the Obama hate train, people expect him to have changed the world in a matter of months. It’s unrealistic and unjustly judgemental of a man who is trying his best. Did you expect the second coming of Christ? For the love of God, he’s doing the best he can. The second people stop believing that anything good can happen is the second progress stands still.
I don’t care if you support him or not, at least show the smallest bit of support to someone who now has the arduous task of returning this country to some semblance of greatness. I couldn’t support Bush because he was –to but it frankly– an idiot. I respect the man for having to run an entire country, but in his two terms shit hit the fan like you wouldn’t believe –I suppose we have to considering that we’re sitting in the shit-spray caused by said fan-hitting. Give Obama a break; at the very least he’s acknowledging the legacy of our community and taking as many steps forward as he can.
Go ahead, bash me if you will. I don’t care. I just think it’s time that we stop putting our unrealized and unrealistic expectations on him if we won’t put them on ourselves. It’s not even been a year yet and people are already after his head. He certainly hasn’t made things any worse.
GJR
It is so time to end this “Obama is doing the best he can” bullshit. Um, no, that is not the case.
Let me share a shocking fact those who say that Obama is doing all he can and we little gay folks are less important: Obama does not run the government alone. That is why we have congress, senators, cabinet positions, lobbyists, advocacy groups and many other entities. Do any of you hear of a final date for the new health care reform or the Employee Free Choice Act? No, you don’t. But you hear everyday about there being committees on it, discussions are taking place. LGBT issues? Not so much.
So following the Warren / Robinson fiascos, what exactly occurred?
– Obama mentions the word Muslim for the first time in an inaugural speech, in reference to Muslims abroad and saying we need to repair relations with the Muslim world. I agree with and applaud that completely. However, should not LGBT in THIS COUNTRY WHO ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS, MANY OF WHOM VOTED FOR HIM have been mentioned as well? He mentioned different races and religions, yet we did not even get one single mention in the inaugural address
– Obama gave lukewarm and 11th hour support to the Hate Crimes bill, something desperately needed as hate crimes against LGBT folks have escalated
– Regarding DADT, first they tried to scrub the Whitehouse website and take away the mention of “repeal”, got shamed into putting that back in part through shaming by Rachel Maddow. Then they claim talks about ending DADT are ongoing, yet the Pentagon holds press conferences adamantly denying that is the case. So that seems to be BS. There was a bill introduced by my parents’ rep, Ellen Tauscher, on ending DADT but she got a promotion by the Obama admin and, waaah, the bill was not popular, so no one is rushing to pick it up. There is no freaking reason the Obama admin cannot get the ball rolling on DADT, even if results come in a year or more, as they have done with healthcare, getting out of Iraq and many other things. So sick of this argument that we are insignificant in terms of other problems. Bullshit. They can suggest legislation on DADT and deal with GM at the same time, they really can. Oh, and then there is the disgrace with Dan Choi, Victor Feuerbach and others. How about this as an idea – these people are important members of our military, Choi is a freaking ARABIC language specialist. So how about Obama issues a moratorium on DADT dismissals until this can be dealt with? He can use strange arguments like, um, WE ARE AT WAR and we need key military personnel
– So Prop 8 is upheld. Does Obama issue a simple press release saying that while is does not currently support the nomenclature of marriage, he DOES support civil unions and will work to get federal protection? Nope. Would have taken 10 minutes to reach out to the LGBT community to ease its pain, but no, Obama remained silent.
– In Iraq, gay men are being savagely murdered. Obama and Hillary remain silent.
– Ok, Iraq is very volatile. How about saying something that they should not arrest gay people in Senegal and Burundi? I think these countries could be made to see the light quickly with some sanctions from the US, but no, not a word.
– What about Jamaica? The most homophobic place on earth. What about the sate department issuing a travel advisory that it is not safe for GLBT people to go there (but we know that if you are a rich, white faggot, Jamaica will be happy to have you, it’s just the gay Jamaicans they will brutalize) – but the only way they will get what they are doing is horrendous is hit them in the pocket book. Obama admin does nothing.
– Civil unions? No discussion of that on the horizon.
– Ability to fire someone because they are gay in 30+ states. Nope nothing on that
– Housing discrimination, nothing on that.
Only things we have gotten: a nice press release yesterday, Hillary extending benefits to same-sex partners of diplomats and support of the UN resolution that countries should not illegalize homosexuality. That is pretty much it.
So please spare me this bullshit that Obama can’t do it all at once. He’s got armies of people helping him. He’s dealing with the economy, health care, the environment, Iraq, Afghanistan, improving relations abroad, he can sure as shit get the ball rolling on legislation, start serious talks with the military, start putting some real bills into committee to be voted on – even if the results come in a year or two.
Because we are fucking worth it now. No less than GM, no less than Muslims abroad who think ill of us, no less than cleaner fuels. I’m sick of pretty words, I want the start of some action.
Aen
And what about Obama’s “I believe that a marriage is between one man and one woman” and stuff? He’s just full of crap. Talk about LGBT discrimination when so-called homophobs get out in the streets and begin ripping LGBT of every “right” or “privilege” they had (as if they didn’t have enough privileges), and start vandalizing and threaten to set on fire everything that relates to them. Now that would be discrimination. What is seen now, sadly, is the reverse discrimination against hetero’s. FYI, APA recognized that there is no such think as a gay gene, and there isn’t a hint that gayness could be an inborn thing. Thus, there is no such thing as homosexuality, but a deviation from the norm instead.
And what in the world is there to be proud of? Is being a gay is a personal achievement? Pride my ass, Mr. President.
JJ
Equality? Where? Where’s my Straight Pride Month?????
LJ
A blind person is leading a blind nation heading toward the doomed end.
I will pray for him to open his sipritual eyes to see the direction this world is heading toward.
Thank you President Bush. You have fight a good fight for American, and for this world. You are the person after Lord heart.
unre construct ed
@PJ: You people are sin sick! Repent of your horrible sins. You are an abomination to Almighty God. He is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Sow wickedness and depravity, reap the whirlwind of hell eternally.
Repent and call upon the name of the Lord now before it’s too late. Jesus Christ came and died to save sinners of whom I am chief. He can save you as well if you will turn from your sins and love His commandments.
No hate
I am a strait male that thinks what happens in someones bedroom should stay there…I am not out there demanding that we have a Strait Man pride week. I
Its like the magazine Ebony…that’s OK…but if I started a magazine “Cracker” or Ivory…I would be labeled a racist.
My problem is, if I love the person but disagree with the behavior, I am considered a Gay hater. Why is that?
Marriage is a religious ceremony…why would someone who doesn’t believe in Christianity, want to be married. I understand that a civil union does not cut it because the rights are not guaranteed from state to state…but what about a federal civil union that carried the same rights as a marriage?
I have treated gay men that were dieing of aids and I cannot say that their partners loved them any less than I love my wife…but I still cannot comprehend gay behavior…why do I have to accept your beliefs and you will not accept mine?
A christian that cannot understand gays is considered an evil hatemonger yet a gay person that cannot understand a christian is OK. The comments made above prove to me that some proclaimed Christains are far from it…Jesus tells me to love everyone…even those I don’t understand. Their hate and “repent” crap is NOT christian behavior at all. Judge not..least you be judged…heavy words for people that do hate.
Not agreeing with the Gay community does not make me a hate monger…but that is what I am called by most gays…the message is always that I must accept you..but never the other way around. Until strait people can say “I accept you, but not your lifestyle” without feeling like they will be strung up by the gay community…the divide between gay-strait people will remain forever.
I had a great example from a Gay man…I worked with him in the ER for two years and did not know he was gay until I saw him with his partner at a work party…he didn’t hide it…but it wasn’t his whole identity either…he was a friend and a good man…that just happen to be gay as well. I also had a horrible example…an employee that sucked at his job…so I fired him…he claimed that it was because he was gay..but it was because he sucked at his job. Now I am gun-shy to hire a gay man again…if I have to fire him for poor work…it might be a problem. I am all for Hate Crime laws..there is no place for crimes based on hate but getting “special” protection hurts those that are openly gay. It like hiring a pregnant woman…you cannot discriminate…but her credentials will not seam as good as someone who is not. So when it comes to hiring…if there is a lot of “special” classes of people…it is just easier to weed them out in the beginning rather than risk a lawsuit
I think I am now one of the most discriminated class of people in the country. White-Conservative-Strait-Christian.
I only found this site because I was wondering if the “gay-pride” month declaration was a joke…as I though June already was “pride” month and someone created the declaration to stir up the right.
drew brown
@No hate: This is not a rational argument. We don’t live our lives based on your “beliefs” therefore we are repressing you? Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. You love who you want to love, and we’ll love who we want to love. That’s equality. No one’s asking you to do anything different in your life other than, well, be quiet and leave us alone. You can wake up every day and live your life EXACTLY the way you want to live it. You don’t have to do ANYTHING different. Marry who you want, go to your church, have a family, go to your job. We don’t want to change anything about that. Do us the same favor and stop trying to change the way we live our lives.
drew brown
@No hate: P.S. Marriage is not just a religious ceremony; it also comes with hundreds of specific legal rights and tax benefits. Anti-gay religious institutions will not be forced to conduct gay marriages. No one has EVER asked for that. All we want is the legal rights given to straight married couples, and, the ability to be married in gay-friendly churches (many of which are Christian, so stop claiming all of Christianity as anti-gay) that do believe that two men (or two women) can form a loving, married couple.
Aen
@drew brown: I think only an ignorant person can say “How does that concern you?” and will believe he/she is totally right about that. Look around you, ppl, try to actually dig into the issue and see for yourselves what “Gay agenda” has brought to the world. I see no positive influence. And you know, that’s right, if you’re gay and like to sleep with men, let it be so, but keep your preferences out of social life, and keep “the state out of church” – why should churches hold G/L ceremonies? Go and open your own thing and don’t bother people who don’t believe in that stuff. Why should a clinic pay millions to one damn lesbian who was denied in artificial insemination because that clinic was Christian (mind you, they redirected her to other clinic that could do the job, but noooo, she had to make a scandal out of that – discrimination FTW and crap like that). Why should E-harmony allow gays there if they were only for straight people? There are plenty of gay dating web sites. Besides, that’s a private organization, which means no one has any right to demand any modifications or changes to their services. Why the heck are gays allowed to say “it’s not your business what we do in bed” and then go ahead and force their friggin’ will upon private institutes and organizations, and individuals? Be happy we’re not ruunning around killing gays, ’cause only two things might be preventing us from doing it (if we stop and suppose that morality is not a universal standard, but a set of socially accepted choices, and throw those choices away – why should we obey something we didn’t invent?): our religion (that gays, and mostly gay activists, hate so much) and the lack of desire to rot in jail for a murder+hatecrime. Spare me, that’s just too much bullcrap to take.
Some stats: average gay person would have around 50 partners throughout his life, while a heterosexual would have around 4. The primary cause of AIDS is gay sex, which is then can be carried to their hetero-spouses or boy/girlfriends, and down we go. They need a good consulting first, not some marriage rights. That ain’t natural.
Why would a sermon based on Bible teachings, in church (it’s not like you’re being dragged there by force, is it?), would be marked as a hate-speech and be a subject to a court? After all, it’s not their business what we do there, so why do they poke their noses into each and every area of society? Even KKK is allowed to do the talkin’, and the normal church, which doesn’t do any harm at all, all of a sudden is the main hater and an enemy of all humanity? What’s so rational about that?
And what’s rationality and reason in pro-gay arguments? So far, I’ve only heard something that is aimed at people’s emotions. Emotions are not rational. I could be emotionally happy killing people and beating up babies, but anybody sane wouldn’t think that the presence of emotions is a good enough reason for those actions. Love is also not a good reason for actions. A 60-year-old pedophile could sincerely love his 6-year-old concubine. Is that moral/sane/right? A father and a daughter? A brother and a sister? A farmer and a mare? If that’s a choice that’s so important here, then why would most of people on the planet think it’s wrong to screw your own daughter/sister/brother/mother/father/son/dog/goat/mule/etc? That’s a choice, after all.
Aen
@drew brown:
Civil unions hold the exact same package of rights that go with ordinary marriage. A Catholic church had to close because gays began suing it for refusal to hold ceremonies for them. Does that concern us? Hell yeah it does. Gays are not victims, they are predators instead. With all those talks about love and tolerance, and all that stuff, they are really aggressive and hateful. I’m not saying all of them. Most of them + gay activists. If legal rights were the only thing they wanted, then there wouldn’t be so much fuss about all other aspects of social life, like what’s going on in public schools, army, universities and colleges; if gays were such a sweet folk they pretend to be on TV in interviews, there wouldn’t be beating up of people who stood for their beliefs (talk about tolerance here!) after Prop.8 passed in California. There wouldn’t be burning of churches and overall such a violent and barbaric response. How come I don’t see Christians threatening and beating up gays? How come it’s us, Christians, who took the way of peaceful reasoning, are portrayed as tyrants and oppressors? How come it’s like this, while it’s _us_ and _our_values_ that took the hit? Oh, maybe we should go out naked in the streets, have our own Straight Pride parade, jerk off out of our apartments’ windows, show lil kids our genitalia, crash any sign of gayness we meet along the way, and be the oppressors we are being portrayed as. Let’s have a truly equal response! It sounds like madness, doesn’t it? So, it’s normal for gays to do all of that, and it’s abominable for all the rest to do the same, huh?
That’s kinda a one-way “justice” I see here, don’t you think? If it’s just about civil rights, then what’s that extra gay stuff for? Gays like to compare themselves with black folks. Heck, if black people did the same that gays do today, there won’t be any black person in the USA, I bet. And the very reasoning that put a ban on slavery is now being denied by gays as a reason. Because the foundation of our freedom is Christian ten commandments, not a Folsom Street parade, nor it is for snotty emotions that the idea passed. If you deny that foundation, then there is really nothing that should prevent anyone else from violence on the level of reasoning.
“We just want the same rights” – that’s so old, people, do some research, there’s more to it that “just the same rights”. When thousands of adults and underage teens are being smuggled, raped and killed. Do I hear about that in the news that often? Heck no, it’s like those people are non-existent! And here one lesbian got raped by a Mexican guy, so there’s suddenly a havoc and accusations of hate-crime – that’s a friggin’ sensation! Gee, I’m sorry the girl got raped – that’s the experience nobody would want to happen to them or their close ones, but compare that to all of the other cases – it’s never been a world’s sensation when a straight girl got raped. It’s never been called a hate-crime when a straight person got raped or hurt by a gay person.
Where’s this friggin’ equality you all are talking about?