Last night at Obama’s big gay $1,250 per plate New York fundraiser he mentioned how he’s helped repeal DADT, pass hate crimes legislation, ensure hospital visitation rights, opposes DOMA, and blah blah give me money, Born This Way joke, blah.
But the queerest part of his speech surprisingly wasn’t when an audience member proposed—um, Obama doesn’t support polygamy either, random audience dude. The queerest part was when he actually spoke about the New York Marriage Equality Bill; something he had been silent on up to now. Not that he said anything revolutionary. In fact, he said states should determine their own marriage laws and it’s good for New York to debate it (yawn, punt). But here’s that small segment for you nevertheless:
Ever since I entered into public life, ever since I have a memory about what my mother taught me, and my grandparents taught me, I believed that discriminating against people was wrong. I had no choice. I was born that way. (Laughter and applause.) In Hawaii. (Applause.) And I believed that discrimination because of somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people, and it’s a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded. I believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country. (Applause.)
… That’s why we’re going to keep on fighting until the law no longer treats committed partners who’ve been together for decades like they’re strangers.
That’s why I have long believed that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act ought to be repealed. It was wrong. It was unfair. (Applause.) And since I taught constitutional law for a while, I felt like I was in a pretty good position to agree with courts that have ruled that Section 3 of DOMA violates the Constitution. And that’s why we decided, with my attorney general, that we could no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA in the courts. (Applause.)
Now, part of the reason that DOMA doesn’t make sense is that traditionally marriage has been decided by the states. And right now I understand there’s a little debate going on here in New York — (laughter) — about whether to join five other states and D.C. in allowing civil marriage for gay couples. And I want to — I want to say that under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, New York is doing exactly what democracies are supposed to do. There’s a debate; there’s deliberation about what it means here in New York to treat people fairly in the eyes of the law.
And that is — look, that’s the power of our democratic system. It’s not always pretty. There are setbacks. There are frustrations. But in grappling with tough and, at times, emotional issues in legislatures and in courts and at the ballot box, and, yes, around the dinner table and in the office hallways, and sometimes even in the Oval Office, slowly but surely we find the way forward. That’s how we will achieve change that is lasting — change that just a few years ago would have seemed impossible….
There will be setbacks along the way. There will be times where things aren’t moving as fast as folks would like. But I know that he’ll look back on his struggles, and the struggles of many in this room, as part of what made change possible; part of what it took to reach the day when every single American, gay or straight or lesbian or bisexual or transgender, was free to live and love as they see fit. (Applause.)
Obama could have lead on this issue and told the New York senate to vote, but y’know… he has to get re-elected. Besides, he has never supported marriage equality—although his evil twin did. So now that you know where he stands, you ready to cough up some money for his re-election?
You know you’re gonna.
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.
Transcript by Pam’s House Blend.
robert in NYC
If he thinks its up to the states to decide on marriage equality, a civil right, then he’d have to concede that the civil rights legislation for African Americans should have also been left to the states in which case he would never have been elected or been allowed to run. This is nothing more than selective bigotry. How can he believe that civil unions are equal to marriage? If that’s the case, someone should ask him if he’d be happy having his marriage downgraded to a civil union and for the rest of society. My gut feeling is he and the rest of them would not be happy campers which would prove how unequal CU’s are. Besides, they’re not that portable once you leave the country.
christopher di spirito
The increasingly irrelevant President Obama discussed the New York marriage equality bill while attending a LGBT DNC fundraiser Thursday night.
He hid behind the cowardly, conservative argument of states rights is the definition for marriage. It’s shocking that I am forced to correct the President of the United States but marriage is a civil right and civil rights fall under the Federal definition.
Imagine that? America’s “first black president” making a states rights argument?
Politically Incorrect Thug
@christopher di spirito: Obama’s ignorance/disdain is no surprise regarding us. We’re a hot potato and the man has very sensitive hands. Plus, people seem to overlook the fact that he’s the most unqualified president this country has ever had, so what do you expect?
Matt
Ever since Obama said that his position on marriage equality is “evolving” he’s been speaking in not-so-subtle code that, for some reason, no one can pick up on. His opinion is “evolving,” he won’t come out in favor of marriage equality “yet,” and now this quote: “…and sometimes even in the Oval Office, slowly but surely we find the way forward. That’s how we will achieve change that is lasting — change that just a few years ago would have seemed impossible.”
Let me break this down for the class: he is saying in no uncertain terms that he personally supports marriage equality and that he will do so openly at some point in the not-too-distant future (whether before or after reelection is anyone’s guess). Lay off the man. He needs to do what he thinks is best for his political chances first and foremost because otherwise we end up with Romney (or Bachman or Palin, the list goes on). It sucks that there’s a game that needs to be played, but not playing it just makes things worse. He’s giving every clue he can short of smoke signals that he’ll openly support marriage equality soon. So do us all a favor: let it go for now. If he gets reelected and does nothing, then be mad at him (but still ackowledge that Romney would have been worse). Please, people. Think. Be reasonable.
Elloreigh
“So now that you know where he stands, you ready to cough up some money for his re-election?”
No.
christopher di spirito
Barack Hussein Obama is the first person in history of the world to evolve backward.
Years ago, in his Chicago political days, he supported marriage equality. His position is on the record and a matter of fact (just don’t tell Joe Solmonese.) But, when Obama decided to climb the political food chain he knew being pro-gay marriage is an untenable position if he intended to one day run for president.
Obama threw the LGBT community under the bus as quickly as he could.
What’s amazing to me is, the New York champagne queers actually forked out $1,500 to hear this cat tell them their equality is best left up to the states. Unfucking real.
ewe
Obama is very good at catering to various sides but catering is not leading. His speech was disgraceful.
ewe
and HRC has finally lost me.
Jeffree
The opposite of “evolution” is “devolution” The state between them, where nothing changes, is “stasis” in the natural world, and “status quo” in legal terms….or something like that. (These dang word-of-the-day calendars sure don’t help much!)
It’s not like he’s competing against an unknowable position on the part of the Republican nominee: whoever it is will oppose marriage equality.
He’s probably busy doing the electoral college calculus on the back of a napkin, trying to figure out how many votes he’ll gain or lose if he does nothing versus takes a position. Then factor the contribs. into the math…
He’s not getting a peso from me, that’s for sure unless he steps up on ENDA or marriage equality.
Pitou
@Matt: STFU. He was already elected and dropped the ball on 2 of the MOST important pieces of LGBT legislation. SSM & ENDA. Both of which should have been done well with-in his first term, especially if he’s looking to us to fill his coffers and vote for him.
Sit down and eat your crumbs.
Ted B. (Charging Rhino)
Don’t forget that he also still hasn’t ended DADT either….it’s still Federal Law and in the UCMJ. The implementation and certification are still pending, and the revised UCMJ still isn’t law.
Politically Incorrect Thug
@Matt: Funny how you hyper-liberals are the only people on the planet who think Sarah Palin is running for president. My guess is there will be a lot of lefties going through hate withdrawal when it becomes clear she won’t be running. But I suspect there’s a rehab for that; just ask Tracy Morgan, Anthony Weiner, etc.
robert in NYC
So who among the republicans running for the presidency favors marriage equality just to even the field? Ron Paul may claim to support it, but he’s not supporting it at the federal level because his Civil Libertarian (alternate republican) party doesn’t believe in big government involved in marriage as the state governments do. As long as republicans control state senates, forget about marriage. Ask a straight republican or an oxymoronic conservative democrats why they thinks civil unions are equal to marriage and if so, would they opt for one rather than marriage, and if not, why not? What if marriage were abolished and substituted with civil unions. How many of them would be happy about that? If not, why not, if they now currently claiming that they are equal? I bet you Obama wouldn’t be happy about it or any straight republican for that matter. It would prove this is all about bigotry, hypocrisy and dislike of gay people, nothing more.
robert in NYC
Correction…….”ask any straight republican or oxymoronic convervadems why they think civil unions are equal to marriage….”.
Matt
Ok, to the people who seem to hate me so much, answer this: is Romney better? Because that’s the alternative (and for the record, no I don’t actually think Sarah Palin is running, nor would she be a serious contender if she did).
Everyone wants Obama to be some sort of hyper-idealist who delivers everything instantly. It’s just not possible. You’re all biting the hand that feeds. You’re ignoring the (admittedly slow) actual progress he’s made because he hasn’t instantly delivered everything with one stroke of a pen. It NEVER works that way. I’m not saying I’m happy or that anyone else should be, but to act like he’s some sort of villain is just absurd, especially when there are a slew of actual villains itching to take his place. We all seem to forget that we are a small and risky portion of the overall voting base, and even straights who are pro-marriage equality probably generally don’t care enough for it to influence their vote. Would you rather Obama endorse marriage equality and then lose to some asshat Republican?
Seriously, rather than calling me hyper-liberal (how would you know?) and making cracks about enjoying crumbs, why doesn’t someone take it upon themselves to tell me what the alternative that I’m not seeing is. Your choices, in all likelihood, are Obama and Romney. If nothing else, think of this. Which one do you want replacing the next couple of SCOTUS justices when they retire? But no, Obama’s the devil. Let’s all withhold support and vote Repblican. I’m sure Romney will get DOMA repealed and ENDA passed. I’ll bet it’s right at the top of his agenda.
robert in NYC
Matt, I’m a Green, but I’m sure as hell not going to vote for any republican and their side-kicks the Civil Liberarians. None of them support big government which means they wouldn’t want the Supreme Court ruling on repealing DOMA or favoring marriage equality. I’d like to know which pieces of equality legislation, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, John Huntsman are going to author during 2012. Any of them campaigning for marriage equality? Of course not, not even Ron Paul. Its all very well bashing Obama about it, but lets hear from them, what is the other side doing about it if they’re so inclusive of gay people? I hope some of our people are allowed to address the GOP convention next year and let’s see just how inclusive their party really is.
christopher di spirito
@Matt: You opine, “Everyone wants Obama to be some sort of hyper-idealist who delivers everything instantly.” Not at all. I just want to see Obama do more for the LGBT community at a substantive level. It’s quite clear to everyone now who has been paying attention to Obama that he never had a template to advance LGBT rights and concerns. You may be all too happy to give him a pass but some of us realize that in politics, if you don’t keep these guys feet to the fire and hold them accountable, they do as little as possible. Like Obama.
tjr101
Will I donate money to his re-election campaign? Probably not. Will I vote for him again, hell yes!
I don’t believe in voting green or any other third party, might as well throw the ballot in the trash.
Even if I didn’t like Obama, I will still vote for him just to keep out any Republican from the White House, because guess what? They’re a lot worst. No one is giving Obama a pass, but the irrational bitching anytime his name is mentioned on this site is tiresome and achieves nothing.
A perfect example of the consequences of sitting out an election or voting GOP is now being seen in the NY senate where the Repugs control the floor and are using all tactics to prevent SSM.
No fools you didn’t teach the Dems anything by sitting out the elections last November!
Matt
@christopher di spirito: 1) Obama has not done as little as possible. DADT repeal, the decision to no longer defend DOMA in court, and offering benefits to the partners of federal employees, for example, had fairly little upside for Obama. That’s not “as little as possible.” It’s just not as much as you (or I, in fairness) want. Which brings me to 2) holding Obama accountable is one thing, and it involves putting pressure on him to do more. It does not, however, involve tanking his reelection campaign and acting like he’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to gay rights. By all means, keep up the pressure. Just be realistic about it. The point that no one wants to respond to is this: if we sabotage Obama, we’re stuck with a Republican and regardless of what you think of Obama, that will be worse. Look at the last congressional election: a bunch of people disillusioned with Democrats in congress (including a shockingly high percentage of gay voters) decided to vote Republican, and now that everyone has realized that that was a bad idea, we’re stuck with it for at least a couple of years. And now we’re in danger of repeating the same process with Obama. And to be honest, he’s not as bad as people on Queerty tend to say. He’s no savior, but he’s been a fair amount better than anyone in the past, and is still a fair amount better than any alternative.
WillBFair
@Matt: Dude. Forget trying to reach these people. They fall into a couple of types.
There’s the far left, for whom nothing is ever good enough, but who actually work to make things worse in order to have something to complain about. The Greens who voted for Nader are in this group, and those now who won’t vote democratic. They not only have emotional issues, they don’t understand the two party system or third grade arithmetic.
There’s another self destrctive crowd, gay men full of internalized homophobia. They’ve been sabotaging our movement for thirty years, first in their non response to hiv, endless strategic blunders over the years, and now over at JMG where they sit around all day spitting venom at our freinds in the liberal church.
You can’t reach either group because of their emotional issues. And they have a ton of rhetorical games to dodge the issues and hook you into their circular bull—-.
robert in NYC
tjr101, I’m with you!
Ganondorf
Soooo,
He believes that separate but equal is equal.
v,
He believes that separate but unequal is equal (civil unions and domestic partnerships vs. marriage, or the, “you can marry, just to an opposite sex partner” defense).
v,
3. He doesn’t believe that marriage is a civil right.
Since his rhetoric doesn’t rule out any of these (and their contraries), one can conclude that he doesn’t have an opinion on marriage equality. In any event, he’s business as usual (in the words of one commentator, has crafted and spearheaded some of the worst legislation since jim crow in terms of taxpayer giveaways to private monopolies), and I won’t be voting for him again. It’s not a question of when the patient dies, or the quality of the patient’s life up to its death–the patient is dying.
christopher di spirito
@WillBFair: WillBFair proclaims: “There’s another self destrctive crowd, gay men full of internalized homophobia. They’ve been sabotaging our movement for thirty years, first in their non response to hiv…”
I just love it when the GOProud crowd engages in revisionist history.
Listen Nitwit, thirty years ago, at the start of the HIV epidemic, it was none other the braindead, Saint Ronald Reagan who refused to listen to doctors, the NIH and members of the gay community, who pleaded with him to support increased Federal funding for research and treatment before hundreds-of-thousands of HIV patients in the U.S. got sick and died.
You’re free to post this shit but be prepared to be called on it. Next?
fredo777
Crumbs, indeed. I’d prefer a sandwich to crumbs. But, I’d prefer crumbs to poison. Sadly, it seems our most likely 2012 menu will consist of the latter two choices. Le sigh.
Liberal democrat though I am, I’d gladly vote for a 3rd-party candidate that supported SSM if I genuinely thought they had a shot at winning, but since that isn’t realistically going to happen in the near future, here we are.
Red Meat
I have to say, reading these post, I am starting to realize how stupid gay people are. The choice is simple, choose the lesser evil. Obama will hurt us less than any republican running for office, voting for the republican does not show the effect of the “gay vote” as many think it does. It shows quite the opposite, which will put us back in the “they don’t matter” “easy flip-flop” category.
I guarantee you, this is the 2000 election all over again. Gay people went for Bush because Clinton was a democrat and he did nothing for LGBT. This Republican win showed just how unnecessary it is to cater to the gay vote, who just flip-flops every election. The gays voted for Kerry in 2004 in huge numbers yet he still lost. Just to remind everyone out there that our presence is minimal and not anything remotely close to being a deciding factor.
So wtf am I going on about? Fucking stick to one party (sensibly the one that hates you less publicly). And the other side won’t have a choice but to try and be more inclusive, especially if they are on a loosing streak. This is my opinion and I believe it no matter what anyone else thinks or says. I have read enough on political history to see the patterns.
Shannon1981
Lesser of two evils. I realize that Obama has to play his cards right to get re elected. Not wasting a vote on third party shit, they will never win, they only exist to split. And certainly not voting for a Rethuglican’t. Obama or Bachmann? You choose. I’ll tell you which one doesn’t equate your civil union(yes, unequal to the straights but still) with marrying a dog or a clock or incest or something else equally apallingly ignorant and offensive, not to mention dangerous.
CJ
I agree, there currently isn’t a better choice in 2012 than Obama concerning LGBT equality. There are a couple of GOP guys that are rather LGBT friendly in some ways. But, the verdict is still out on whether or not they are even remotely able to get the GOP nomination.
That being said, this president wants to let civil rights be decided by the states? He believes that civil rights should be “debated” just like they are in NY? That’s about the rudest and most anti-constitutional remark he could make in an attempt to appease the LGBT community. Civil rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution. That’s not something that anyone should be debating on. We need leadership Mr. Pres. Didn’t you study law? Weren’t you a professor? Aren’t you yourself a minority?
derrick9
@christopher di spirito:
Can I say HOW THRILLED I am that the first black president is making these white entitled bitches wait?
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
derrick9
That’s right. Bring up the fact that Obama’s a minority. Call it out white bitches. LMAO! And you STILL have to wait.
See, that’s what you get for making it about what you THINK he owes you. Serves your asses right. Well here’s a secret: You’re gonna have to wait a whole lot longer. Marriage is on the eight year plan.
Not the white queen I want it now because I do plan. Welcome to politics girls. Now whip out those Obama 2012 signs and make sure you go to black neighborhoods door to door asking them to support Obama.
Because we all know what happened last time you ignored the black community for something you felt they OWED you…yea, Prop 8. You have to tell folks face to face you need their support.
That’s what you all need to be doing in seeking Obama’s re-election. And you might as well go on and accept it cause that’s the only snowball’s chance in hell you have of Marriage Equality ever seeing the light of day.
WillBFair
@christopher di spirito: Dear, I was there, as was Larry Kramer and others fighting to get the community to deal with the crisis. Their response was that mindless, unsafe humping was a key part of our culture, which we shouldn’t change. They spat profanity at us everywhere, in discusssion groups, in the gay press, etc.
Like yours, their line was to blame everything on Reagan, who had nothing to do with anything. There was no treatment at the time. We knew the transmission method and could have stopped the spread in seconds flat. But again, the emotionally stunted always blame others for their own irresponsibility.
Now, thirty years later, barebackers can spit their bull—- on the blogs without being shouted down. We still haven’t stopped the spread. And you want to blame a President who’s been dead for some ten years. Please.
ronbo
Now that Obama has seen what real leadership is like, maybe we can see if he is just incompetent leader or a lyin’ jackass. At this point it is “either / or” – no more excuses!
My hat is off to Gov. Cuomo. My back is turning to Obama.
jason
The reason why Obama won’t come out in support of gay marriage is simple: he doesn’t want to offend his socially conservative constituency, the blacks. The black community, on the whole, is very socially conservative when it comes to gay rights.
Note also how Obama hasn’t responded following the gay marriage win in New York. I certainly won’t be giving him any money and nor will I give the Democrats at the federal level any money. I’ll be giving my money to Cuomo.
An Ella Fan
@Matt:
Quote: “Let me break this down for the class: he is saying in no uncertain terms that he personally supports marriage equality…… Lay off the man. He needs to do what he thinks is best for his political chances first and foremost because otherwise we end up with Romney (or Bachman or Palin, the list goes on). It sucks that there’s a game that needs to be played, but not playing it just makes things worse. He’s giving every clue he can short of smoke signals that he’ll openly support marriage equality soon.”
Break it down for em Matt! Reading some of the histrionics posted on Queerty, one would think Obama has done absolutely nothing for gay advancement. There is plenty more that needs to be done, no doubt, but to act as if Obama is the absolute worse regarding civil rights is asinine and disingenuous.
I think Obama has subtly indicated his support for gay marriage. The man seems to be subtle, pragmatic and definitely on our side. But, if he was as loud and vociferous as some Queerty posters want him to be – he would lose the popular vote and not be returning as president-elect. Republicans, anyone?
I agree with you Matt. There is more he can do, and perhaps he will. We need to keep pressing, but we also need to realize that – as much as it sucks – there is a political process.
Adman
@christopher di spirito: This is what you get from a fucktard who gets his info in his “liberal church”. All those straight people, sitting around him in a circle, all doe-eyed and faux concerned. Who wouldn’t just sign over their sentience and backbone to that? It’s drawing tears from me as I type. Oh, the humanity, wasted on you faggots! **sob**, ((sniffle)). (Pukes in wastebasket.)
ThankGod
@Matt:
A bright, clean voice of reason. This president has shown the most support for gays throughout U.S. history and apparently it’s still not enough. I love the selective reference and alliance to African-American civil rights but the obvious glossing over the TIME it took legally and socially to gain a (somewhat) equal status.