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Monday, June 29, 2009

Homo / Politics Frank Rich's Column Yesterday

Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 11:35 AM

Frank Rich contrasted the bravery of Stonewall rioters—mostly street kids who'd been thrown out of their homes by their parents—with the cowardice of President Obama. Unlike their contemporaries, student anti-war protesters, the kids at Stonewall didn't have dorms to go back and student meal plans and parents willing to speak to them much less bail them out of jail. They had "no powerful allies of any kind, no rights, no future." But they had something President Obama lacks: courage.

No president possesses that magic wand, but Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking. So is his utterly uncharacteristic inarticulateness. The Justice Department brief defending DOMA has spoken louder for this president than any of his own words on the subject. Chrisler noted that he has given major speeches on race, on abortion and to the Muslim world. “People are waiting for that passionate speech from him on equal rights,” she said, “and the time is now.”

Action would be even better. It’s a press cliché that “gay supporters” are disappointed with Obama, but we should all be. Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened there 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.

Read the whole thing here.

 

Comments (6) RSS

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1
Practicality is not cowardice, Dan. I am as eager as you are for gays et al to be totally equal in this country, and I empathize at the outrage of being asked to "wait patiently just a little while longer," again, 40 years after Stonewall.
I just think it's too much to expect Obama to FIX ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WRONG ABOUT THIS COUNTRY, IMMEDIATELY, which seems to be the expectation that everyone is dropping on the guy in his first 6 months. As well as anyone else, I understand this impulse after 8 years of being mouth-raped daily by Bush & Co.
Obama doesn't want to piss off the people he needs in order to get health care and the economy fixed, so equal rights are temporarily on the back burner. It's just that simple. However, I've got a lot of faith in the administration to act meaningfully on this issue in the not too distant future.

I understand the frustration, but mistaking a prescient appraisal of political realities for cowardice (and engaging in hysterical name-calling) isn't going to change those realities any faster.
Posted by Commenty Colin on June 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM · Report
2
Maybe he's got bigger sh*t on his plate right now.
Posted by Blabby on June 29, 2009 at 12:50 PM · Report
3
Last I read, he was also doing jack-shit for health care and the economy.
Posted by maricona on June 29, 2009 at 1:06 PM · Report
4
It's easy to cite practicality and patience when it's not your rights that are at issue.

Straight democrats: imagine that today Obama made gay marriage legal and anulled all of your marriages. How patient are you feeling? Willing to wait for the evangs to warm up in a few generations?
Posted by spartacus on June 29, 2009 at 1:38 PM · Report
5
I agree with the practicality comment. The issue is a loser politically because most American voters don't sympathize with homosexuals on this issue. Obama, like any good politician, knows this. By not pressing on equality in gay marriage and the military ban, he is conceding there are more pressing and attainable agendas for his administration right now; i.e. the current economic shitstorm and the possibility of finally getting health care for everyone. I don't blame Dan for being pissed about it, but I also don't blame Obama for not wanting to spend his political capital on it. And really, the national economy, health care for everyone and undoing the Bush foreign policy horrors are more important issues than whether homosexuals can have 100% marriage equality and the right to serve openly in the military. At least, I think so.
Posted by Around on June 29, 2009 at 3:38 PM · Report
6
There's anger and impatience because Obama made promises for the support of gay voters and is now throwing them under the bus, just like Clinton. Of course they should be pissed. Give me a goddamn break.
Posted by Will Radik on June 30, 2009 at 3:46 AM · Report

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