Barack Obama

How else do you explain away the good senator’s decision to sacrifice gay and lesbian rights on the altar of the almighty voting block that is the right-leaning southern African American Christian constituency?

Barack Obama is asking that we accept him as a champion of LGBT rights and a friend to the community. But that ship simply does not float. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have friends that blatantly disrespect me or force me to question their allegiance. Call me crazy, but I like friends that are straight shooters, something Barack Obama has now proven himself to be anything but.  

I never thought I’d say this, but Mr. Obama’s duplicitous stance on gay and lesbian rights circa the Donnie McClurkin controversy has given me something of an appreciation for George W. Bush’s no-nonsense approach to politics. I may not agree with a thing that comes out of curious George’s mouth, but at least he doesn’t piss in my cornflakes and tell me that he filled the bowl with whole milk. No sir. If there is a good thing to be said about President Bush it’s that he will tell you he’s going to piss in your cornflakes, then he will actually piss in your cornflakes and then he will hold a press conference defending his right to piss in your cornflakes. There’s no deception. It’s honest and clear… whether you like it or not. With Obama that is unfortunately not the case.  

According to the Washington Post, after the “Embrace The Change” concert in South Carolina featuring Donnie McClurkin (who attempted to portray himself as being vilified for words that he wrote), Senator Obama’s crack damage control team gave reporters a three-page memo detailing McClurkin's and Obama's views on gay rights that noted in capital letters "MCCLURKIN DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE GAYS AND LESBIANS WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR LIVES AND HAS CRITICIZED CHURCH LEADERS WHO DEMONIZE HOMOSEXUALS," along with quotes detailing those statements from the singer.  

The next paragraph then stated "OBAMA DOES NOT AGREE WITH MCCLURKIN'S VIEWS ON GAYS."  

Clearly the senator from Illinois could have done with a bit of the sage advice my grandmother gave me when I was growing when she said, “you can’t please all of the people all of the time” and that “you got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”  

Barack Obama’s shameful dance this past weekend was akin to a dangerous balancing act that literally fell flat. This debate is not about political differences on issues like balancing the budget, improving education, entitlement programs or foreign trade.

What Obama is balancing is the fundamental recognition of the rights of an entire slice of America that cuts across all racial, social and economic boundaries. There is no quid pro quo. Either Obama believes that gay and lesbian Americans deserve the same rights and privileges as all Americans or he does not. It’s a simple choice and Senator Obama has blatantly shown that he does not value gay and lesbian voters as much as he does his Christian constituency in the south, so the LGBT community should now stand up, go to the polls and show a vote of no confidence in his ability to represent not only our interests but the interests of America as whole.  

Think of it this way. Would you expect a person of Jewish heritage to support a presidential candidate who enlisted the services of a Nazi sympathizer to secure votes, even if that candidate passed out a few flyers denouncing the beliefs of that particularly heinous representative? Hardly. Or would you expect women to support a presidential candidate who recruited a known misogynist to attract male supporters, but public expressed vehement disagreement with that individual’s views about women? I don’t think so. So why should the LGBT community be asked to behave any differently?  

By denying our humanity and our equality, Barack Obama spat in the face of gay and lesbian America this past weekend and then put out his hand and begged us to shake it. That’s one peace offering I will gladly decline because I don’t think he should have a place at our table or be welcome in our homes or in our community any longer.  

I only hope that the rest of gay and lesbian America will feel the same.