Gay-rights Leaders’ Enthusiasm for Obama Subsides

Today’s Headline of the Day: “Gay-rights leaders’ enthusiasm for Obama subsides.”

Clearly, they haven’t seen the latest photos of him without his shirt on.

FILED UNDER: LGBTQ Issues, Uncategorized,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. caj says:

    I don’t understand why the gay supporters of PE Obama have supposedly turned against him…he has not changed his position on gay’s!!!!!
    If it is all because of his choice of Rick Warren I think they are really over stating their position.
    PE Obama has made his position clear as regards to how he views the gay issue…not for marriage, but for civil unions..has that changed somewhere along the line???
    Is there no room for him to have other people whether they be colleagues or in this case a minister who views may be different to his be involved in his life!!!
    Do we not all know or have people in our lives who have different views on things that are not our own….come on now let’s get real here.
    Whatever you think of Rick Warren and I understand he has some odd ideas even to me…at the end of the day the man is just going to give a prayer at PE Obama’s inuagaration!!!!
    What is the big deal for heaven’s sake!!!

  2. HiItsNino says:

    Obama has backtracked on don’t ask don’t tell, also. Typical politician, making promises on day and retracting them the next.

    Rick Warren saying a prayer at the inauguration is a huge blow to all Americans who want to see religious fundamentalism out of government. Could you imagine if he said some of the things he has said about gays or about Jews? The idea that Obama thinks its ok to have someone like that be a part of the inauguration shows his true depth of spirit.

    If he wants to “heal” the country from divisive politics he should stick with a truly uniting minister. There are plenty of excellent ministers out there who preach the word of God in a very personal way, without interjecting their opinions and prejudices into the message. Those ministers deserve a voice in this country, and the Warrens, Falwells, Dobsons, and Robinsons should all be banished to a country that believes mixing government with religion is a good thing. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Syria are more in line with their thinking than this country is. I am deeply disappointed in this decision, its not change.

  3. Anon says:

    Has he backtracked on DADT, or simply decided not to push it immediately upon entering office? If the latter, I think it is a wise decision, and actually increases the chances that he will eventually succeed.

  4. Joe says:

    He did revise what he said he would do so gays have reason to be suspicious, especially because blacks are so intollerant of gays. Black churches boarder on hate speech when it comes to gays. They have forgotten their own history and the way the bible was used to oppress them. A good reading of some Thomas Payne would do the blacks some good.

  5. markm says:

    Oh, I think enthusiasm for O will subside on many fronts once he takes office. He was voted in on emotion, across the board changes in Warshington, etc.. The bulk of what was said on the campaign trail, that got him elected, cannot possibly be made policy. His hands are somewhat tied.

  6. Anderson says:

    Tacky, JJ.

    Funny, though!

  7. Our Paul says:

    A while back, during the second National Debate with Senator McCain, Barak Obama had several clear openings to squish the GOP standard bearer. Instead, he would say (paraphrased, with the reader’s indulgence): “I agree with Senator McCain, but…” or “ Senator McCain has raised some valid points, but…”. I walked away from the TV in disgust, as I thought he was a wimp and losing the debate.

    We all know that, much to my and Frank Lutz surprise, the uncommitted and moderate voters swung to Obama during the three debates. That lead to a my own rule of thumb, which I offer the this group: Maybe, just maybe, Obama is smarter than I am…

    By picking a homophobic Pastor for the invocation, he has accomplished the following:

    (1) Forced the Nation to examine the issue of homophobia and brought attention to the Christian Right’s intolerance.
    (2) Shined a light on Pastor Rick Warren, who since has publicly modified his stance, and as reported, removed inflammatory homophobic statements from the web site.
    (3) Opened up a path to the obvious: Civil unions is a function of the state, marriage is a function of religion. Change the “Marriage License” to “Civil Union License” and the problem is over, as the state provides the conditions for such licenses.
    (4) Correspondent Anon is correct, by keeping the ball in the air, he allows those who are intolerant a voice, thus providing the groundwork to get rid of the odious Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell rule in our Armed Forces.
    (5) Subtly challenged the absolute nonsense that gay or lesbian unions will undermine the “Institution of Marriage.”

    The only down side I can think of is that some folks will have difficulty with the fact that pictures of Obama shirtless will show that he has no chest hair.

  8. ggjr says:

    I would guess that not one person in a hundred could tell you who any previous president chose for his invocation (with the exception that some might guess Billy Graham was there for one president or another). Its strange to see such a big deal being made about something that generally means almost nothing to most people.

  9. charles johnson says:

    Gay leaders are overreacting. But it’s true, Obama didn’t help himself by picking such a hateful bigot as Rick Warren. And Warren’s a lying hateful bigot too.

    The loudest christians always did seem to me to have the worst ethics.

  10. Franklin says:

    I lol’d at Joyner’s commentary.

    Regarding the lack of chest hair – I heard men waxing was all the rage for awhile.