Obama picks Rick Warren for inaugural invocation, gay leaders furious

[Brittain33]

Would the gays rather we have no inaugural invocation? Any religious leader will most likely oppose gay marriage, as it is against most religions.

First of all, that's not true. There are plenty of liberal religious leaders who support gay marriage, including in major denominations such as Reform Judaism, the Episcopal Church, and the UCC. They may be a minority, but they are not heretics (although the Episcopal Church has some internal splits on it.) Even many religious leaders who do not perform gay marriages in their churches believe the state should recognize civil marriages between same-sex couples. 

The reason the pick of Warren is particularly irksome at the moment is because Warren was a strong supporter of Proposition 8, which in itself is not surprising, but he defended it this week by saying that Prop 8 was a "free speech" measure that, if it failed, would have criminalized pastors for saying that homosexuality wasn't God's favorite thing in the world.

That's either willfully ignorant or outrageously manipulative, and it's very offensive. If he said "I disagree with gay marriage because blah de blah," gays still would have been upset, but it would have been the normal kind of opposition we just have to get over because that's what you'd expect him to say.

This is like Donnie McClurkin. A symbolic gesture that needlessly insults Obama's gay supporters, but which doesn't carry any significance in the long run. We know Obama isn't going to be a fighter for gay rights. We hope he'll make some changes, though, based on the general tenor of his administration and his allies.

My hope is that this creates a small backlash that he responds to not by replacing Warren (inconceivable) but by appointing that lesbian as Secretary of Labor as many labor activists want. That would be some nice progress. For anyone who says it's tokenism, I say it matters a lot to have an openly gay person appointed to a high position because it has been considered a total block to career advancement in elected office until now and even now, and it would break a glass ceiling.

So that's my two cents. The Rick Warren choice is callous, and it's something I'll get over quickly.

[Brittain33]

It sets the tone for his presidency. If he's going to spend more time kowtowing to suburban evangelicals who will never support him regardless of what he does instead of constituencies that actually supported him, I for one will be very disillusioned. What's next? No ENDA? No repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell?

If he doesn't repeal DADT by 2011, he's in trouble with gay activists. There's a line in the sand there. How could he not make a policy move that has supermajority support among Americans? There's risk-averse, and then there's scared sh**tless...

[Brittain33]

Why are gays angry about Rick Warren when OBAMA DOESN'T SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE?

Because it's not a binary "support/oppose gay marriage" issue. Rick Warren campaigned for Prop 8 and spread misinformation about it, saying it was a free speech issue which would protect his right to say homosexuality wasn't ideal. He also compares homosexuality to incest, divorce, and other unpleasantries that we don't appreciate being lumped in with.

Barack Obama opposes gay marriage, but does so respectfully. Most gays recognize that's where the mainstream is for federal office these days, and he opposed Prop 8 quietly even though his views would have indicated he should have supported it. I suppose he could have opposed Prop 8 more vocally, and many gays believe he should have, but it's clear there were political benefits to his staying above the fray. Rick Warren, meanwhile, dove straight into the fray and used his star power against us.

[Brittain33]

Sorry, I'm not a puppet of the "Gay Rights Movement". I refuse to feign outrage about this useless issue.

Do you think anyone really expects you to, though? One lesson we learned from the Prop 8 campaign is that there is no effective or organized gay rights movement now, and it doesn't issue marching orders. Some people are upset, some aren't, some are in between.

[Brittain33]

But I think gay people are doing it all wrong, it's not changing anyone's minds on the issue. There's actually a hunger strike to protest Rick Warren doing the prayer. Jesus.

Let's look at a different angle here. This isn't about Prop 8 right now--it's about making sure Obama doesn't take us for granted, as he appeared to do by picking Warren for his invocation. If the effect of this is to jump-start Obama's commitment to gay initiatives other than marriage, it will have been successful.

Prop 8 is why people are mad at Warren, but it's not why people are mad about Warren's being chosen. That's all about Obama.

[Brittain33]

Gay people need to stop whining about every perceived wrong.  I mean Jesus H. Christ, shut up already.  Focus on the issues that matter, rather than these insignificant things.

Ben, you've expressed much greater anger recently about whether northerners respect the south or not, which is no less symbolic an issue.

[Brittain33]

Honestly, what I'm saying is that anyone surprised or disappointed by this has not listened to President-Elect's Obama for the last four years.

I'm not surprised or disappointed by this because it's a repeat of Donnie McClurkin and it is Obama's M.O. to do things like this. However, the fact that I'm not surprised does not mean that gays don't have a right to express our views on this and make sure he reiterates his moderate support for our causes, which he has expressed on many occasions short of outright supporting marriage equality.