Obama Calls For Equality For ‘Our Gay Brothers And Sisters’

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM



PEMA LEVY 12:10 PM EST, MONDAY JANUARY 21, 2013

President Obama called for the equal treatment of gay Americans in his second inaugural address Monday.

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," Obama said.

Obama also included a mention of the Stonewall riots in a list of civil rights movements:

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

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Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-calls-for-equality-for-our-gay-brothers

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Link Full Text Of Obama’s Second Inaugural Address:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/full-text-of-obamas-second-inaugural-address

[Politicub]

1. He spoke truth to power for LGBT rights

And it's etched in history for all posterity.

[Glorfindel]

2. He fills me with pride and gratitude

I never expected to live to see this day.

[Roarybeans]

3. Equality

The speech we have been waiting a lifetime for. I could not believe my ears. I remember struggling to get a mention in the Michigan Democratic party platform in the late eighties without actually being able to use the the word "gay." We had to substitute it with the word "human." For those of us who were in the movement in the seventies and eighties it took my breath away to be seen and acknowledged in a Presidential Inaugural address. I was humbled by the degree with which we have moved forward in my lifetime. America, land of dreams.

[JudyM]

5. True that, it is positively stunning how far we've come in the past several years.

I was jolted when he mentioned Stonewall, filled with emotion.

Welcome to DU, Roarybeans!

[Politicub]

16. +1

And welcome!

[FreeState]

4. K&R

[Tx4obama]

6. Equality for ALL: ...Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall...

-snip-

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

-snip-

[Cha]

7. I love this President for

mentioning Stonewall in his 2nd Inauguration Address. FORWARD!



http://theobamadiary.com/

Thank you, DV, for the links

[QC]

8. K&R

[tidepooler]

9. May 2013 Be Our Year! n/t

[Victor_c3]

10. :toast: that makes me very excited

In a way I feel like a poser or like I'm just jumping on the bandwagon of gay rights, but since becoming a father I've found the LGBT movement has taken on a very real meaning to me. Sexual/gender orientation of my children would never impact my love for them and, passing on those feelings to the rest of our citizenry, I don't see how or why it should matter with how I respect or treat anyone else.

I'm a poser in that I've never had to actually stand up and get beat up or spit on for my pro-LGBT opinions like many have. I've never faced any danger at all because of who I loved or how I felt about my gender. I'm deeply saddened by the silence or the occasional use of the word f** I've used in the past. I never actively persecuted my LGBT peers, but I've stood silently in the past and watched while other have. For much of my life that silence made me an enabler for the hate and mistreatment of the LGBT people around me.

However, I'm turning into a not-so-silent majority that will stand up and help perpetuate the struggle to its finish. (and that is all due to the hard work and the danger that those before me faced when the opinion of America was very anti LGBT).

Anyways, how appropriate it was for our president to mention civil rights and the LGBT struggle during his inaugural address on Martin Luther King Day.

[Tanelorn]

11. Wow. What a big call this was .

Obama laid out quite an agenda Climate Change, equality for women and gay rights. Again WOW

[OKNancy]

12. kick!!!

[Maven]

13. Thank you Mr. President

K&R

[Danmel]

14. I was stunned by the reference to Stonewall

I always felt Pres. Obama was somewhat ambivalent about gay rights- that reference knocked my socks off-it seems he really does get it. We have a few friends with gay children-their hopes for their kids and our hopes for our kids are the same- that they will find happiness and love and purpose in their lives. It was a proud moment for America. We have come a long way rather quickly. Let's hope the Supreme Court agrees.

[Hekate]

15. Episcopal Rev. Dr. Luis Leon belongs to a gay-affirming church, as well

Sheesh -- why couldn't the Inaugural Committee have chosen him first?

Saint John's Church's is gay-affirming and blesses gay and lesbian unions

although now at least I understand why Giglio was tapped:
Giglio was chosen to perform the benediction largely for his global anti-slavery campaign, which drew strong support from President Obama,
http://global.christianpost.com/news/episcopal-gay-affirming-pastor-chosen-to-replace-louie-giglio-for-obama-benediction-88363/#uXTMfWvECE62kOoE.99

Altogether the entire Inauguration was just wonderful.

[Science Geek]

17. I couldn't be any prouder of President Obama and Vice President Biden.

Never in my LONG life, have I felt better about voting for anyone.
And never have I felt more optimistic about being on the way to a more perfect union.

I could gush at length, but I think that about sums it up, at least for me.

[Radical Progressive]

18. "just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall"

Definitely the most memorable line in his speech. It was powerful because he was connecting women's rights, African American rights, and gay rights, are all connected in the fight and struggle for equality in the USA.

[nightscanner59]

19. I'm just getting happier and happier and happier about having checked that little box

and happier that 65,899,660 other Americans did too.