Obama interview with The Advocate!

[Coexist]

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail.asp?id=53285

Both you and your wife speak eloquently about being told to wait your turn and how if you had done that, you might not have gone to law school or run for Senate or even president. To some extent, isn’t that what you’re asking same-sex couples to do by favoring civil unions over marriage, is to wait their turn?

I don’t ask them that. Anybody who’s been at an LGBT event with me can testify that my message is very explicit -- I don’t think that the gay and lesbian community, the LGBT community, should take its cues from me or some political leader in terms of what they think is right for them. It’s not my place to tell the LGBT community, wait your turn. I’m very mindful of Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where he says to the white clergy, don’t tell me to wait for my freedom.

So I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn’t be equal because there’s a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it. I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I’m operating. And I’ve said this before -- I’m the product of a mixed marriage that would have been illegal in 12 states when I was born. That doesn’t mean that had I been an adviser to Dr. King back then, I would have told him to lead with repealing an anti-miscegenation law, because it just might not have been the best strategy in terms of moving broader equality forward.

That’s a decision that the LGBT community has to make. That’s not a decision for me to make.

I really love the above snip from the interview. The rest is also great. Please go on over and read it.

[Debi]

1. Thanks for posting. n/t

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd! Thank you. nt

[Hissyspit]

3. From today. n/t

[uponit7771]

4. The new MsM talking point: Obama is too perfect, doesn't mistep enough, might be a robot...

His answers are dead on.

[Bluebear]

14. 'His answers are dead on.' Not to this gay voter, thank you.

[Kittycat]

5. Excellent response.

[DU9598]

6. Great quote

As a gay man, I can respect his statement ... especially since I was at a GLBT event early on in Des Moines where he was confronted - quite angrily - by several people and he was very honest and direct.

BTW - I thought Obama didn't talk to the gay media ... proven wrong, huh?

[Coexist]

15. I am glad you think so.

[kid a]

7. Please, Obama..Stop Making Sense... nt

[uponit7771]

10. lol!! ....yeah, it scares the children

[Catherina]

8. That's excellent. n/t

[merh]

9. He shatters yet another false premise used by his opponents

to smear him.

Now they will say "words, just words" - sure they may not be the million HRC says a day, but they are true and rational.

[redqueen]

11. Thanks for posting this...

:hi:

[xchrom]

12. and here it is again --

there is no conversation to be had with donnie mcclurkin or anyone like him -- it's wrong, period.

mcclurkin isn't a passive threat to the gay community -- he is an active threat to the gay community.

as are others who preach hate -- or in any way try to justify their active participation in continuing discriminatory beliefs about lgbtiq people.

obama paid donnie and the other gospel acts to inroduce himself to south carolina -- it was divisive and participated in donnie's active threat lgbtiq folk.

having said that -- i think obama is going to be the next prez -- and obviously people have made up their minds by this time.

and nothing i say will change anybody's mind who is now for obama.

but i don't like it -- and there has been no apology -- and his reponse here is weak.

so be it.


'I tell you what,my campaign is premised on trying to reach as manyconstituencies as possible, and to go into as many places aspossible and sometimes that creates discomfort orturbulence. This goes back to your first question. Ifyou’re segmenting your base into neat categories andconstituency groups and you never try to bring them togetherand you just speak to them individually -- so I keepthe African-Americans neatly over here and the churchfolks neatly over there and the LGBT community neatlyover there -- then these kinds of issues don’t arise.

The flip side ofit is, you never create the opportunity for people tohave a conversation and to lift some of these issues up andto talk about them and to struggle with them and ourcampaign is built around the idea that we should allbe talking. '

[Bluebear]

13. "The rest is also great" - even the finale, a fresh justification for McClurkin's anti-gay sermon

Whatever.