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ALVIN McEWEN
The moment that everyone is talking about is Thursday night’s Republican debate, when audience members booed a gay soldier who asked a question about “Don’t Ask, Son’t Tell.”
And candidate Rick Santorum didn’t help matters by giving a sleazebag answer conflating gays serving openly in the military to sexual intercourse:
This piece is not a sell for Barack Obama, but a plea for the gay community to recognize who our true enemies are.
I know that so many of us are angry at the president because we think he has not moved fast enough on our issues. Fair enough. But those always ready to lodge a comment on how worthless Obama is forget one thing:
Electing Obama was only half the work.
Let’s be honest. So many of us expected that when Obama won, the sky would open, heavenly choirs would cascade down from the skies, and automatically the LGBTQ community would gain instantaneous equality.
It doesn’t work like that. It never has and it never will.
The mistake of so many of us in the community is the simple fact that we viewed Obama’s election as an end rather than yet another facet in the plan which would ensure our equality.
We sat back as if we ordered a meal in a restaurant and expected Obama, as the waiter, to bring us what we ordered, specifically to our specifications.
The struggle for equality is not that easy. Obama needed to be prodded to do the right thing, but instead of recognizing this simple fact, some of us complained about it.
I personally didn’t give a crap that he needed to be prodded. I did care that he responded to our prodding. You think “President John McCain” would have cared that several folks chained themselves to the White House fence? You think any Republican president for that matter would respond to any protest by Get Equal?
Of course not.
Thursday night’s shameful moment should send a signal to the lgbtq community that our equality is not dependent one person, no matter how powerful they are. Furthermore, if we are waiting for a magical moment such as when President Lyndon Johnson adopted the language of the civil rights movement during one of his presidential address in a show of solidarity, we are going to be waiting for a long time.
It’s time we stop expecting a hero and be our own heroes. It’s time we start talking into account the cold fact that our struggle for equality is like a game of chess.
And it’s time we stop pussyfooting and start mastering the game.
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Filed under: Views & Voices
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absotootly!
Alvin’s right. A constant question from str8 friends: “Why don’t you guys stand up for yourselves?” They rightly point out that we seem to keep waiting for someone else to ‘save’ us.
AMEN! Obama has been the best president to date for the LGBT community. We need to stop acting like royalty and be thankful for what he’s accomplishing. He does care, and that’s what matters. Many issues exist and he’s handling them well with us included. More than I could say from the comments of the hopeful candidates.
well said But If Pres.Obama want’s My “Re-election” Vote, He Need’z To “Kick it Up A Notch” Or Two In Defending The Gay Community! Or Better yet, Grow Some Bigger “Cajones!!” Coño!
ok ….
I definitely feel that Obama has done some great things so far. I was able to see first hand the training and movements to prepare for the repeal of DADT. I received an honorable discharge July 2011, so I was unable to see how everything will change for the future, but its a big step for us.
I found that booing totally offensive – just as disgusting as cheering for people being executed & those who should die because they have no access to health care.
When i saw this, i raged. I was like, what the fuck santorum! Do you even know what repealing DADT means?
Oh, and i really like how earlier in the debate, Santorum was like ” If i were president, i would follow the advice of my generals” when all the top military guys are advocating the repeal of DADT.
Fucker.
We can’t wait for our rights; we need to demand them. History has taught us that.
Exactly. Stand up and stop being told you are not equal.
GOP and TP are showing there true colors and it KKK!!!!$!!!!!!
Obama is doing his best considering the Assholes he have. To work with GOP TP
I totally agree with the author above. Obama had a lot on his plate when he came into office but he never forgot what he promised. It might have taken longer than most of us had hoped for, but we have to see him as someone who is on our side. He could have overturned ‘DADT’ with a pen stroke and issued an Executive Order, but he wanted Congress to overturn the law, the way it is supposed to happen. Lets remember that he is a constitutional lawyer. He needs a second term to finish what he started. We do live in a democracy and yet some of us expect him to act as a dictator and force his way on the American people. Would we really want that to happen just because we want all of the LGBT issues resolved that several other Administrations neglected? Be a little bit more patient, but speak up and write letters and e-mails to your senators and Congress people and other elected officials and spread the word to your families and friends, they all can help.
Repulicunts
The least of two evil is still evil. It is sad that a whole country is held hostage by two marketing companies which rivalize for powership instead of real leaders who will do anything possible in the best interest of all citizens. Yes, the best choice is to vote for Obama, but not because he does anything possible but because he is that least of two evils.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the 13 presidential candidates and their latest plans for DADT, equal pay for military personnel, DOMA, and related issues: http://www.marriageequality.org/Election2012
SO many things wrong with this article, but I’ll start with what’s right: addressing the almost universal ignorance of individuals in BELIEVING that ANY President will OR can do it alone AND wanting them to. BUT no army for change succeeds without a leader & HE PROMISED TO BE THAT LEADER: “Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership.” – Barack Obama, Job Application, February 28, 2008. Anyone who believes he has is a fool. Finally, HERE is ACTUALLY how the ***White House responded to those PEACEFUL protests: they sent THE SECRET SERVICE after us, along with Homeland Security that had already been watching GetEQUAL as if it were a TERRORIST group—EXACTLY what a Pres. John McCain might have done. Is BO better overall? OF COURSE, but pull your heads ALL the way out of his fairytale book. ***http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2011/09/22/emails-reveal-white-house-alerted-secret-service-to-dan-choi-getequal-protests-in-november-2010/
here’s our enemy the Catholic Church & NOMZIS sign the petition to take on that enemy http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-tell-archbishop-dolan-to-stop-obstructing-justice-for-rape-victims
Are you energized and excited about the 2012 Elections?
Most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, would answer no. Watching the Republican candidates “debate” on multiple occasions reminds me of how an elderly Hispanic woman described American food, “It is light brown, dark brown and green; and it all tastes the same.” Ron Paul, who advocates for an end to the “Patriot” Act, pulling our troops out of Afghanistan & Iraq, and ending American Empire, provided the only moments of interest. Sadly, these were offset by his views on healthcare and social programs that, if implemented, would push American society back to a pre-Theodore Roosevelt social Darwinism.
The Democratic side of the aisle provides all the spectrum of food service choice found in coach class on a budget airline. Apologists for President Obama, desperately trying to convince progressives to vote for him, resort to, “He’s better than the alternatives.” That alone is a comment on the President’s litany of half-measures and outright “Cave-ins” to Republicans.
We got Healthcare “Reform,” instead of a Single Payor or a National Healthcare PLAN. The “Reform” does not fully kick in for another two years and three months (too bad if you need health care before the kick in date) and requires Americans to purchase health insurance out of pocket, sort of like we are required to purchase automobile insurance out of pocket. Why are there so many “irresponsible” uninsured drivers? Because the poor cannot afford monthly automobile insurance payments, yet they still need to get to their part time jobs. The “public exchanges” and special subsides to the poor offer a complex and frustrating series of hurdles to people who are least equipped to successfully navigate such obstacles. Setting aside EPA laws, Financial “Reform” akin to requiring an additional fire extinguisher on the Hindenburg and reauthorizing George “W” Bush’s tax break to millionaires adds to an increasingly frustrating and seemingly inexplicable series of decisions by Obama.
Seemingly inexplicable, until you ask who benefits from all these policies “mistakes,” Corporations are awash in over two trillion dollars, while average Americans suffer a worsening second Great Depression. Essentially, American’s choices in the 2012 Election will boil down to Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum. A Corporation candidate who is also a social Darwinist, or a Corporation candidate who will offer limited concessions to progressives on “social issues.” Either way, Corporations will fund the candidate’s political campaigns and thereby continue to dictate America’s economic policies, energy policies, healthcare policies, and foreign policy. The rest is a sideshow between the teabaggers and social progressives meant to generate the illusion of democracy.
So, why did the media fail to cover weeklong protests on Wall Street by demonstrators demanding real economic reforms and real policy changes? Because Wall Street owns the politicians and the media and they don’t want you to realize you have it within your power to take your country back. Caesar’s old maxim, “Divide and Rule,” will continue to work until, like the demonstrators on Wall Street, the American people realize that their enemies are not fellow citizens with differing social views, but the Corporations who have foreclosed on their homes, force them to pay exorbitant fuel costs, outsource their jobs to third world nations, use the resultant economic depression as a license to eliminate the social safety networks of FDR while striping workers of collective bargaining powers, and substantively weakened the Bill of Rights through the “Patriot” Act.