Because of the passage of Proposition 8--which candidate Obama did but little to resist and belatedly--November 4, 2009 was bittersweet for literally 10,000s of LGBT Obamaniacs who'd given countless hours and dollars to Obama 2008.
"Well," many LGBT supporters of Obama said to each other with a tired grin at election-watching parties that night, "at least there is the inauguration to look forward to!"
Now the President-elect has again pulled a Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary moment. There will be not one out gay person on stage at the inauguration. But, there will be Rick Warren, a leader of the religious right who described himself as no different than James Dobson except in tone.
This situation reminds me of the occasional production of Aida at the Met when the elephant is brought out during the otherwise stirring "Triumphal March," and then proceeds, under that hallowed proscenium, to take a giant shit on the stage.
Here are two things you can do to protest the Warren:
- Each of us can contribute to the Repeal Prop 8 campaign. Click here.
- And on January 20th, "Turn Your Back On Rick."
My friends Bob Zuckerman and Connie Ress have created a group on Facebook, Turn Your Back On Rick. From the Facebook page:
If you are attending the inauguration in Washington, D.C.—and there will be almost 4 million—TURN YOUR BACK ON RICK as he begins to speak on the stage. This small gesture will not only make Warren pay attention, but will certainly have the attention of President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and the numerous elected officials who will be present that day. And for those of you around the country and world who will be at home with family, at a party with friends, or alone in front of the television, we also ask you to TURN YOUR BACK ON RICK.
We can no longer watch our civil rights be compromised.
We MUST ACT at the swearing in ceremony, whether you are several blocks away from the Capitol watching on a jumbotron, or 2,000 miles away in your home, TURN YOUR BACK ON RICK and let the world know that OUR LIVES, OUR LOVE AND OUR MARRIAGES MATTER!
Rick Warren 's opinions and place on the inaugural stage is no more a demonstration of "diversity of opinion" (the President-elect's justification) than is allowing Creationism into the halls of science education. It is not the allowance of diversity, it is, quite simply, retrogression.
Rick Jacobs of Campaign Courage said it well:
When Pastor Rick Warren was asked to clarify this statement -- if he actually equates same-sex marriage with incest, pedophilia and polygamy -- his answer was direct and unequivocal: "Oh, I do."
That didn't stop President-elect Barack Obama from choosing Pastor Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration -- an appalling mistake that will forever tarnish our country's celebration of Obama's historic ascendance to the White House.
Sadly, it must be noted: Barack Obama continues to lack a record of "fierce" support for civil rights for gay Americans--"fierce" being the characterization that President-elect Obama made of himself because no convincing witness can be found to offer such a characterization on his behalf. A fierce record looks very different than does Obama's. It includes things at even the most basic level as interviews with local gay media, something candidate Obama assiduously avoided doing despite being urged to repeatedly at donor events across the nation.
LGBT supporters of Obama are told time and again that Obama's intentions are clearly progressive when in comes to civil rights for gay Americans.
Being told this time and again has become an insulting sop and pathetic substitute to proper action from the President-elect.