Pride: Obama Pride Statement
Barack Obama has released a statement via his website, commemorating this year’s Pride celebration. In fairness, I tried to find John McCain’s Pride statement, but none exists.
It’s interesting that in his statement he pushes for transgender equality in ENDA, a right that Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and the Human Rights Campaign backed away from. The full text of his statement is after the jump.
“I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans.”
“It’s time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let’s enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let’s repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let’s treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law.”
“We are ready to accomplish these goals because of the courage and persistence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people who have are working every day to achieve equal rights. The gay couple who demand equal treatment in our family laws as they raise their children; the lesbian soldier who wants nothing more than to serve her country openly and honestly; the transgendered workers who asks for the simple dignity of being judged by the quality of their work. Generations of LGBT Americans, at once ordinary and extraordinary, have made possible this moment in our history. With leadership and hard work, we can fulfill the promise of equality for all.”
-Barack Obama
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Whatever, Obama… Here’s what I call committing yourself to a cause.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=b3IqXeY4tIY
Whatever, Obama… Here’s what I call committing yourself to a cause.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=b3IqXeY4tIY
Yesterday, Obama named Dave Noble as the Director of the LGBT Vote. Dave led the fight for an inclusive ENDA at The Task Force.
It was one of the smartest decisions Obama has made recently!
The campaign has already announced that it will be at over 60 prides this month and truly organizing beyond the “bumper stickers/gay bars” approach Democrats have taken in the past.
Obama’s new Director of Consituencies (which includes youth, communities of color, faith, women, etc) is also openly-gay.
cuffshark – really? you want obama to march in a pride parade? between the drag queens and the dude in the glitter speedo? don’t get me wrong. i love drag queens and dudes in glitter speedos. but i want to win. i don’t want advertisements showing obama kissing cookie buffet on the cheek to derail our chances to get this list of things he mentions in his statement done.
Cuff Daddy,
Obama went into a black baptist church and said (I paraphrase) that the congregation members, and undoubtedly through them the black community as a whole, needed to start liking gay people. By this radical but necessary statement he committed himself to the cause of gay rights far more than a tromp next to Chi Chi ever could.
Dave Noble being appointed to the position sent a very clear message to me. He was the one of the chief architects of United ENDA, and from what I heard Obama’s policy advisory board will probably resemble the United ENDA group.
Several people wonder why I was more supportive of Obama during the primary, even early on. Well part of the reason why. Hillary is DLC, and DLC folks have been known to triangulate and throw constituencies them under a bus. Obama’s background has always been part of the progressive wing of the democratic party. The move he is making is backing up the policies he already aligned himself with when he was in the Illinois General Assembly. So the very fact he made the strong statement is not a surprise necessarily, I find it encouraging with regards to which direction things will head with an Obama administration. He is standing by strong principles of equality that I knew he had as an Illinois Senator.
I am so relieved that Obama is supporting the gender identity inclusive version of ENDA. That puts him way ahead of most of the Democrats.
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