Share Your Story with Obama

If you go to change.gov, the website for the President Elect, there's a link to share your story of "this American Moment."  Here's the story I share with Mr. Obama and his transition team.

Here's my story Mr. President elect.  I am gay.  I had the right to marry my partner of eight years here in California.  On the same night that you were selected by the general electorate to be our next president the voters of California voted to rescind my civil right to a civil marriage.  On the same night that the first black president was elected bigotry prevailed in California.  I must admit, it was a bittersweet night for me Mr. President elect.  However, I had HOPE that you would do your best to mitigate the blow of Proposition 8 and perhaps even help reverse it, thus granting all citizens of California their civil rights. 

That bit of HOPE that I had has been threatened by your recent announcement that you have chosen Rick Warren to speak at your inauguration.  You have added insult to injury by choosing this bigot to speak at your inauguration.  On a day where we should be looking towards the bright future of this country you have chosen someone who wants to see us go backwards into a dark past. 

Mr. Obama, I urge you change your mind and think about what you ran on, and what you spoke to the nation about during your campaign -- about moving forward.  If you let your invitation to this bigot stand, and he speaks at your inauguration, then Nov 4th, 2008 was for me, and for all gay people all over the world, a day of utter defeat and I will have deep regret in my heart for casting my vote for you, because you will have squashed the last bit of hope I had left. 

Comments

[Brian]

Well said Adam.

[epilonious]

Sorry, you lost me when you started calling Rick Warren names.

I definitely don't agree with Warren, but I'm not going to bandy about the word 'bigot' because he doesn't think the same way I do. I'm not going to hate him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/embrace-what-you-have-in_b_151976.html

[brettcajun]

This is such a HUGE disappointment for me as well Adam. I can't help but feel that Obama's action reaffirms the stereotype that the African American community has an anti-gay bias.

[Adam]

Sorry, Epilonious but he is a bigot. He publicy endorsed Proposition 8 here in California, ergo bigot.

[epilonious]

Yeaaaah, and the millions of other people (read, majority) who don't like the idea of gay marriage are bigots too. As are you, as am I.

And you know what doesn't make people want to listen to our reasons as to why we think we should get such things as gay marriage and equal rights and will make them constantly redouble their efforts to take back whatever scraps gays snatch from the table? Running around calling generally respected pastors (even if you don't respect him, a lot of people do) names.

As much fun as it was to see Christianity and Black/Latino people labeled as the villains in the whole gay marriage fiasco (and yes, I'm being ironic), I'm sort of appalled at how 'Teh Gay Community' has run around throwing tantrums as if A. They didn't expect this might happen or B. Tantrums are the best way to get things.

I always prefer things earned with logic and work and thought. Alas, going 'he's a biiiigoooot, how can you deal with him being such a biiiiigoooot!?' seems more like the tactic a petulant child would employ trying to explain why he should get ice cream for dinner.

It seems like it would be so much better to try and actually deal with these people as if they were human and could be convinced we are not evil and it would really make all our lives easier and better if we got equal rights and stop acting like no-one can ever change their mind about anything and therefore must be discredited or destroyed when discovered to not support the things you wish they would.

Radical and difficult concept, I know. This is about the point start accusing me of tapping into some great well of internalized homophobia and/or being a massive troll because I dared to disagree and say "I really find this whole anger-fueled proclamation thing to be unbecoming and counter-productive."

[Carlos]

Well I'm sorry to say this Adam, but this is what you and all the millions of myopic Obama supporters get. I'm pretty confident that an individual such as Warren would not be speaking at a Clington inauguration.

[Trunk Guy]

You have been Tagged... check my B for more info... ;)

[Arthur (AmeriNZ)]

Adam, you know how much I think of you, and that goes way back. And I agree that it was indefensible to pick that bigot (sorry, epilonious, but he definitely is one for reasons too numerous to list, but including that he has shown absolutely no reason to think he can be reasoned with or that he'll ever compromise).

Adam, how can you or anyone else seriously suggest that because of this colossal mistake the election of this incoming administration will be for "all gay people all over the world, a day of utter defeat". Come on, how can this new Administration on it's worst day be anything but a billion times better than the current regime on its best? And "all over the world?" The US just isn't that important in the day-to-day life of most gay people outside the US. Quite frankly, Prop 8 and Rick Warren mean absolutely nothing outside the US borders. It's worth remembering that it was the Bush-Cheney regime that made sure the US voted against the UN gay rights resolution—you can't pin that on picking Warren to do his preachifying.

Am I pissed off about Warren? Absolutely! But this is not the end of the world. Obama is NOT Bush!

As for Carlos' Obama-bashing, get real: Hilary is a politician, too. If she thought it was too her benefit, she'd do the exact same thing. They are ALL alike in that regard.

What all this—passage of Prop 8, the picking of Warren—shows is that we must never, EVER rely on straight people to speak for us to look after our interests. We have to elect our own to advocate for us. We need a GLBT "Emiliy's List", and we need the street radicals, too.

Obama disappointed us. So what? We all need to take responsibility for creating change and not wait for some great straight savior of any party, race or gender. We are on our own. The sooner we realise that, the sooner we'll win.

[Jeff]

I don't see how labeling Warren a BIGOT is name calling. There are bigots out there who have said things far less offensive and dangerous than Warren has.

[iain]

You might like to click on the link I've given at the bottom of this post. While C. Hitchens certainly has gone off the rails re: Iraq, this is food for thought. If you all have trouble with "bigot", why not Hitchens's "huckster". And please will everyone step back from debating with epilonious about what word we use to describe the undereducated, over-inflated snake-oil salesman of Saddleback "church". Language is certainly key to understanding the Prop 8 debacle (the opposition largely don't understand that 'marriage' is a Civil procedure, not Church-authorized; I know, I've talked to many of them, and I've realised this is an argument about language), and over the last eight years the Cheney Administration has achieved its dreadful ends by corrupting language, BUT there is something much bigger at stake here and Hitchens's piece makes the point very eloquently:
http://www.slate.com/id/2207554/