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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
I adore President Obama but not enough to allow his team to delay my freedom for political convenience or comfort. It is unacceptable.
My plea is for our LGBT leaders to call a March on Washington for Marriage Equality this November and if they won't do it, I appeal to our young to come together and provide the leadership.
We need to come together in a display of powerful community unity to empower our young and to show the nation that anything less than full freedom is unacceptable. Clearly there are other issues that should be on the agenda for the march but marriage equality is the lynchpin that deals with so many of those issues. The most striking outside that institution would be the freedom to serve in our nation's military - and that weekend I think we could have a separate powerful event to highlight that.
We've been bamboozled yet again. Where have all the real leaders gone? Obama is not a leader. He is a weakling...a milque toast.
posted by Chris L., at
5/21/2009 5:30 PM
Obama is acting like a corporate puppet. I believe he is selling out his own ideals. One term. We would have all fared better voting third party. At least i keep my dignity. The best of the worst has never helped the gay community. It is pathetic when the only pro equality straight guy in the media is Keith Olberman. He is not a legislator.
posted by Spouse Walker, at
5/22/2009 1:24 AM
I was only thinking about calling for a mass demonstration last night. I'm with David Mixner on this. We need to send a loud message to Obama and the dems. He's caving in, morphing into Bush lite on almost everything. I'm sick and tired of being used every four years, taking my vote and money, promising this and that and then renegging on just about everything. You know, even if the economy weren't in the tank, I don't imagine we'd be any better off in the pecking order of things. We've always been on the bottom rung of the ladder and that's where we'll stay if we don't fight back, only not so politically correct this time. It hasn't worked. Time for the change that he lied about. He's part of the problem and so is his "god is in the mix crap."
Ewe, you're right about the corporatist part. He is part of it and that explains why once again, he's not going to deliver on the single payer system for health care reform, a promise he made during the campaign. Not one single representative of Physicians for a Single Payer System were invited for the first round of talks. Instead, the majority of invitees consisted of health insurance providers. Under Obama's plan, not everyone will be covered. So how can he call that universal health care or reform? We've been bamboozled again and this won't be the last of it. I'm equally sick and tired of people apologizing for the mere 100+ days he's been in office. They beginning to sound like Log Cabiners who don't believe full equality is a priority at any time, recession or no recession.
posted by Anonymous, at
5/22/2009 9:03 AM
As a former longtime D.C. resident, I normally oppose national marches on Washington. They tend to become big picnics that consume vast sums of money that would be better spent at the local or state level, pressuring local officials and members of Congress in their home office.
However, a highly disciplined national protest march -- one that eschews partying, emphasizes families, and avoids being hijacked by Democratic interest groups -- could be a very good thing now. It's most important that such a march be a warning to Democrats, not a repeat of old cliches.
Are LGBT communities capable of such a march? I'm not yet convinced. The forces seeking to derail Democratic dissent are strong, and past marches have shoved families to the back of the line.
posted by Unknown, at
5/22/2009 2:26 PM
Robert, Ewe, so another politictian hasn't lived up to his campaign promises and you're surprised?! Surely you've both been around long enough (it shouldn't take very long) to realize no politician ever lives up to his campaign promises.
And yes, its only been 100 days. Whine to us after 3 years and nothing's been done and then us realists will take you seriously.
posted by Priya Lynn, at
5/22/2009 4:42 PM
Priya, I was under no illusion when I cast my vote for Obama. He was the least of two evils. My vote was merely a tool to get rid of the previous regime, nothing more. My original choice was Dennis Kucinich, the only one with the guts and character to support full equality and the only one who had the integrity and the courage to send 35 articles of impeachment to congress to nail Bush and Cheney et al. Nancy Pelosi shot that one down.
I've been disillusioned with the Democratic party for many years, usually I vote Green, the only party that supports our equality. In addition to a march on Washington, can you imagine the impact of every gay voter supporting the Greens in 2010 and 2012. The message that would send to the Democrats would be their wake-up call, including Obama. The stronger the Greens become, the weaker the GOP and Dems become. The Dems in my opinion are just a moderate version of the GOP with a mild dose of progressiveness among a handful that you can count on one hand.
posted by Anonymous, at
5/23/2009 8:40 AM
Robert, if every LGBT had voted green that may have been enought to give the election to Mccain. Do you really think that would have been a better option?
posted by Priya Lynn, at
5/23/2009 11:29 AM
Priya, I doubt if McCain would have won either way.....Obama won by a landslide, virtually with a mandate. I think he would still have won without our vote though with a lower majority. We do need a third party though, we don't seem to get very far no matter if a dem is in the White House, far too much foot dragging and no matter what happens, we're always the last in the pecking order of things. I don't think we'd even see and end to DADT any sooner had the economy not tanked, a convenient delay tactic if ever there were. There's always something the dems come up with to avoid taking the bull by the horns and addressing equality head on and making our issue a priority for a change. I don't expect much if anything before 2012 either, not quite the change I'd voted for. If that turns out to be true, I'm not going to support him any more. He's already back pedaled on other issues such as Gitmo, wire tapping, health care reform and the Pentagon hasn't even started any discussion on repealing DADT; DOMA is still in the wilderness, a long way off. Maybe those two will be addressed after 2012 but its going to be a long wait with no guarantees.
posted by Anonymous, at
5/23/2009 1:21 PM
Priya: you got some nerve calling our discussion "whining". Don't be so dismissive. That is the easy way out and what the politics seems to have convinced you to do. Wait three years. To Comment? Says you.
posted by Spouse Walker, at
5/23/2009 3:48 PM
I am with Robert. Obama IS the lesser of two evils. It is damned frustrating to ALWAYS have to stand at the back of the line. More than once we have voted solidly Democratic (except for a few ass-kissing Log Cabinettes) and look how we have gotten screwed over and over and over again. DADT, DOMA, etc. When marriage equality comes up for a vote you can often count on some Democrat to be on the side of the homophobes. THIS IS BULLSHIT! Little countries that are supposedly backwards, like Uruguay, can enshrine marriage equality in law, but the so-called advanced, sophisiticated US cannot? Maybe if the Democrats grew a spine and some stones, they would quit courting the fundies they feel need to be part of their "base". But every election, the same old shit is pulled on us--promise us the moon to get our votes then either forget our needs or enact ridiculous "compromises" such as DADT. If many LGBTQs who voted Democratic this election are disillusioned and pissed off, they have more than enough reason to be so. Maybe it's time for the Dems to actually DELIVER on their promises!
posted by Merlyn, at
5/23/2009 3:57 PM
Robert, I'd say a third party will never be anything but wishful thinking.
Ewe, a third party won't be viable unless we do something about it. We'd have more impact than 1 million Log Cabin republicans do on the grand obstuctionist party of NO. At least the Dems would know that we're not taking their crap every four years and we're no longer going to be patient with them. It would indeed be their wake-up call. You can bet you'd see them all grovelling to get our votes back, only to stab us in the back again once they get them. I'm fed up with them and I refuse to be used again as a pawn in their political games. HRC, Lambda, Empire State Pride Agenda, every equality group out there need to band together under one roof and deliver the message loud and clear, DON'T TAKE OUR VOTES FOR GRANTED ANY LONGER and that needs to be done, NOW! If they can't or won't deliver, to hell with them. We should all contact our representatives and let them know just how we feel and that we're not going to take it any more. Enough is enough!
posted by Anonymous, at
5/24/2009 8:45 AM
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posted by Anonymous, at
5/26/2009 9:25 AM
