I don't want to get too Clinton-heavy today, but I came across this video of her on "Ellen" earlier this week and wanted to share it with you. She speaks about the importance of equality and fairness for gays and lesbians, and it just seems so heartfelt to me — like she really "gets it." On this issue, Obama still seems very uncomfortable and speaks in platitudes about "our gay brothers and sisters." Despite his reputation as a uniter, that still frames the issue as "us" (straight) and "them" (gay). Safe. Very safe.
9 comments:
I just love Hillary. She's so sincere, you can hear it in her voice when she speaks from the heart like this. If I recall, Barack didn't attend a gay forum that he was invited to, and Hillary did. I agree with you, Obama comes off as being very uncomfortable with gay issues, which I assume comes from the hate speech that is surrounding him from his Trinity church. If he embraces the gay community, he will make enemies with them....reminds you of Bush and the fundamentalist Jerry Falwell crowd, doesn't it? Obama does what will help him politically, not what is best for the country.
Obama just did an interview with The Advocate, the "king" (or "queen") of gay press. In it, he has the nerve to say he's actually doing gays a favor by not speaking to the gay press. Huh?
He argues that he speaks to the general public about gay issues instead of speaking to gay audiences. That would be nice, him speaking to everyone about gays, if it were true. I mean, beyond just occasionally using the phrase "gay brothers ans sisters" in a speech.
Obama is so full of himself that he actually believes his own PR. His arrogance is astounding and his ignorance is beyond belief.
Okay, but even Hillary's stance is only beneficial for those who live in states that allow some form of gay union recognition. For most of us in the country, we're still left benefit-less.
I agree completely, me, Hillary Clinton still has a long way to go in her push for gay rights. But IMHO, she is doing much more than Obama to keep issues like partner benefits in the conversation.
I agree, sue j, I just don't want people getting complacent thinking, "Oh, Hillary's gonna get us federal benefits," and forget that federal benefits ain't worth a dang without state recognition.
My question to you all is, in all the time that Hillary and her husband have had the opportunity to effect change for the gay community, what have they ACTUALLY done? I mean besides don't ask don't tell...
me, the difficulty is that it really will take both federal and state support to truly mean anything. Look at Massachusetts, for example. Although state residents have same sex marriage rights and benefits, when it comes to tax time that's all out the window for the IRS.
Federal benefits will force some states that need prodding, and it will mean catching up to other states that are in the forefront.
anonymous, we have come a long way since 1990. I think the Clintons had a lot to do with changing the culture of our society to becoming more accepting of gays. I wrote more in the comments to the post above, so I won't repeat myself here.
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