Jen, I don't think you are naive, I think it's very sweet that you have so much hope for this administration, Jester is the exact same way. It's great you girls are so positive. We need someone to have hope now days. love:
As a cynical adult, however, I must state my feelings are that the problem we run into here is the fact that Obama does not live with discrimination because of the person he loves.
He does not have that thought in the front of his mind. 40 years ago, his parents could not have been married, but to be honest, he does not remember much of that because he was pretty young. He also was afluent enough that he did not face discrimination poorer black people faced. He most likely did not get denied housing, or a job, or a promotion just because he was black.(or multiracial). Other poor black people faced that type of discrimination every day and have some basis for understanding what we face to some small degree. Just as I can not relate to a poor black person and feel their discrimination, Obama can not relate to us gay people and feel the pain and fear we face daily.
It most probably did not even cross his mind about the reverands leanings reguarding gay people. I don't believe that he even thought about how we would feel, we are the furthest from his mind right now. His family is not directly affected by these issues so he does not give a second thought about it. I don't think he did it for the reaons of drawing us together, nor to piss us off. It was extremely poor judgement on his part. We are not throwing a temper tantrum, but don't make promises to get votes then promptly forget me. Will it result in bringing the Evangelicals to understand inclusiveness? I highly doubt it. They have made up their minds, don't confuse them with the facts. There are none so blind than those who will not see.
I still reguard it as a slap in the face, until it is proven otherwise. There will have to be alot of righting of the wrongs Warren has supported against the gay community before I will feel that he is a good choice. LGBT Americans feel that Obama has let us down, and pretty quickly also. Has he? Only time will tell. I will reserve my final judgement until it all plays out, my initial assesment remains as quoted above.
I want a president that puts me first, as a gay American. One who looks out for my safety, my rights, my family, and reflects my beliefs. I wanted Hillary for president anyhow, Obama was just the lesser of two evils in my book.