Did Sen. Obama throw us under the (campaign) bus?

[dsdrane]

Patrick, on another thread, reminded me of the website www.goodasyou.org, which in turn reminded me about the "formerly homosexual" gospel singer, who, among others, performed at a big campaign event for the senator from Illinois.

I had also read about it this morning on www.towleroad.com

I may be having a senior moment, but have we discussed this here?

[Daniel]

You've got the spelling of the link typo'd- so it ain't workin'.

Should be www.Towleroad.com

That said, I read the article in question (great site for news btw) and think there is a case to be made for stupitidy on the part of Senator Obama. I don't buy the whole 'we have to come together' speech he gave. There was no coming together. There was only a black homophobic guy up there doing his thing to get out the vote. And it's all about votes, not about gay rights.

Throw us under the bus? We ain't even on the bus. He's paying lipservice to our community. And I, for one, don't buy it. If Obama had any spine, he would have stood up for gay people from the beginning.

[Vanessa White]

Nope, not talked about yet as a thread of its own. I feel thrown under, and from what I understand, Barack has no intention of removing said ex-gay from the campaign bus route. So, I am getting OFF his bus.

I read on here today that he also has Mary, Mary on his campaign? I have not researched what type of embracing (or not) message they embody regarding us?

Not sure who's bus I am jumping on, no one wants equal marriage rights, do they?

[dsdrane]

Originally Posted by Daniel

You've got the spelling of the link typo'd- so it ain't workin'.

Should be www.Towleroad.com

That said, I read the article in question (great site for news btw) and think there is a case to be made for stupitidy on the part of Senator Obama. I don't buy the whole 'we have to come together' speech he gave. There was no coming together. There was only a black homophobic guy up there doing his thing to get out the vote. And it's all about votes, not about gay rights.

Throw us under the bus? We ain't even on the bus. He's paying lipservice to our community. And I, for one, don't buy it. If Obama had any spine, he would have stood up for gay people from the beginning.

J'agree.

Hopefully he'll learn during the post mortems...after he fails to secure the nomination.

[Dumbledore]

Here is a video of Obama at MTV on Monday. He gives his stance on gay rights and his take on the anti-gay gospel singer that performed for his camp.

[Progo35]

I don't mean this offensively, but the debate over whether sexual orientation is a choice or a prenatally determined trait aside, I don't think its fair to say that Sen. Obama shouldn't have this man work for his campaign because of his decision not to be LGBT anymore. Now, did he need to talk about that publicly while he was performing? No. I think that that was inappropriate and devisive. But, as I've said in regard to issues surrounding the Catholic and Episcopal church, I do not favor reverse marginalization that excludes people because of their views on the appropriateness of somerthing. If this man advocated euthanizing gay people after birth, or said that gay people didn't have the same moral status as other human beings, than I would feel very differently.

[Dumbledore]

Obama did state openly that he disagreed with the views of the gospel singer. They then worked together on his campaign. There is a certain maturity here that is easy to miss in the "culture wars". The reality is that gay and ex-gay, conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat ... while we have free speech rights have to work together in businesses, campaigns and government. Obama should be able to pick the best singer for the campaign irregardless of their views. If their views conflict, he can just openly disagree (as he did).