Rev. Rick Warren at the Inauguration

This piece was written by my friend and colleague Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director of Religious Affairs National Black Justice Coalition. It is a very passionate and lucid critique of President-elect Obama's unfortunate decision to include Rev. Rick Warren in the inauguration ceremonies. Enjoy!

One of the overriding goals of the Religious Affairs Program of the
National Black Justice Coalition is to change the conversation of homosexuality from being a sickness and a sin, to a genuine understanding of sexuality with inclusion replacing exclusion, and fact replacing fears. This is no small task with the kind of opposition we face on a daily basis. I see first hand the damage that spiritual abuse can do to body and soul.

We work with people of faith and people of good will to accomplish this goal. We are interfaith and ecumenical in reaching out to powerful religious forces that are adamantly allied against equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. We reached out to Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and others who do not agree that LGBT people should sit at the table of full equality.

We agree with President-Elect Obama that we should talk to everyone about ideas and beliefs that are different from our own. We believe in dialogue, that is how the conversation about change happens.

But, there is a difference in engaging people in dialogue about poverty and AIDS and elevating Rick Warren, a rigorous opponent of LGBT rights to the position of the nation's pastor in the inaugural prayer. He does not represent change but a status quo of discrimination. He is symbolic of a tone setting circumstance that does not bring us together in spiritual terms.

We are aware that Mr. Obama is dealing with pressures from all sides and that we are in the honeymoon phase of his impending presidency. But this choice has seriously jarred the wedding night of the honeymoon and has given us a wake-up call of deep and righteous concern. We are concerned that the choice of Rick Warren foretells of a potential continuation of the callous disregard for the lives and aspirations of LGBT people in America.

President-Elect Obama, many of us will be at your inauguration. We will dance and party and drink a toast to your success upon which so many hopes are tethered.

But, you have to understand that we are once again coming to Washington DC to cash a check. Yes, like the 1963 March on Washington, organized by a black gay man, Bayard Rustin, we LGBT people have been given the same promissory note that is the heritage and pride of every American. The right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, "the riches of freedom and the security of justice." And this fierce urgency of now has been tainted by the choice of a man who is so deeply flawed that he equates the lifelong love and commitment of a same gender couple to be equivalent to incest and pedophilia.

Thank God we will be able to see and hear the words of an authentic civil rights warrior. The Reverend Joseph Lowery will be there to provide the benediction. Rev. Lowery is a stalwart believer in full and equal rights for LGBT people.

We will be praying that the value system that energized the Obama campaign, a notion of inclusion and respect, will continue.

Many of us will be praying that the words and actions of Rev. Rick Warren will not continue to harm us.

Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director of Religious Affairs National Black Justice Coalition [e-mail]

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Comments

[tgarren]

Thank you, one of the best articles I've seen that match my feelings on the subject. I'm not what you would call a gay activist but since coming out in the 80's I have made it a habit to contribute a small amount to gay causes whenever something in the news makes me feel like my rights have been trampled on. It's therapy. It really saddens me to do it as a reaction to something Obama did and so early in his presidency. I was hopping for better.

[Herders4Me]

Thank you, Rev. Williams, for sharing this compassionate piece. I want so very much to continue to believe in Mr. Obama. Thank you - and Dr. Rhue - for making it a bit easier.

We mustn't forget that Mr. Obama may nominate an openly gay man for an important *military* position and that he has promised to deal with the DOMA and DADT.

If he fails in these, I will still support him on the many things I agree with - but I will be deeply disappointed.

[sdrDusty]

Wow. all I can say is thank you, both to you for sharing, and most especially to Dr. Rhue. How amazing and eloquent.

[progressiveinga]

Thank you for a wonderful piece. So many are telling the LGBT community to quit whining and accept the fact that Rev. Warren has been chosen to give the invocation at the inauguration. It's good to hear the drumbeat keep beating. The choice is unacceptable and Mr. Obama needs to keep hearing our dissent.

[paragrafH]

Thank you for writing this perfectly expressed piece.

I became a fierce, supporter of Obama back in February but first became disenchanted when he flaked on the FISA bill. I more or less got over it through the election realizing that the good he could do outweighed the Bush, but that initial wound has been re-opened with a vengeance and my world-view rocked to its core. I am not gay, but I am as disappointed and grief-stricken as if this had been any other kind of heinous, explicit bigotry. It was the WRONG THING TO DO. And I know in my heart that, no matter what miracles he may create, THIS will be his legacy.

I had planned to take inauguration day off to watch, but may just skip the whole thing now and opt out. Obama has just disenfranchised his ENTIRE base. Good luck getting any body's attention in 4 years let alone their dollars.

[Danigirl65]

Sorry - Obama has far from disenfranchised his ENTIRE base. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean there aren't others of us who are more open minded and tolerant.

It's a freaking invocation people!! Obama's legacy will be his ability to welcome ALL people to his table - not just those that believe as he does. To ask him to do anything else is selfish and short-sighted.

[YellerDawg]

Thank you, Dr. Rhue. Remarkably, when I first heard about Pastor Rick's invocation, the first thing I thought of was the way Bayard Rustin was treated when his sexual orientation became an issue. The more things change, the more they stay the same.