After gay rights organizations criticized President Barack Obama for having invited a pastor to pray at his inauguration who thought gay people were sinners who could change through belief in Jesus, it turns out the ceremony was the most pro-gay in history.
In his remarks after taking his oath of office on Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Bible's, Obama inserted strong references not only to faith, but to his belief that rights given to gay people are God-given.
We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths - that all of us are created equal - is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.
That was before a reading by Richard Blanco, a gay Latino poet, and benediction from the Rev. Luis León, a priest from the Episcopal church, which has gay clergy and blesses gay partnerships. But we already knew about those two parts. We didn't know Obama's speech until Monday.
While Obama enjoyed his ceremony, the Rev. Louie Giglio, the pastor who supposed to give the benediction until he backed our under pressure from gay rights groups, sent out these tweets:
On Tuesday, the inaugural interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral will include the Rev. Nancy Wilson of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination known for its LGBT outreach. Also at Tuesday's prayer service: Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, who will deliver the sermon.
It's been a busy few days for Obama when it comes to church. His family began Monday at St. John's church, where León presides, and where the service included Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Rev. Joel Hunter of Northland church, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington, the Rev. Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga., Bishop Vashti Mckenzie of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Rev. Cynthia Hale of Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga. On Sunday, Obama attended Metropolitan Community Church, where the funerals of Frederick Douglas and Rosa Parks where held (hat tip: @danmericaCNN).
Speaking of faith and inaugurations, here's a fascinating list from the Library of Congress of the kinds of Bibles and the Bible passages upon which presidents have sworn into office.