At first, I thought there was nothing new in President Obama's speech about lesbian and gay civil rights, but then I thought again.
Like many activists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, I noticed that the speech President Obama gave at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner was substantially equivalent to the speech he gave at the White House gathering commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests. Which, if one was hoping for something new or newsworthy, was a bit disappointing.
Then my partner and I took a taxi home. Our taxi driver asked us how the speech went, which led to a further conversation. Our taxi driver was a man from a country in Africa called Eritrea. He talked at some length about how happy he and others in his country were about President Obama's receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and how meaningful our country's electing President Obama was to the world outside of the United States. He talked about how America was hated during the years of the Bush administration and its war-mongering unilateralism -- and how, now, people feel free to love and look up to America once again.
President Obama is the President of the United States, yes. But he is also an important symbol to the world of a renewed hope and of the promises of the ideals upon which America was founded those many years ago. The decision by the Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama was a reflection and reinforcement of the reality of what he and our nation, once again, represent to the world. Hope. Equality. Peace. Progress.
As much as we continue to endure the harms created by the inequalities we face here in the United States, our freedoms and protections are indeed immense compared to many in other nations. Imagine what the knowledge of President Obama's support for civil equality for LGBT people will mean to those lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in countries like Eritrea. Imagine the impact of his unequivocal support for our community on the content of international human rights dialogue. In other words, imagine the impact of this speech on the world, not just on Americans.
Taken in that context, Nobel Laureate President Obama's speech committing himself to the achievement of full civil equality for LGBT people and full and equal protection and recognition under the law of our relationships and our families is indeed new. And newsworthy.
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Interesting list. I think the following are better representative of where our priorities should lie:
Resolve. Liberty. Strength. Innovation.
I'm not one to claim to know everything,and nothing when it comes to the FUTURE,so
I just say:"I THINK". Now to what I THINK or even BELIEVE is if you buy a house that is
durty or run down by some disaster,would you be able to clean and repair it in a week?
NO!,not unless you have the staff that is working with TY PENNINGTON.
So,think about it,THIS PRESIDENT TOOK OFFICE WITH THE U.S. OF AMERICA IN
A MESS,A TOTAL MESS IN EVERY WAY YOU CAN DESCRIBE A MESS,HOW IN
THE WORLD CAN A PERSON IN 9 MONTHS,TURN THINGS AROUND WITH A
GROUP OF PEOPLE LOOKING OUT FOR THEIR OWN INTEREST,INSTEAD OF
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY SO DIVIDED?PLEASE,SOMEBODY TELL ME
HOW WOULD YOU DO IT IN THIS KIND OF ENVIROMENT.DIVIDED,NOT UNITED.
"And for a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."
-- CNBC Reporter John Harwood, on NBC Nightly News last night, Sunday, Oct. 11, in discussing the White House's reaction to pressure from the LGBT community.
While no one should be discriminated due to their sexual orientation, the people may and do define specific relationships as lawful and appropriate of "privileges" not afforded to excluded relationships. Gay and polygamist marriages should not be made legal.
How about if we deal with one issue at a time. Once marriage equality (same-sex marriage) is legal in all 50 states, then we'll deal with polygamy... and your homophobia.
Only heterosexuals can procreate. As such, the government must afford those relationships additional privileges to ensure the continuation of society. As I wrote, no one should be discriminated against due to their sexual orientation.
Now, other than gays should be allowed to marry, what's your rationale for only accepting gay marriage and not other couplings?
The President made campaign promises. He isn't keeping them, not even the ones he doesn't need Congress to develop for him. If we don't continue to hold his feet to the fire, even less will happen to help America's GLBT population on the federal level. Unless we elected him to make the people of the third world happy, this really feels like an "I've-got-mine-so-shut-up" piece.
This is a noble goal. It is the results where I have a problem understanding.
In the past kids could get a pack of smokes pretty easy. However, it was next to impossible to get beer, drugs or guns. Today it is slightly more difficult to get a pack of smokes. However, beer, drugs and guns are easily obtainable. In the past kids did not care if you were gay, straight or somewhere in between.
Today, according to the media and politicians, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is in a crisis at every level of a kids life. This is progress to a progressive. That why being progressive is not always progress, hope, equality, or more peaceful. The results of being progressive have created more problems, than problems solved. Especially, in the sense that we have solved problems for a few and created problems for the masses.
Funny how most everyone else who won the NPP can actually point to events in their life that won this for them. As Obama won the Nobel PEACE Prize for really only a "feeling" and a "hope" and we are going to add troops to Afganistán, still in Iraq, using Rendition, Gitmo still open, N. Korea is testing nukes, Iran is building nukes (and may be bombed), Israel and the Palestinians are still at eachothers throats, etc etc etc and Obama who won this award has not DONE anything to actually BRING PEACE ...I wonder how Oslo will feel in two years when most of these things are still happening, or you will feel IF DADT is not changed...Then you will have to ask, WHY did he win this???
And, who knows Leah. To that list may also one day be added, (true) Democracy.
Obama is not perfect and, the slow drag on equality pains and sickens me everyday. But, I believe Obama is the symbol for which great change is possible. Will the change come? Who knows, we are still writing our American story together.
The day is early - and I mean that literally (the coverage of the march in DC and reaction to the President's remarks) and figuratively.
This level of support for and recognition of LGBT people by a world leader of President Obama's stature is unprecedented. The arc of history is long - and its timeframes sometimes frustrating by our personal measurements.
Make no mistake about it, however, we are living in historic times in the continued progress for equality for LGBT people throughout the world.
Thanks again to all for reading and commenting.
Leah
In fact, the world is leaving America far, far behind.
Even Pollyanna wouldn't dare to ask us to "Imagine what the knowledge of President Obama's support for civil equality for LGBT people will mean to those lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in countries like Eritrea".
The atrocities that exposed LGBT people suffer in Eritrea are barbaric and incomprehensible to most of us, and I doubt whether Mr Obama's speech would be much of a balm even if it reached them.
As of beacon of hope, surely they would be better served to look to the example of a hardline Catholic country like Spain, which granted marriage equality in 2005,
And Spain wasn't even the first country to show such leadership - that was The Netherlands. Then there was Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Norway and Sweden. Even Nepal has legislation planned!
So, please, when it comes to displaying leadership and commitment on equal rights, Mr Obama would be well-advised to look outward. What is being asked of him is no longer radical, it is basic. It is just and overdue.
It requires a leader who does not compromise on justice for the U.S. to get back in step with the world.
But this is what you get when you elect a pandering, bobble-head with zero experience as president.
Can anyone quote a sentence of his from ANY speech w/o using google?
I think you are giving Obama's speech way too much credit. At this point, people are viewing his speeches with skepticism since he has not really acted on much of what he rambled on about, hence the gay activists nearly in mutiny over him.
Actually, I know for a fact that Al Jazeera tv is covering the march and rally in DC today (our firm having received a request for someone to speak on the issue last night). So I imagine that the speech that Obama gave will also be on their radar.
If someone is reading who monitors or regularly watches Al Jazeera wants to weigh in as to whether or not it was covered, that would be great.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Leah
Interesting perspective...and I might buy that if the speech was covered by Al Jazeera tv, but I doubt that happened.
As it is, no speech is really going to do much to impact the daily lives of living, breathing LGBT Americans. Only actions will do that
And those actions are squarely on the shoulders of congress, and the American people to push congress to pass the legislation