Monday, May 23, 2011

Obama Still Places the Sensibilities of Christianist Above Rights of LGBT Citizens

As I've noted before, Barack Obama seems to always put the religious sensibilities of Christianists - and perhaps his own religious based prejudice - ahead of the civil law equality of LGBT Americans. Obama failed the test again while responding to Minnesota's anti-gay amendment that will be on the 2012 ballot. But for the fact that it's highly unlikely that the GOP will nominate a rational candidate, I'd love to be able to vote for someone other than Obama. I want a president who is not afraid to be a leader - and who has a backbone - yet but for a few extreme;y rare occasions, Obama seems to be made of Jell-O. The Washington Blade looks at Obama's mealy mouthed statement on the Minnesota constitutional amendment effort:
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The White House on Monday issued a statement in response to a proposed measure in Minnesota that would make a ban on same-sex marriage part of the state constitution.
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The complete statement follows:
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“The President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same sex couples or to take such rights away. While he believes this is an issue best addressed by the states, he also believes that committed gay couples should have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.”
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The statement doesn’t explicitly mention the proposed constitutional amendment in Minnesota, but states that the president “has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts” that would restrict rights for gay couples.
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Additionally, the statement reaffirms Obama’s lack of support for same-sex marriage rights by saying the issue is “best addressed by the states.” Obama has said he’s “wrestling” with the marriage issue, but has yet to make.
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How would Obama respond to someone who said that they thought blacks should have the same rights and responsibilities as whites, but lacked the backbone to condemn slavery?

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