The protesters were SO annoying.
Impressed with Deval Patrick. Obama did a good job but his opening acts were poor.
– An older guy who couldn’t read his speech and was at a loss for words. It was painful.
– A religious choir singing about God and Jesus.
Please share widely!
…I’m surprised that so much attention is being paid to the homophobe.
Calling him a ‘homophobe’ cheapens a very real problem. He is not bigoted against homosexuals, from every statement of HIS OWN I have ever read.
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ONE of his supporters says he used to be gay, and now is not, and is happy about that. Now, I can see why that would upset some of the Predestination adherents, but it is one person’s anecdotal experience. Maybe he never really WAS gay, but just engaged in homosexual conduct. (Years ago, I remember talking to a very young man who had decided he was gay – I told him not to box himself in, as he was likely to fall in love with a person, rather than a set of genetalia – now, he’s married and says he’s straight. That sort of thing DOES happen.)
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What exactly are you saying? That only people who agree with you 100% are allowed to vote for or support a candidate? What ever happened to being President of all the people?
Peter,
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Your summary of McClurkin’s view isn’t quite on point and really undercuts the problem with his inclusion in Obama’s tour. This is not merely a guy who was once gay and is no longer. This is a guy who then wrote a book where he talks about the experience and has, since 2001, been on a crusade to “cure” homosexuals of what he perceives to be a grave moral disease.
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So, do people who engage in same-sex conduct eventually fall in love with a person of the opposite sex? Sure. Is that a problem? No. No more so that people who engage in opposite gender sexual conduct (even get married) and then realize that they are gay, etc. However, the game changes when a person, regardless of their sexual history, takes it on themselves to condemn a group of people, as McClurkin has and to spew, in a very public manner, anti-gay rhetoric.
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Does this make Obama a homophobe? No. However, Obama doesn’t have a long record regarding GLBT issues on which he can fall back. He has been dodgy when questioned on gay issues and has been criticized by the gay community and others in the past on his GLBT stances. For example, around the Youtube debate, his use of faith as a rational basis for the government to deny same-sex marriage became a somewhat big issue. So the problem with Obama is that his choices and words, and lack of record, give the gay community pause. It’s one thing to make vague, generally favorable comments regarding the GLBT community. But when your actions don’t match up with your words and when you don’t have a record for people to look at and take comfort in, that is going to make people uneasy.
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Outside of what the inclusion of McClurkin signals to the GLBT community, I think this whole mess shows another problem with Obama and his campaign. This is becoming a pretty awkward mess for Obama. Someone should have realized that this would be a problem. It’s not like McClurkin’s comments were made years ago in some off the record way. The guy is known for two things…singing and his anti-gay crusade. If Obama and his campaign didn’t have the foresight to catch this problem ahead of time, it makes me wonder about how good a campaign he could run in the general and what his administration would be like.
McClurkin is a gospel singer. He is singing at one gospel concert for Obama, not speaking about homosexuality or any other topic. He isn’t a campaign worker, spokesperson or touring with Obama. It’s all over other blogs that McClurkin has also performed for the Clintons. It’s interesting and indicative of the persistent anti-Obama bias among some here that that hasn’t been cited in the thread and only Obama is getting smacked around.
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Obama is not a homophobe. He has a long and positive record on gay rights, dating to his sponsorship of legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation when he served in the Illinois legislature. Only Kucinich is stronger on glbt rights, due to Kucinich’s support for marriage equality. (Obama, like Clinton and Edwards, is a civil unions proponent. I accept that, realistically, a national Democrat has to be at this time; we haven’t done the work in enough states yet to allow a presidential candidate to embrace full marriage equality and still have a shot to win.)
he’s minister of a NYC megachurch that, among other things, teaches that being gay is a sin that you can/should/must be healed from.
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obama has made a really, really stupid mistake by deciding to share the stage with this and other very outspoken homobigots. my hope is that he (obama) rises to the occasion and makes a meaningful statement while on stage (even though it clearly would be an after thought). it is no secret that there is a huge homophobia problem in “the black church” and a problem of even acknowledging the existence of black gays at all. obama has the opportunity to kick-start a conversation that is long overdue in this community. he cut the lemon, let’s see him make lemonade. let’s see if he’s really presidential material.
He’s performing as a gospel singer at one of three concerts.
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As I recall, Obama was the one who took the black community to task for its homophobia in the context of a discussion about AIDS at the Tavis Smiley-moderated debate of the Democratic candidates. Clinton, on the other hand, pandered to the mostly black audience with a line about how there would be much more attention paid if AIDS were the leading cause of death for middle-aged white women.
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Obama’s not a homophobe, and reaching out to people who are doesn’t make him one.
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It would be a good thing if some of the Christian homobigots could be brought to support Democratic candidates. There are quite a few issues we ought to be able to agree on – helping the poor, universal health insurance, combatting corruption and greed, not starting unnecessary wars.
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We aren’t going to change the homobigots or protect ourselves from them, by punishing our allies and leaders who are able to appeal to them and establish dialogue with them.
the problem is that Obama apparently didn’t anticipate any LGBT people being upset by this. You may think there is no reason to be upset, but the fact is that people do and are. as you say, he’s taken black ‘phobic religionists to task before, so it’s a head-scratcher that he didn’t see any possible friction on the horizon. what should have happened is a consult well in advance with LGBT reps. all reports are that that didn’t happen. today he has announced that an openly-LGBT minister will be part of the proceedings on sunday. so it seems that obama is finally getting it that there is a problem here, even if he doesn’t understand why.
But I wouldn’t assume Obama doesn’t understand why.
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I’d guess that the staffers who booked the popular gospel acts weren’t attuned to and didn’t vet them for homophobic beliefs and statements.
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Having a LBGT minister appear seems to me like a fair response to the concerns of the LGBT community.
for others it is already too little too late. others are still waiting to see what transpires.
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is obama blaming this on his staffers? if so, that doesn’t speak well about his character or his organization.
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as i stated above, he has stumbled into this unexpected disaster/opportunity. how he ultimately handles it will show us whether he is a leader, or something less flattering.
be at any of the three tour events. He’ll have a gay pastor present him at a Sunday service this weekend or something. I’m sure he’ll make a strong statement at the service.
anyone not Obama making the statement just won’t cut it. he will lose a chunk, perhaps a major one, of his LGBT support if he doesn’t speak out personally and directly. maybe he’s already made the calculation that it’s a fair trade: some LGBTs of all stripes for hopefully more non-LGBT religionist blacks. it’s sad to always be reduced to a dispensible number, and i think this is another part of what rankles about this episode.
Is a Christian homobigot the opposite of a liberal Christianbigot?
Just so the facts are straight, McClurkin performed for Clinton prior to 2001. 2001 is when McClurkin started his anti-gay crusade. So the two situations are in no way, shape or form comparable. That’s why it hasn’t been cited in this thread…it’s irrelevant.
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Also, in terms of getting facts straight, my understanding is that McClurkin is performing at a number of concerts (something like three) so he is, in fact, touring with Obama.
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McClurking doesn’t need to actually make any anti-gay statements at any of these rallies because he is already so associated with the ex-gay movement that his very presence sends a message. The crowds that McClurkin will be singing in front of know very well about his stance on homosexuality. A cynical man could look at Obama’s inclusion of McClurkin on this tour of evangelical churches as sending a signal to those in the audience. “I may talk about gay rights on tv, but don’t worry, I understand your concerns and won’t do anything crazy.” Bush did the same thing in 2000 and 2004.
Yesterday Obama enlisted Rev. Andy Sidden, and out gay minister, to participate in some way on Sunday. It should be interesting. Obama is ducking his own responsibilities by having Sidden stand in for him, IMO. Still, Sidden has an opportunity (one Obama is foolishly squandering in a very un-leaderly way) to do some good here by opening a dialogue within the black christian community. I wish him well. He will be interviewed on the Michelangelo Signorile show today at 4:30 EST. Info here.
…an old saying.
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Calling him a ‘homophobe’ cheapens a very real problem. He is not bigoted against homosexuals, from every statement of HIS OWN I have ever read
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Oh, so tell me, if Obama is not a homophobe, why is he in South Carolina touring, not only with the anti-gay McClurkin, but also with the anti-gay group Mary Mary, and the anti-gay minister Hezekiah Walker? From gay black journalist Rod McCollum Barack Obama Campaigns with “Ex-Gay” Donnie McClurkin Money quote
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Sorry, Ms. Porc, but the fact is that one is known by the company one keeps. And when one lies down with dogs, one oftentimes gets up with fleas. Trite phrases, possibly, but very apt.
I think its quite obvious that he will throw gays and lesbians under the bus at the first chance.
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His campaign is over, for this and a bunch of other reasons. Anti Hillary folks would be wise to rally around Edwards.
Years ago, I remember talking to a very young man who had decided he was gay – I told him not to box himself in, as he was likely to fall in love with a person, rather than a set of genetalia – now, he’s married and says he’s straight. That sort of thing DOES happen
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Are you totally stupid? I’ve known people who have gone back and forth between gay and straight and straight and gay. My first boyfriend (college, 1970-73) went from straight to gay to straight to gay. The point, that you unfortunately want to sweep under the rug, is that he didn’t do it by claiming to “pray the gay away”, unlike McClurkin. He just did it.
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And, unlike McClurkin, he didn’t make any money off of it. Now, you tell me, would anyone have heard of McClurkin if he didn’t have this “ex-gay” “stueck”? Probably not. As with Stephen Bennett (heard of him?), it’s all marketing, with a really vile subtext. Same with John Paulk.
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Some of us are paying attention, Ms. Porc.
What were the protestors saying? The most I could make out sounded like “Obama kills..”
That was all I that could be made out at the site.
Wish we could have gotten a little closer… the crowd was enormous – Globe estimated it at 9,500. My better half was struck by how many young people were there.
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The Governor rocked as usual. I could listen to that man all day.
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This was the fourth time I’ve heard Obama speak. He’s conversational, a great storyteller who really connects with his audience. I loved the closing anecdote he told about visiting a little SC town on rainy day, and having his attitude readjusted by a tiny town councilwoman whose signature chant is “Fired up? Ready to go!”
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His consistent theme is the power of the grassroots – how ordinary people can come together to make a difference. Of course, I love this flavor of kool-aid – I think we all need as much of it as we can drink.
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Get up to NH, people. Preferably for Obama, but if not, then at least for the Democrat of your choice.
Not to split hairs, but the article I saw in the Globe quoted the Obama campaign as saying the crowd was 9,500. Is there another article or any independent estimates?
too early for us to get up a head of steam about the primaries. I think I am experiencing Obama controversy backlash. Anyone that has seen him address Gay and Lesbian issues can tell he is not a homophobe. The more I hear of the controversy the more I am determined not to abandon Obama I like Dodd a lot too. It was a big crowd. I couldnt stick around for the whole thing.
Channels 4,5 & NECN all estimated the crowd at 10,000.