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Dallas, Texas Rally for LGBTQ Equality. Photo by Armando Dallas, used with permission.
The blogosphere is certainly buzzing with same-sex marriage statement cynics today. In addition to the great articles on Firedoglake about LGBTQ equality, here are some pointed opinions I found in my browsing.
Black Girl Dangerous questioned the conditions Obama put on his statement:
Because guess what? Straight people are not required to love each other to be able to get married. Nobody even asks them—no goddamn government official, anyhow. There is no question on any marriage license form that says, “Do you really love this person you are about to marry?”
Kate Conway wrote in her excellent “DEAR OBAMA: NON-HETERO, NON-MONOGAMOUS WEIRDOES DESERVE SPOUSES, TOO,”
A whole lot of people were thrilled, sure, but a whole lot more thought it just wasn’t enough. Obama hadn’t officially politically endorsed same-sex marriage. He was still, ultimately, planning on giving it up to individual states to decide whether Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are totally cuuuute or totally siiiinful. And honestly? Love Obama as I do, I’m starting to kind of get tired of the equivocating, too.
GetEqual Texas, allies of the Austin occupation, staged a successful pro-marriage & equality rally in Dallas yesterday, with a hundred attending. They garnered great media both in Dallas and here. Texas organizer Michael Diviesti also clued me in to another piece of good news:
A Senate committee has agreed to hold a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act following calls from advocates and senators for lawmakers to hear testimony on LGBT workplace discrimination.
In a statement Thursday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, announced he intends to hold a hearing on ENDA on June 12.
Now we need to keep the pressure on the President, and increase the pressure on our representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives. Statements are wonderful, but its time for some concrete action.
It’s a rainy day in Austin, but we’re still planning to stage a small action for the executive nondiscrimination order, and our livestreamer promised to attend. The action is due to start at 4:30pm Central (5:30pm Eastern). Here you’ll find the Occupy Austin stream which we’ll be using today.
Please watch if you can. This is our second action on LGBTQ nondiscrimination. Later I’ll report back with some YouTube videos and photos.’
Update 7:05pm CST: I have swapped out the ustream for the recorded archive of our action today. Look for a Youtube video of our encounter with Obama For America & other media tomorrow.
7 Comments
Cynical ploy to wedge gays away from proggies.
Also get gay guy donations.
Pressure on O won’t work on any issue unless he’s going to lose big bucks donations or O can figure out a triangulation tactic. (That’s the real meaning of his 11-dimension chess.)
So unless you have a lot of bucks to withhold donating, or a way of further trashing the proggies, don’t bother with O.
I don’t comment often of late. I guess I’ve become too cynical/hopeless/whatever. But has Obama actually *done* anything toward making same-sex marriage possible, or did he just express an opinion? And possibly an opportunistic one? Suddenly I’m getting a flurry of “donate to Obama’s re-election fund” emails. Why? I’d like to see some real action for “a change” (ha ha).
Two words came to my mind immediately: November election
This is a calculated move to shore up some seriously sullen wealthy LGBT donors who are sitting out 2012. Since Obama ditched the small donor 50 state strategy that worked so brilliantly in 2008 for the obscenity of the $40,000 a plate dinner*, he is scrambling to stanch the cash bleed in the wake of Citizens United. 1 out of 6 of his bundlers are gay
*(No better indicator of the 99/1 dynamic than the realization thatt both parties serve as cumrags for the richie riches).
Obama has an enthusiasm gap and a cash gap problem. The LGBT is a target rich collective of the target dynamic: well educated, urban, well represented in all aspects of productive society, generous in time and philanthropy and savvy in political organization from decades in the civil rights trenches now bearing some fruit. Oh and well north of all economic indicators.
If he can’t regain that community’s energy, he can buy their quiescence with this mealy mouthed ‘endorsement’ which I find as authentic as Frothy Santorum’s midnight email endorsement of Romney.
Also, the timing is suspect: the vote in North Carolina made it an imperative to boycott Charlotte and the Democratic Convention. Just like boycotting Arizona over the Super Bowl over no MLK Holiday. This defuses that potential, even though it should not.
Let Obama put his money where his and sign the Executive Order to ban discrimination in federal contracts. Actions speak louder than words.
Congratulations LGBT’ers. You are now Kingmakers in Barack Obama’s re election campaign. Bring your checkbooks. Jim Messina has a prime spot in the Veal Pen next to American black voters and across from MooveOn
Susan, you know this is all about his re-election. The more I hear about his evolution the more I hear he needs money, and with the polls split either way for and against gay marriage, he probably said fuck it. Besides, he really is doing much other than saying he supports gay marriage but believes states can do what they want. Meaningless but it might sway a few rich gay and lesbian potential supporters.
The pressure is coming from his LGBT big money donors too, and we’re going to identify who those are and target them directly if we can.
Agreed to you and SusanD at #2. This is a ploy to get his money rolling back in from the ‘Pink Dollar’ donors, in the hopes that he won’t have to take any real action like signing the executive nondiscrimination order. That’s why we’re going to keep the pressure on him, his democratic supporters, and his donors.
I’m definitely hearing from some sources that in addition to the pressure from the donors, they are also under pressure from campaign workers & volunteers that are getting repeated visitors from protesters on a national basis. The actions are having an effect.