Continental promo
|| Home > POLITICS  ||
< Back Comments (10)Post a Comment Bookmark and Share   Page: 1 | 2 | 3
 

Constructive Impatience

Stung by the Warren decision, GLAAD's former executive director Joan Garry offers the Obama transition team some sage advice.
An Advocate.com exclusive posted December 30, 2008
Constructive Impatience

I'll admit it. The Rick Warren selection stung. I really tried not to take it personally. I raised many gay dollars (insert funny visual here) for the president-elect. I received more than a handful of e-mails with the subject line "I want my money back."

My 81-year-old mother said it in her own inimitable fashion: "That wasn't very nice of [Obama]. After all you people did for him...." (This may be the only time I have ever laughed heartily when referred to as "you people.")

My partner says she is done. She doesn't want to go to the inauguration or any of those balls with me. I get her point. And it's not because I'm not a very good dancer.

During the primary and general election season, everything was so clear. The president-elect is in the right place in terms of his record and on policy positions on issues facing LGBT Americans. Our community had to work like crazy to get him elected. Many of us did. Conversely, another thing was clear. The gay community's support would not bring him a single electoral vote he needed. And might lose him a few. I get that too. We are, after all, the most effective weapon in the cultural war -- the last and best hope of the religious right. Just ask Rick.

And so like many of us, we look for signals during the transition so that we can continue to believe the promise. And there have been some. LGBT community leaders met with the most senior folks in the transition team. The team members were smart, supportive, and impressive. And yes, we all celebrated the announcement of Nancy Sutley to the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

But here we are on the cusp of New Year's Eve -- and we've got Nancy Sutley and we've got Rick Warren.

Page: 1 | 2 | 3
--Garry spent a decade serving as the executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. She is currently serving as cochair of the National LGBT Finance Committee for Obama for America.
Keywords:  Barack Obama  California marriage  Prop 8 
Related stories from Advocate.com

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Tim
    Date posted: 2009-01-28 5:57 PM
    Hometown: Huntington Beach

    Comment:

    The Rick Warren selection was dissapointing in some reguards, but if the vitriol spewing Warren can accept and stand next to a man who, at least generally, supports the LGBT community, maybe there is hope for the rest of the world. Sure Obama is not going to make LGBT rights a priority, sure Warren is just as deplorable now as he was before, but maybe, just maybe this is not a step back for Obama but a step forward for Warren. Just a thought.


  • Name: Greg S.
    Date posted: 2009-01-02 1:49 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

    Comment:

    I disagree with the notion that Obama made some misstep here that he couldn't have foreseen. He knew what he was doing...and it's not about disrespecting LGBT people. It's about his moving to the center so that he can have a meaningful presidency. If he moves too far to the left, we will end up with a GOP Congress in 2010 in exactly the same way Bill Clinton ended up with one in 1994. And worse, he could be a one-term president. There are huge issues that this country is facing...and I do think that the loud cries from the left about this one issue diminishes us as if this is all we can think about. We're at war in two countries, our financial system is teetering on the brink, jobs are being shed, deflation is a real risk, the environment is in dire trouble and just about every state and local government is broke and facing extreme budget deficits. I want a progressive agenda badly; but we can't ram it down people's throats or the next election day will be a sad one.


  • Name: Mike
    Date posted: 2009-01-02 12:33 AM
    Hometown: Chicago

    Comment:

    Seriously? Is she kidding? This woman is as blind a the rest of the Obamanites. I swear, it's a cult. He was never that well intentioned for our community. He's had anti-gay preachers all over his campaign. We have no upper-tired representation in his cabinet. He flat out said he doesn't believe that we are equal with respect to the civil and legal aspects of marriage. He has made it quite clear that he wants to have nothing to do with our community. We will never be equal in his eyes, and we will never be treated as such during his tenure in office. This woman is as delusional as are the rest of his own private crusaders.


  • Name: Josh
    Date posted: 2009-01-01 9:51 PM
    Hometown: Oceanside, California

    Comment:

    Hillary Clinton was more for gay rights and support than Obama, and yet the same people in the gay community that are whining about the reverend as Obama's pick are acting shocked and oh the horror, how could Obama do this. You're kidding right? You're telling me you had no idea that this was the way he was going to go? And we can preach and slam the reverend and obama, doesn't matter, they don't care okay, that's the why the reverend is still set to speak, come on, you shouldn't have blindly been supporting Obama over Hillary, he's never said he was that for gay anything. Hillary was very clear about her support and wasn't afraid to say it.


  • Name: Daniel S
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 2:22 PM
    Hometown: New Hope, PA

    Comment:

    We need to stop being so election-focused. The Latino community (much smarter than us) brought their weight to bear on Obama AFTER the election to make it clear they expected multiple Cabinet posts or they would make things ugly for him. Our problem is that we think that everything revolves around Election Day. Other interest groups are not so naive. We may not be able to provide a lot of votes, but we can certainly destroy Obama's shiny public image. That's more leverage than any number of votes.


  • Name: Brian
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 10:58 AM
    Hometown: Topeka

    Comment:

    This is why the gay rights movement will continue to take one step forward and two steps back. C'mon, Obama (and Clinton before) have us by the short curlies because, frankly, who else are we gonna vote for? Any Democrat can pay lip service to our issues and get our support (because they know there is absolutely no way this community will comprehensively vote the other way), and many of them (especially Obama this year) could have won without us. And then, when he names Warren for the prayer, most of our community loses their minds and screams to the hills "Never again!" Get over it. Obama will make some positive changes for the community, and the lovefest will resume. The rhetoric from our "leaders", however, will always put our community in a negative light for the mainstream. Stop freaking out, stop giving the mainstream reasons to hate us more, and learn how to accept the political nature of the issue. Don't be so amateurish, or you won't be our "leaders" for long.


  • Name: Richard
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 10:15 AM
    Hometown: Goshen, KY

    Comment:

    I have not heard of any plans for direct action on inauguration day. Shall we just bitch and send curt e-mails? What happened to real political activism like ACT-UP? We will not get equality the route we are going, unless we stand up and demand it with a loud voice and show a united and fierce presence.


  • Name: DeaninMI
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 8:29 AM
    Hometown: Corunna

    Comment:

    Apparently the Obama kool-aid hasn't worn off of some people. You'll notice she says, "The president-elect is in the right place in terms of his record and on policy positions on issues facing LGBT Americans. ", yet gives not one example. We've been asking ad nauseum for someone to give us concrete examples of what Obama has done for our community, yet noone can seem to come up with anything. Hmmm. Could it be because there are no examples to give??? Could it be because Obama is nothing more than words, just words???


  • Name: chris
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 4:29 AM
    Hometown: charlottesville

    Comment:

    This woman is being ridiculous. She's overlooking the fact that pro-gay Rev. Joseph Lowery is set to deliver the benediction. (I suspect that because Lowery is Black and straight ..and Southern that the (white) gay establishment just don't want to see how well Obama is trying to balance these sort of things. Obama is not just the president for gays, you know. Moreover, Obama and Warren both are against gay "marriage", albeit for different reasons. Also, Obama and Warren share common ground that should be important to gays such as addressing poverty and AIDS around the world.


  • Name: stanley
    Date posted: 2008-12-30 5:59 PM
    Hometown: brighton

    Comment:

    The main problem that sets back the gay lobby is the leftwingers among us who supported the democrats and vilified the republicans. Once we understand that we need to come together and support the business lobby, AIPAC, and others, we will wield more sway and get more things done. To my mind, this opinion piece is as much of a setback as Rick Warren is. We need to move on and embrace conservative lobbies like the Heritage Foundation. Being gay does not preclude being conservative. Marriage is a conservative ideal.


Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max. HTML formatting and hyperlinks are NOT permitted.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • View From the Hill: The End of DADT?
    Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed that lawyers are exploring ways to ease enforcement of the military's gay ban, but cautioned that the law doesn't leave much wiggle room. He need look no further than DOD history for a lesson in altering the policy.
  • Hot Sheet: Week of July 5
    When you get back from that big 4th of July barbecue, unwind with Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno and your favorite B-movie-mocking, basic cable robots.
  • Hungry Like the Wolf
    A master of viola, ukulele, piano, and harp, Patrick Wolf is a music prodigy -- one who, the night before this interview, spit on a cop and got himself arrested.
  • Soapside: Advocate's Guide to Daytime
    Forbes March talks about playing gay, Otalia fans outraged, update on One Life to Live’s Patricia Maurceri’s firing over gay plot point, Phillip Chancellor III big reveal, and Erica Kane goes to Africa.
  • The Faces of Federal Prop. 8
    With the federal challenge to Prop. 8 moving full speed ahead, Advocate.com sits down with the two couples named as plaintiffs in the suit.
  • Mommy, the Gays Are Coming
    After a year of advancements and celebration for gay and lesbian Colombians, the community takes to the streets of Bogota for the country's biggest pride ever.
  • The Pride of Antwerp
    Advocate.com hits the gay-friendly streets of Antwerp with openly gay police commissioner Serge Muyters.
  • Excerpt: Mean Little Deaf Queer
    In an excerpt from her humorous and harrowing new memoir, Mean Little Deaf Queer, Terry Galloway recalls her early childhood, describing feelings of ugliness, confusion about gender, and being one of the boys.
  • Top Political Blogs
    From Joe.My.God to The Daily Beast, Advocate.com spotlights a few of the best blogs that cover politics, inside and way outside the Beltway.
  • The Diva of French Television
    A hot young screenwriter who has made gay OK for millions of French viewers, Nicolas Mercier sips champagne, dons a feathered hat, and says he wants to see Colin Farrell and Jude Law go at it.