Open letters from 17 gay men and lesbians.
November 19 2008 12:00 AM EST
November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST
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Open letters from 17 gay men and lesbians.
Dear President Obama,
I won't congratulate you because I don't consider your election a good turn of events. I didn't vote for you and frankly have tremendous concerns about what you plan to do to this great nation of ours.
After having been a leader within the leftist feminist establishment, I know to take people like you seriously. I believed you when you announced last year that you would work to disarm us. I believed you when you said you would meet with the world's tyrants without preconditions. I was disgusted when you apologized for this nation to Europeans.
As a gay woman I know the importance of being able to assert an unpopular opinion and have been repulsed by your attempts to destroy those who dared to critique your intentions. The lives of gay people rely on a society that does not quash those who are different or who dare to challenge those in power. I find it ironic that those most committed to tolerance and individual freedom have helped elect a man who has no patience for either.
I remain concerned that it's either extraordinarily bad judgment or hostility to this nation that drove you to choose a father figure who asks God to damn this country. I worry that the new first lady was never proud of this country until her husband seemed poised to get something out of it. I am concerned that you dismiss the greatest people on earth as bitter and clingy because they act on the Constitution and have faith in God. Yet it was the misogyny that marked your campaign against Hillary Clinton that's especially revealing about your character.
Don't get me wrong -- I believe you'll bring change, the sort Joe the Plumber experienced when he committed the crime of asking you an impertinent question. The sort where governments use federal facilities and resources to investigate those who dare to speak up. During the past few months we also learned of your desire to "redistribute" wealth. This is especially disturbing, as our personal freedom, Mr. President, relies in individual financial independence -- relying on a check from anyone else, especially the government, reduces us to servitude.
I do wonder, Mr. President, if it has occurred to you that there's a point where you can't punish, banish, or destroy every single person who disagrees with you? There will be a time when you will realize that we have no intention of allowing you to run roughshod over this country. You may not be ready or tested, but we are.
Tammy BruceRadio talk-show host and author of The New American Revolution
More Letters to the President-elect:Tammy Baldwin, Democratic member of Congress from Wisconsin
Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day
Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign
Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter
Michelangelo Signorile, radio host and author of Queer in America
Tammy Bruce, radio talk-show host and author of The New American Revolution
Vestal McIntyre, author of You Are Not the One and the forthcoming Lake Overturn
Jarrett Lucas, codirector of the 2008 Soulface Q Equality Ride
Michael Lowenthal, author of Charity Girl and Avoidance
Suzanne Westenhoefer, comedian and star of the documentary A Bottom on Top
Jim Buzinski, CEO and cofounder of Outsports.com
Perez Hilton, blogger, radio host, and television personality
Carole Midgen, former California state senator
Pam Spaulding, Durham, N.C.-based blogger
Paris Barclay, Executive Producer/Director HBO's In Treatment
Lorri L. Jean, CEO, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Jeffrey Prang, Mayor of West Hollywood
Jorge Valencia, Executive director and CEO of Point Foundation
Mark Leno, California assemblyman
The Reverend Doctor Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator emeritus, Metropolitan Community Churches\
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Donna Rose, transgender activist
Peter Tatchell, LGBT human rights campaigner and spokesman for OutRage!