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1. JIMMYBOYO, do you still think that we Obama supporters "GOD DAMN IT" (as you said earlier) should be kind a conciliatory to the bitter, angry and delussional crybabies like DAVEYNYC who are STILL bitching, whining and moaning?

   Lord, my first choice was, and my vote went to John Edwards but I dertainly didn't pitch a temper tantrum and try to hold the whole party hostage when my candidate was defeated and had to drop out.

   Tell ya what DAVEYNYC, vote McSame or sit it out; hell, vote for yourself, whatever, it's your choice. Just don't come back here in November and blame us or Obama if McSame gets elected when it was YOU who helped make it happen. If you vote for Obama and he loses then you can stick it to us, and say "told ya so" all you want, but if you vote for McSame OR you don't vote at all then you should live quietly with your choice. In fact, in my opinion, NO ONE who doesn't vote should say ONE WORD about who gets elected. When you give up your right to vote, you give up your right to bitch about who got elected.

   And by the way, MATT is also a long-term conservative poster here at Towleroad as the archives will show. He will troll the McClurkin meme trying to distract and deflate gay Obama supporters from now until November.

   Posted by: Zeke | Jun 9, 2008 11:33:06 AM

   
   

2. Nothing will change? Hello - Vt, NJ, and CT have civil unions. Mass. and California have marriage. An African-American man has just won the nomination for president after a heated battle with an equally strong, compelling and viable woman candidate. Things are changing.

   I certainly agree it is myopic to focus only on gay issues/identity politics when we have war, $4 gasoline, global warming and any other number of challenges ahead of us, as well as all the debt we've racked up at the fed govt, state gov't and individual level.

   The fact that Obama has been able to raise so much $$ from small donors and be in a position to not accept PAC and lobbyist $$ is a major change.

   Like the changes we've seen re: marriage and equal rights, progressive change is never going to come quickly or easily. It only comes when all us little folks get out there and live lives consistent with the world we want to live in.

   Posted by: Jim | Jun 9, 2008 11:35:36 AM

   
   

3. Nothing like a good dose of racism (Jason) and idiocy to start off the week and, likely, the long months leading up to election time!

   I'm not sure what this over-the-top animosity towards Obama is based on, but it's not your self-interests as a gay person. Listen to what he's saying: He's on our side, people! If gay rights matter to you, he is clearly the superior candidate. It's not even close. If gay rights don't matter to you and you support the Republican platform, then McCain is your man. As someone who's voted in every election in my adult life, I honesty don't understand people who have decided not to vote a full 5 months before the election. But then a good percentage of Americans are too lazy to ever vote, so I guess the ignorance of the American electorate, gay and straight, shouldn't surprise me.

   P.S. Leah, is "Harvard student" meant to impress us?

   Posted by: Ernie | Jun 9, 2008 11:37:12 AM

   
   

4. Leah is a Harvard student who usually signs in as Liz but is apparently too stupid to realize that by mousing over her screen name du jour we can all see the email address she logs in under: elizabethbard@yahoo.com.

   Posted by: 24play | Jun 9, 2008 11:43:30 AM

   
   

5. "Most blacks are churchy types on a par with the religious right, and Obama is no different."

   That is the most racist and incorrect blanket statement I've heard in awhile. When was the last time you interacted with African Americans? We are a broad spectrum of peoples... much like white Americans.

   Obama has done a tremendous job speaking the challenges of race and sexuality and how their social struggles for equality are similar. He took black churches to task for their hypocrisy on this issue in a few speeches I've seen.

   Those who declare themselves religious or evangelical do need a talking to. Many of them are so blinded by their teachings that they don't see the hyprocrisy in their own actions.

   I am a professional black gay male, Southern Baptist born and raised. My father, grandfather and numerous uncles are minsters or deacons. Coming out was a difficult process for me, and not everyone accepts it still. But as I explained to my family the similarities between racism, sexism and sexual discrimination, the civil rights movement and the equality struggle, they get it. The might not like it, but they get it. Never underestimate people's ability to evolve.

   And if they don't, use language they can understand:

   "Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged... Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" --Matthew 7: 1-3

   Posted by: JTluvr | Jun 9, 2008 12:03:31 PM

   
   

6. he says he won't stand in the way of "civil" marriage. still reserving the church for heteros. that's not full equality.

   Posted by: disappointed | Jun 9, 2008 12:03:34 PM

   
   

7. zeke

   A month from now? My rally cries for consiliation will be tried to the testing point. By then things will settle out and any supposed dem (Taylor Marsh herself is now calling out the repubs faking they are dems to stir up division on her site)will have made their choice. Any supposed dem bad mouthing Obama at that point will find me less cordial.

   Did you hear that the latest rasmussen poll has Obama ahead of mccain by 8%

   There is also another poll saying 70% of Hilary supporters are now backing Obama. A good start from which obama can work from on convincing the rest over the 5 months

   Today on morning joe, arch conservative George Will said that the polls aren't showing potential voter turnout and motivation. That it will be very bad for the repubs because Obama will win easily due to excitment/ turnout.
   

   Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Jun 9, 2008 12:32:59 PM

   
   

8. I was a supporter of Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama is, by far, NOT my first choice for President of the United States of America. He continues to make me uncomfortable with the way he addresses the matter of marriage equality. I do not like the fact that he equivocates in this letter by saying he believes civil unions are the best way for GLBT Americans to obtain the legal benefits of marriage. His statement that "...the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples-whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union or a civil marriage" strikes me as disingenuos. Surely Barack Obama knows that 26 states have already decided the best way to pursue equality for gay and lesbian citizens is to bar them from civil marriage and all the rights and benefits that accompany it?

   And yet, Obama isn't really saying anything that is different than what Hillary Clinton was saying. And he's saying a helluva a lot more on the matter in our favor than John McCain who, as another poster pointed out, stumped FOR an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Arizona that would bar same sex marriage there.

   But Obama is right where we want a candidate to be on the issues of DOMA (which he would repeal), the Matthew Shepard Act, Don't Ask, Don't Tell (which he would repeal), HIV/AIDS issues, etc... No one can say that about McCain who would likely be a *disaster* on those issues for our community.

   So, even though Barack Obama is not my first choice for President of the United States, I can assure you that come November I will be in a voting booth pulling the lever (or punching the chad) for Barack Obama. He is the best choice we have at this point. Anyone who can't see that should have their eyes (or maybe their head) examined.

   OBAMA in '08!!!!!!!!!

   Posted by: peterparker | Jun 9, 2008 12:44:01 PM

   
   

9. To Disappointed: He's a politician, not a church deacon. The only kind of marriage the government authorizes is civil marriages. Same-sex couples already get married in churches (or not) according to whatever any given church decides (just as also happens with interracial marriages such as Obama's parents had). The state has no say in religious marriages.

   Obama is FAR better than the alternative, and he is a step in evolution toward the right direction. I am a little disappointed that he doesn't come right out and accept FULL equality (how would he view a politician of the 1960's telling his parents that they could have the federal governement acknowledge their "union" but NOT their marriage like white people get?).
   I expect that ten years from now Obama will realize that only full equal rights under the same laws are acceptable. But more importantly, his nominations to the Supreme Court will not be zealots. John McCain's favorites on the bench are scary, and he says that's what he'd be giving us more of.
   

   Posted by: GregV | Jun 9, 2008 1:07:50 PM

   
   

10. "he says he won't stand in the way of "civil" marriage. still reserving the church for heteros. that's not full equality."

    Disappointed, we're fighting for civil marriage not religious marriage, because marriage rights are civil rights not religious rights. Churches are free to marry, or not marry, whomever they please. (Despite erroneous arguments to the contrary by religious bigots.) Obama's statement is not about "reserving the church for heteros." Getting married in a church is a separate issue (straight people can't get married in any church of their choosing either) and should have no bearing on the election. He was likely trying to be clear about the issue since many people conflate (some quite intentionally) legal and symbolic meanings of the word "marriage."

    Posted by: Ernie | Jun 9, 2008 1:19:39 PM

    
    

11. Maybe Jason is just a "typical white person" like Obama's grandmother, so you can't really blame him for making generalizations about people. They're bitter, you know, and guns and religion can only go so far to heal that.

    Also, it's pretty funny how McCain (McSame et al) and Hillary (Hitlery et al) can be slurred with derisive monikers, whereas when someone referred to Obama with his own initials (BHO) on here the other day, he was attacked. It's beyond a double standard.

    The Hussein angle is ludicrous, so even if someone was attempting to use it in a derogatory way, it's not worth giving the credibility of arguing.

    
    Bob Barr 2008, Hillary Clinton 2012

    Posted by: paul | Jun 9, 2008 1:21:16 PM

    
    

12. When Vermont was considering “marriage” vs “Civil Unions” back in 2000 (when no other state had either) I argued against separate but equal, and I still support marriage that dares to speak its name. If, however, civil unions were completely equivalent to marriage at the Federal level (as Obama claims to support here), I could probably live with that for a while.

    Currently there is no difference in terms of real rights/benefits between a CU from Vermont and a marriage from Massachusetts because neither is recognized at the Federal level and DOMA prevents their recognition in other states that don't want to recognize them. Taxes, inheritance, social security, immigration rights, portability – all of these are important. I’d be happy if all civil marriages, gay and straight, were called civil unions, but that actually would require straight people to give something up, and that’s not likely to happen.

    Obama does say that he “will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat samesex couples with full equality” and that states can decide on their own “how best to pursue EQUALITY for gay and lesbian couples” – not how best to deny them equality through mini-DOMAs such as McCain supported in Arizona and California.

    Posted by: Kevinvt | Jun 9, 2008 1:25:07 PM

    
    

13. Paul

    Barr the author of DOMA who was forced by the libertarian party to renounce it so he could get on their ballot.

    Yeah right

    To say Hillary 2012 is to say that you do not think Senator Clinton is honest when she says she will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to get Obama elected and help him to be succesful. Hillary has gone so far as to say through an aid that she will travel and stump for Obama every single day if he wants. Your 2012 comment = you think Your own supposed prefered candidate is lieing.

    There are many other options to POTUS. If she doesn't want VP, there is always trying for 1st female Secretary General of the UN after serving as US ambasadore to the UN.

    Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Jun 9, 2008 2:06:36 PM

    
    

14. From Jet magazine, May 1994:

    ["While a recent poll showed 59 percent of all Americans feel religion is important in their lives, Black religious experts told JET they feel the percentage is even higher for Blacks.

    Dr. Clarence Newsome, dean of the Howard University Divinity School in Washington, DC, ventured to say the percentage of Blacks who say religion is important in their lives is probably higher than the 59 percent found in the general population.
    "That 59 percent does not accurately represent Black America," he began, adding, "Blacks still have a higher percentage rate, at least 80% or more, when it comes to participation in organized religion, their belief in God and the power of prayer to change situations."]

    So, I don't know what this Jet magazine is, or where this Howard University place is, but clearly they are racists just like Jason!!

    Then to make things worse, some website (http://www.pridesource.com/rssarticle.shtml?article=30619) has this posted on it:

    ["Heterosexual African Americans are more likely than whites (65 percent vs. 53 percent) to oppose marriage equality for gays and lesbians. They "are virtually the only constituency in the country that has not become more supportive over the last dozen years, falling from a high of 65 percent support for gay rights in 1996 to only 40 percent in 2004."]

    I hope it made everyone feel better to attack Jason for his "racist" comments. Now please notify Jet magazine, Howard University and the National Black Justice Coalition that you will no longer stand for their racism either.

    Posted by: paul | Jun 9, 2008 2:14:55 PM

    
    

15. First Woman on Mars!

    It even picks up on a theme Clinton used in her concession speech. It's perfect for her.

    Posted by: 24play | Jun 9, 2008 2:15:46 PM

    
    

16. Obama’s presidency will be a repeat of the failed Nixon Presidency. Obama, like Nixon, is a consummate liar. The voters will expect a lot of him and when he fails to deliver…

    He won’t end the war, which remains the central question of US politics. He said so himself. Asked if he’d promise to have the U.S. military out of Iraq by January 2013 -- more than five years from now, he said. "I think it would be irresponsible (to state that).” Continuing the war is lunacy and murder but he’ll do it. Just like Nixon.

    The economy is in a steep nosedive and the bad news is that it might crash and burn (and good luck to all of us if it does). Both Democrats and Republicans support tax breaks for the rich, union busting schemes like NAFTA, deregulation of corporate predators and other policies that are directly responsible for the economic crisis. Obama’s big contributors, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase and Company are all deeply involved in the foreclosure/sub prime disaster that threatens everyone’s standard of living.

    The backdrop for Watergate was an economic crisis fueled by the war in Vietnam. Just substitute Iraq to bring it up to date. Just like Nixon.

    Obama and McCain are both lap dogs for the HMO’s and Big Pharma and opposed to socialized medicine. The health care crisis is a vital concern to most Americans. Obama is on the wrong side and will stay there.

    Both parties are run by bigots but in the last two years the Democrats ran Congress and they hit the "DELETE" button whenever we were mentioned. They refused to repeal DOMA and DADT, gutted ENDA and then junked it and the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill (AFTER it passed both Houses of Congress). They mulishly oppose same sex marriage even though polls show the public is moving in our direction.

    Like all Democratic candidates Obama is far to the right of most Americans. The more he lies and the more popular he becomes the more likely it is that his presidency will fail.

    That is assuming he can get past the Bradley Effect. The Clintons exploitation of race baiting was hit and miss but the Republicans are past masters of that kind of filth and the racists are coming out of the woodwork for this election. The racists running the Republican Party have already done polling to see how much they can get away with.
    

    Posted by: Bill Perdue | Jun 9, 2008 2:44:45 PM

    
    

17. it's depressing to get a glimpse into the minds of irrational voters. good lord, people: can you make at least a token effort to put aside your bias and consider facts, objectivity, policy, and maybe even the fact that Clinton endorsed Obama?

    i'm glad we have some time to mount pressure on these irrational voters to THINK for a minute. "sitting this one out" or "writing in Hillary's name" are not messages, they're an utter abdication of responsibility. the policy difference between Clinton and Obama was very narrow (universal health care notwithstanding), and both are worlds apart from McCain, whose Bush-toadying is as despicable as it is baffling. honestly, i haven't heard a third as much LGBT talk from Hillary as from Obama--he's really been actively using it as a metaphor to reach out to people about equality and unity.

    so it seems like the only thing that makes people reject Obama for the general election is mindless loyalty to Clinton--and how did she earn it? explain in specifics, please, not unsubstantiated generalities.

    and as for anyone who would consider voting for McCain, or abstain from voting: well, i don't know how to help you. you're lost. open your eyes and look at the facts. we couldn't afford Bush's term in the first place--we need a major change to start to fix things. McCain used to be a halfway-respectable senator, but the campaign (and his inexplicable Bush loyalty) have utterly transformed him. he would be a disaster.

    Posted by: le_sacre | Jun 9, 2008 2:58:16 PM

    
    

18. The gaping flaw in Comrade Perdue's worldview has been exposed!

    "Like all Democratic candidates Obama is far to the right of most Americans."

    I wish, Comrade. I wish.

    Posted by: 24play | Jun 9, 2008 2:58:51 PM

    
    

19. Simply put, any gay who does not vote for Obama is no thinking of the country's overall well being..

    There are a lot of things at stake other than gay issues. Obama might not be 100% there regarding gay issues, but I believe he is the most changeable on gay issues. He will do things for the country that will benefit EVERYONE.

    As Matt stated above at 9:25:05 AM, one needs to consider the major issues facing our country that are more important: war, high gas prices, the economy, election of Supreme Court justices, etc. These are the main issues.

    Gay marriage will happen, and with a Democratic president you won't have major roadblocks like with McCain.

    Doesn't matter, Obama is going to be US President period.

    Hello, who wants McSame anyway?!

    Posted by: FunMe | Jun 9, 2008 2:59:33 PM

    
    

20. @Bill: Obama's not left enough for my taste, either, but you can't deny he's the best mainstream candidate we've seen in quite some time. he's definitely more progressive than Clinton, Gore in 2000, or Kerry.

    where'd you get the 2013 quote? his plan looks pretty good to me:

    http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

    his health care plan is disappointing in not going far enough towards universal coverage, but it opens the door by creating a national plan available to all.

    of course the dems in congress aren't flocking to gay marriage--their political careers would not survive, because the public support is just not there yet. but they did stand up to the FMA.

    our major LGBT victories tend to come from the courts (traditionally the defenders of minority rights)--so let's ELECT a candidate who would appoint judges and justices we can live with. i shudder to think what would happen in a McCain presidency. our most progressive SCOTUS justices, Stevens and Ginsburg, are 88 and 75 years old. THINK ABOUT THIS.

    Posted by: le_sacre | Jun 9, 2008 3:15:08 PM

    
    

21. clarification: in first paragraph, i was referring to Bill Clinton, not Hillary. and i meant "best *nominated* mainstream candidate."

    Posted by: le_sacre | Jun 9, 2008 3:17:56 PM

    
    

22. Funme, I hear you, these petty posters who are so desperate for more of McBush are too ,much. But, then again, they are the same ones who are not voting for O not for his polices as he and HRC have almost the same stand on most issues, they are not voting for him because he is black, the same ones who hurl the most vile of racial slurs chance they get on this site.

    If, he is not the candidate for you vote for who can do the job better, but, since it seems most of these rants are racially based, that's as disgusting as the anti-gay stance of McCain. Sexism, homophobia and racism are the bread and butter of the GOP, and, people will vote for that party because of some perceived slight of HRC? Wow, get over it, if Hillary is going to work for a McCain free America, all decent people can.

    Posted by: Cory | Jun 9, 2008 3:18:57 PM

    
    

23. Latest Rasmussen poll

    Obama ahead of mcsame mcshame 8%

    latest Gallup poll out today

    Obama ahead of mcbush 2.0 by 6%

    70% of Clinton supporters are now supporting Obama. many of the rest will also join in. The majority of deaniacs back in the day hated Kerry with a passion and swore they would never vote for him. In the end many of the self same deaniacs ended up voluntering for Kerry at the polls.

    Things are looking great

    Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Jun 9, 2008 3:37:44 PM

    
    

24. OK, I was going to leave this thread alone. While very much appreciating the efforts of some "Obama Preferers" such as JimmyBoyo and Zeke to take the high ground, I realized that others were too fond of their hatred of Hillary to ever let it go and nothing I could write would change that.

    But they aren't asking for our hard work [and money] to make them President, yet after reading this allegedly new letter from Obama I am very concerned.

    Those concerns will not prevent me from voting for him over McShame—for the truth remains that at his worse he is better than any Repug at his best. HOWEVER, Obama's continued misrepresentation of what he's actually done in relation to us gives me great concern about what he will DO for us once elected—particularly when he will be immediately challenged by, among others things, an economy in crisis and the literal life and death issue of Iraq.

    Specifically: no matter how many times he claims it, no matter how many believe him [which I've repeatedly seen here and elsewhere], Obama did NOT "[talk] about the need to fight homophobia when [he] announced [his] candidacy for President, [nor talk] about LGBT equality ... to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church."

    Per his official campaign Website, this is exactly [and only] what he said in the first instance in Springfield:

    "We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants."

    And at Ebenezer:

    "We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them."

    Of course, both of those statements are appropriate and admirable. But NOWHERE do they reference "the need to fight homophobia" nor "LGBT equality."

    What he has ACTUALLY said and done are reasons for supporting him, reasons for hope, but Obama for President supporters, including myself, will be continuing to nail McShame for his misstatements and false claims. Obama must be held accountable for his own willful mistakes if we are to expect anything more than smilefucking once he's elected.

    Posted by: Michael Bedwell | Jun 9, 2008 3:40:56 PM

    
    

25. 24 play

    mars comment = poor taste / sore winner

    paul

    sans watergate, Nixon was had some good points as a president

    1) Started the EPA Environmental protection agency
    2) talked to China an defused a serious esceltaing catastrophe with them

    Just to name 2

    The funny thing is the repubs of today would label Nixon a marxist tree huger and refuse him entry to their party

    Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Jun 9, 2008 3:43:44 PM

    
    
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