Obama Advocate interview

One of the things that makes me want to scream and cry is that no presidential candidate in this country can be elected who supports full legal equality for lesbians and gay men. Not John Edwards, who I supported, not Howard Dean, who I supported, and not Barack Obama, who I support.

And not a whole bunch of candidates that I did not and do not support, either. Even a few I voted for.

Oh, and yes, I know Elizabeth Edwards came out in favor of equality. And if she runs, I'll campaign for her. But John didn't get any points for that.

Anyway, the Advocate did a in-depth interview with Obama and it was published today. Highlights:

The Advocate: Let’s start with what’s hot -- why the silence on gay issues? You’ve done only one other interview with the LGBT press. I know people wish they were hearing more from you.

Senator Obama: I don’t think it’s fair to say "silence" on gay issues. The gay press may feel like I’m not giving them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all times. Obviously, when you’ve got a limited amount of time, you’ve got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. We try to do general press for a general readership.

But I haven’t been silent on gay issues. What’s happened is, I speak oftentimes to gay issues to a public general audience. When I spoke at Ebenezer Church for King Day, I talked about the need to get over the homophobia in the African-American community; when I deliver my stump speeches routinely I talk about the way that antigay sentiment is used to divide the country and distract us from issues that we need to be working on, and I include gay constituencies as people that should be treated with full honor and respect as part of the American family.

So I actually have been much more vocal on gay issues to general audiences than any other presidential candidate probably in history. What I probably haven’t done as much as the press would like is to put out as many specialized interviews. But that has more to do with our focus on general press than it does on… I promise you, the African-American press says the same thing.

This is the part I found the most interesting:

The Advocate: Both you and your wife speak eloquently about being told to wait your turn and how if you had done that, you might not have gone to law school or run for Senate or even president. To some extent, isn’t that what you’re asking same-sex couples to do by favoring civil unions over marriage -- to wait their turn?

Senator Obama: I don’t ask them that. Anybody who’s been at an LGBT event with me can testify that my message is very explicit -- I don’t think that the gay and lesbian community, the LGBT community, should take its cues from me or some political leader in terms of what they think is right for them. It’s not my place to tell the LGBT community, "Wait your turn." I’m very mindful of Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” where he says to the white clergy, "Don’t tell me to wait for my freedom."

So I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn’t be equal because there’s a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it. I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I’m operating. And I’ve said this before -- I’m the product of a mixed marriage that would have been illegal in 12 states when I was born. That doesn’t mean that had I been an adviser to Dr. King back then, I would have told him to lead with repealing an antimiscegenation law, because it just might not have been the best strategy in terms of moving broader equality forward.

That’s a decision that the LGBT community has to make. That’s not a decision for me to make.

The Advocate: Is it fair for the LGBT community to ask for leadership? In 1963, President Kennedy made civil rights a moral issue for the country.

Senator Obama: But he didn’t overturn antimiscegenation. Right?

The Advocate: True enough.

Senator Obama: As I said, I think the LGBT community has every right to push for what it thinks is right. And I think that it’s absolutely fair to ask me for leadership, and my argument would be that I’m ahead of the curve on these issues compared to 99% of most elected officials around the country on this issue. So I think I’ve shown leadership.

Read it all here.

Comments

[Bunny]

I admire his openness and honesty. It's so refreshing to not have to read between the lines, and add everyone's agenda in and then divide by the $ they're trying to raise.

[Red]

I was happy to see him sit down and more or less address the allegations put forth by the Philly Gay News, whose editor is a Clinton supporter, and whom I suspect wanted to do a hatchet job anyway. Says a lot that he interviewed John McCain, who stood on a stage and, along with the entire slate of Repub candidates, told a decorated and retired general, who was openly gay, that he didn't think that openly gay people should be allowed to serve. That, basically, they should STFU and keep their orientation to themselves. I'm guessing they want us to forget about that. K, /rant.