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Friday, October 26, 2007

Salon on Obama’s Homophobic Buddy

posted by on October 26 at 14:07 PM

Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to tour South Carolina with gospel entertainer Donnie McClurkin, a self-proclaimed “former homosexual” who believes it is his mission to turn gays straight, suggests that Obama can’t live without the support of the homophobic contingent of the black community and the black church in particular. But African-American politicians have already proved that black support is not contingent on homophobia.

What a horrifying concept. Is that what Obama is really saying, that black support is contingent on homophobia? Wow. If a white candidate had made that assertion…

Obama’s gay advocates obviously support him regardless of this fumble. But his gay critics are right to ask why he thinks getting homosexuals to sit at the same table with antigay and allegedly “ex-gay” Christians represents some kind of balance. Had McClurkin been a Holocaust denier, my money says Obama would be “embracing a change” in his tour’s entertainment lineup, lickety-split.

RSS icon Comments

1

I'm so tired of political double standards. Barack Obama can't have it both ways. How do you think people would be reacting if Hillary Clinton was going on tour with Michael Richards, Don Imus or worse, David Duke?

Posted by Darrell | October 26, 2007 2:19 PM
2

Well, he's a politician all right. Pandering wherever he needs too. So sad.

Posted by seattle98104 | October 26, 2007 2:20 PM
3

"Obama's gay advoicates obviously support him.."

Ahhh NO! I dropped my support for Obama over this. What he is doing is offering support of homophobia. So I have flipped towards...well no one at this point. The Dems are making me angry and sick to my stomach. Now I have to go cruise one of the cute/hot guys in the office.

Posted by Just Me | October 26, 2007 2:26 PM
4

Still voting for the Green Giant's penis.

Posted by Mr. Poe | October 26, 2007 2:31 PM
5

@4, all because he is tall does not mean he is packing anything down there. Trust me, I have studied that for years...(I go for taller guys)

Posted by Just Me | October 26, 2007 2:33 PM
6

Lol, glad to see you swallowed the MSM pro-Clinton Kool-Aid.

Any excuse, huh?

Posted by Will in Seattle | October 26, 2007 2:40 PM
7

Maybe Obama should get an ex-black on the campaign trail. That would balance things out. They could talk about how they used to indulge in the shameful black lifestyle, but God loves them now they have become white.

Posted by gavingourley | October 26, 2007 2:42 PM
8

@5

But it fucking rules when it does work to being tall and being loaded downstairs.

It makes seeing all manifestations of little man disease and little penis disease so hilariously gratifying.


Oh wait, sorry to say it outloud *sheepish grin*

Posted by personally | October 26, 2007 2:48 PM
9

I'll ask again: why don't you care when Clinton does the same fucking thing? She's sucking up to the explicitly homophobic part of the African-American church community -- but she gets a free pass. Why?

If you look at what the candidates themselves actually say about gay rights, Obama is better than Clinton. And if you look at what Clinton is likely to actually DO ABOUT IT as President, you will see....nothing.

Clinton's support on gay issues is tied up exclusively with the other HRC -- the Human Rights Coalition. She has an agreement with them -- don't bug me about gay issues, I don't give a shit, I don't want to hear about it. They support her, and she supports their goal of fighting for gay rights through the acquisition of mahogany paneling in DC offices.

Posted by Fnarf | October 26, 2007 2:49 PM
10

@ Fnarf, which former gay homeophobic preacher is Hillary on tour with right now?

Posted by Just Me | October 26, 2007 3:03 PM
11

Hillary's big advantage is that she's "pre-disastered" so to speak. People already believe the worst about her. Her fundraiser get popped by the Feds? No problem, we all know she and Bill are crooks. Flip-flop in Iraq? No problem, we already know she's a triangulator. Even if Bill gets caught again with his dick in someone's mouth, hey, no problem, we all know he's a dog.

The reason this story hurts Obama is that people still believe he's something different and special.

Posted by mike | October 26, 2007 3:10 PM
12

Ahhh NO! I dropped my support for Obama over this. Me too. I'm going with the openly anti-gay bigot, not the stealth bigot. Which anti-gay bigot are you voting for?

And "Just Me", Hillary's in bed with Harold "gays are like thieves" Mayberry. But she would never host any concerts featuring Negro performers, so the question of touring with an ex-gay pastor would not arise.

For me the only question is, why didn't the Democratic Party not vet their entertainers more carefully when they hired McClurkin to perform at their convention? McClurkin's evil is apparent only when the black candidate hires him, not when the white party does.

Posted by culture warrior | October 26, 2007 3:11 PM
13

One can dream. One can dream.

Posted by Mr. Poe | October 26, 2007 3:21 PM
14

Just Me @10: google "Harold Mayberry". He's a rabidly anti-gay pastor in Oakland whom Clinton has been courting. That's a lot worse than what Obama has done, which is to hire this guy to sing a couple of gospel songs -- something he's good at, has a Grammy for it. McCluskin isn't going to be speaking, nor is he really "touring" with Obama. It's a bullshit story.

Clinton's anti-gay preacher, and plenty of others, on the other hand, are being courted specifically for his support. She is meeting with them and soliciting their support. Mayberry's endorsement is on her web page.

How many anti-gay preachers are listed on Obama's web page?

I'm not saying Clinton is evil; I don't see why Obama is being slammed for this, while she gets a free ride.

I am eagerly awaiting the news that one of the guys who cleans Edwards's campaign headquarters at night thinks gays are against God's plan. Will y'all demand your checks back?

Posted by Fnarf | October 26, 2007 4:58 PM
15

I am eagerly awaiting the news that one of the guys who cleans Edwards's campaign headquarters at night thinks gays are against God's plan.

Masturbators are against God's plan, too. Every little sperm deserves a chance to meet an egg.

Posted by onan the barbarian | October 26, 2007 5:01 PM
16

So much bullshit and lies in this article.

like: it's not a tour, it's ONE EVENT that mcclurkin is appearing at.

Rev. Al Sharpton -- both a mainstream black leader and a minister. Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Obama have all spoken out in favor of gay rights and against black homophobia.

Sharpton and Jackson work alongside black ministers who are opposed to homosexuality ALL THE TIME. That's called coalition building.

Posted by Kevin Erickson | October 26, 2007 5:07 PM
17

like: it's not a tour, it's ONE EVENT that mcclurkin is appearing at.
Thank you. To hear the tizzified LGBT bloggers, McClurkin was gonna drive the Obama campaign bus and pass out homophobic pamphlets at every stop.

Posted by Male Bonding | October 26, 2007 5:16 PM
19

It's one event, the sexually confused McClurkin is singing not speaking, he's one of four listed acts, he's not at the top of the bill, and Obama's not there.

There's a name for the proposed response to this event. It's called "blacklisting".

And I submit that blacklisting is one device of social advocacy that the gay community should not encourage.

Posted by RonK, Seattle | October 26, 2007 6:53 PM
20

I read he was touring on three separate events. And #12 McCooky performed at the REPUBLICAN convention. How about getting your facts first, jeez. I've never had any support for Hill and now have lost it for Obama. I've voting for Edwards in the primary. I like him and I definitly like his wife.

Posted by Jersey | October 26, 2007 7:05 PM
21

A commenter on Queerty today said it: Obama just had his Dean Scream moment. I don't see him recovering from this.

Posted by MyDogBen | October 26, 2007 7:07 PM
22

@21

I agree that Obama's played this too crude and too cute. (But you have to admit, Dean didn't really DO anything bad - he was just enthusiastic. It was used as a face for the Democrat establishment led propoganda that he was too radical, which helped the Republican cause in general.)

Obama comes out looking totally inept, as if he doesn't understand or care about the line of tension he was dealing with.

Adding the white gay pastor as a speaker rubbed salt into the not yet completely open wound. It alienated gay blacks, who are tired of being treated as invisible, and at the same time pandered to the black homophobe notion that homosexuality is a whiteman's problem. It's amazing that he had no one on his staff to tell him that was a stupid stupid response.

Posted by mirror | October 26, 2007 7:40 PM
23

@20, There are 3 events but McClurckin is only scheduled for one. He has performed at both the democratic and republican conventions. Get your facts before accusing others of not having theirs.

Posted by Kevin Erickson | October 26, 2007 9:39 PM
24

@20, There are 3 events but McClurckin is only scheduled for one. He has performed at both the democratic and republican conventions. Get your facts before accusing others of not having theirs.

Posted by Kevin Erickson | October 26, 2007 9:43 PM
25

@20, McClurkin performed at the 1992 Demo Convention in front of Bill and Hill and everybody. Hill had a chance to chastise and castigate McClurkin then.

and stop reading fucking Huffington Post -- its credibility is as low as Ariana's "I didn't know billionaire Mike was gay until we were on our honeymoon" story.

Posted by culture warrior | October 26, 2007 10:17 PM
26

@22: Yeah, a white gay pastor couldn't possibly cancel out a black anti-gay gay pastor. Imagine thinking a white man was as good as a black man. Where do we get this kind of thinking?

At least now white liberal racists have their excuse why they're not voting for the black candidate -- Obama's too tolerant of people with opposing views.

Posted by dean scream | October 26, 2007 10:21 PM
27

@23 and 24. Obama's problem is not the number of events. Obama's problem is how he handled the blowback.
@22 Agreed on Dean. I heard it said, later, that Dean had been ambushed by a sound engineer who made the scream sound the way it did. I don't have the technical expertise to know for sure, but it sounds plausible.

I will vote for the candidate of my party in the general election. I will not vote for Obama in the primary.

Posted by MyDogBen | October 26, 2007 10:23 PM
28

Holocaust denial is anti-semitic and even illegal in many countries. I believe it should be illegal to even think about Holocaust denial.

To compare making homophobic statements or being against gays to holocaust denial is offensive and anti-semitic. In Israel many of the ultra-orthodox are deeply homophobic because of their religion. But the gays in Israel do not force these Jews to change their beliefs because in Judaism there is no dogma and homophobia is allowed among the ultra-orthodox.

Obama's real problem is he's not supporting Israel enough.

Posted by Issur | October 27, 2007 12:09 PM
29

@26

You aren't getting it. I'm offended because Obama's campaign handling of this issue (where gays in general felt thrown under the bus) was deciding the best move is to symbolically throw black gays under the bus.

It shows a very poor ability to deal with very foreseeable political dynamics. It shows he (or his handlers?) were ignorant or thought they could get away with not caring. I'm not sure which is worse.

Posted by mirror | October 27, 2007 1:07 PM
30

mirror -- you're just upset because Obama reached out to a black anti-gay gay pastor. how is this any skin off your gay ass? please post a list of people that you will allow presidential candidates to talk to, and post when each violates your shitlist.

Posted by culture warrior | October 27, 2007 11:07 PM

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