We love him so much we don't care when he's wrong! That will never come back to bite us in the ass! But when it does, we'll have hypocritical fingers to point, you best be believin'!

I think part of this boils down to acknowledging that gays/queer folks are necessarily single-issue voters. If you have to choose between two candidates who don't support gay marriage, and one supports several progressive policies(economic, in particular, as well as working to end the war in Iraq and decreasing militarism as our default foreign policy) that may line up with ones most gays/queer folks support, while the other doesn't, that could be a valid reason to support one over the other. We all hate making the choice between lesser of two evils, but sometimes the difference between the two is really significant. No, Obama isn't my dream candidate, but he's better than McCain, and if I am being realistic, I'd rather have Obama over McCain.

Oops, I meant to say "acknowledging that gays/queer folks are NOT necessarily single-issue voters." That's what I get for posting without preview...

I totally agree Obama should be loudly pro gay marriage!! I mean that will ensure a victory in November..for John McCain.

BTW, Hillary wasn't supporting it either but she promised to march in a gay pride parade this year. Which one did she choose to march in?

I'm dumfounded that this kind of thing keeps coming up. I thought everyone knew it was only Republican operatives trying to paint Obama as a liberal. Right?

Everybody with half a brain knew all along that he is not and has never been a liberal, didn't they? Help me understand because I keep hearing these ripples of shock every time Obama's many non-liberal positions come to light. Why is this a surprise all of a sudden?

Eli especially. I thought you followed politics.

He may not believe in gay marriage but I don't think he'll do anything to stop it AND I think he'll push for an end to DADT which will be just another baby step in the right direction.

Not supporting something but not supporting the opposition is fine with me. There's nothing he can really do about it as president anyway.

Not supporting something, saying you'll support something, and THEN throwing those promised support under the bus, you know, like Bill Clinton did, would bother me more.

They could be marching for another candidate (say, that Ron Paul douche), but it would be someone without a chance in hell.

It's not just that gays aren't single issue voters, it's that marriage isn't even the only gay issue. DADT, ENDA, PEPFAR, same sex partner immigration, federally funded sex education, and even getting a proper passport for trans/intersex people. If he makes progress on all of these issues and doesn't touch marriage at all, I'll consider him the most gay friendly president in history.

Giving his full support toward gay marriage would polarize a lot of people to vote for John McCain. Right now, there are a lot of Republicans who are probably going to just stay home on election night, because John McCain is rather unpalatable to them. Let's keep it that way.

I agree that he probably won't oppose any progress on it, and may even oppose any draconian moves against it, like constitutional amendments.

Obama at least acknowledges these issues:
http://pride.barackobama.com/

American politics is, has always been, and will always be a system of incremental change.

The question is not whether a candidate's ideology matches up with yours, but whether you perceive that a candidate's style of governance will foster a climate in which we can achieve positive incremental changes. In that sense Obama is a far better candidate than McCain, despite his unwillingness to take a hard line stance in favor of full marriage equality.

I am ALL for gay marriage, but come on, there SO many more things at stake this year other than whether or not we can marry and divorce like the rest. Are gay people really expected to be one cause members of society. Get real.

and he is a picture of the stranger people from the perspective of a parade marcher :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72286966@N00/2622544507/in/set-72157605893170801/

Schwarzenegger appeared on Meet The Press yesterday and managed to make a statement that both opposes same-sex marriage AND attempts to amend constitutions against it.

I wonder if the magically powerful Obama has the courage and eloquence to do the same to a national audience:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5944

Barack Obama Opposes Prop 8, the anti-marriage amendment

by: Brian Leubitz

Sun Jun 29, 2008 at 19:05:08 PM PDT

http://www.calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6307

Since Senator Obama has the courage to let his guard down enough to state this view point to the LGBT Democratic club in San Francisco:

"As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equa! rights and benefits to sarncsex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support rcpealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimcs and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states."

maybe he can work up the courage (and integrity) to say the same thing on ABC News...like when he said that marriage is for man/woman...or even on Meet the Press like Schwarzenegger managed to do yesterdat.

Unless the apologists would prefer a repeat of the Kerry/Edwards 2004 chickenshit festival that resulted in 13 amendments AND a loss in November.

At least Kerry got a hand job from his galpal Feinstein afterward. Maybe that is what Obama is hoping for by being timid.

Don't be silly - this has less to do with marriage (wearing a funny outfit, getting pelted with bird food and being showered with shitty appliances) than has to do with maintaining the integrity of equal protections as was explained in the decision of CA Supreme Court.

Don't be so quick to dismiss this issue and repeat the garbage that is spewed by Focus on the Anus. Think for yourself. Read the deicison. Understand why it is important to defend our rights - not to be married, but to be eligilbe for citizenship (the same citzenship that was extended to freed slaves by virtue of the 14th amendment).

Yeah, Domecrats are SO much better for queers than republicans...

Fucking idiots.

Oh, and go ahead and slam Nader while you are at it.

Skipping towards gommorah indeed.

Try coting your fucking consience once in a while, then you MIGHT, MIGHT, get someone worth voting for.

What gives you ask? Gheezuz it's a no-brainer sugar. They paid the fee, they get to march. Obama does not support equal civil marriage rights that's true. But all one needs to do is pay the entry fee for the March, gather your followers and march. No need to make it more complex than it really is.

So... we should stay home and not march in a pride parade in support of a presidential candidate until a major party has a candidate that supports every single LGBT rights issue in exactly the way we want them to and also has a chance of winning...

(crickets)

Ok, Eli, you made your point Saturday. But you bring it up again, why? Because a lot of folks (including me) marched in the parade for him? Because he has a lot of support from straight allies who probably marched for the first time in a Gay Pride Parade?

What's the point of regurgitating it?

Obama supports all the RIGHTS of marriage but in the form of civil unions because he knows what is political tenable right now (and something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime). In other words, all the rights and privileges except the word "marriage." So are YOU suggesting we throw Obama under the bus until he says "oh all right, Marriage" and then the voters throw HIM under the bus in the fall... and then you can write your political post-mortem and tar-and-feather him for being so idealisitically naive?

Hey look I'm on the Slog. The sexy guy in the yellow shirt in the second row, that's me!

So... we should stay home and not march in a pride parade in support of a presidential candidate until a major party has a candidate that supports every single LGBT rights issue in exactly the way we want them to and also has a chance of winning...

(crickets)

Ok, Eli, you made your point Saturday. But you bring it up again, why? Because a lot of folks (including me) marched in the parade for him? Because he has a lot of support from straight allies who probably marched for the first time in a Gay Pride Parade?

What's the point of regurgitating it? Are you saying that by having a large (perhaps the largest) turnout of a group in the parade, we're that much more naive or something?

Obama supports all the RIGHTS of marriage but in the form of civil unions because he knows what is political tenable right now (and something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime). In other words, all the rights and privileges except the word "marriage." So are you suggesting queers and their allies throw Obama under the bus until he says "oh all right, Marriage" and then the voters throw HIM under the bus in the fall... and then you can write your political post-mortem and tar-and-feather him for being so idealisitically naive?

I could go on and on about how supportive Obama is of the LGBT community but you should hear and see it for yourself. Check out this video we made that is up on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGHwRQ4qU4

BTW, I marched with the Obama folks in the parade yesterday and it was a blast! Thank you Pride organizers for putting on a wonderful event.