Comments

1
Your stupidity knows no bounds. Labeling someone as a failure simply because they haven't fulfilled their promises on YOUR timetable is childish, politically naive, and wholly unproductive. What on earth have you ever governed, Dan Savage? A bunch of stoners at The Stranger pawning themselves off as journalists? You couldn't even run a fucking PTA meeting so don't be lambasting a President who has yet to delivered to you what you want exactly when you want it. Do you teach your son not to be patient, as well?
2
Oh right - the gay dude fleeing from oppressive *BRAZIL* seeking asylum in the U.S. on "humanitarian" reasons has as much of a cause for asylum in the U.S. as a brutally beaten wife in Guatamala???

STFU.

Anyway, no matter what Obama does in support of gays right now, you're gonna bitch. Even if he repealed DOMA, DADT, etc *tomorrow* you'd still bitch and moan because it took him too long to do it. The routine is getting old and boring. Get a hobby.
3
Refusing to trade support for concessions makes you a political liability.
4
Well, he IS an enemy of SLOG after all... what can you expect?
6
@5

Look at the details of each case, and then get back to me.
7
@5 That double standard has existed since the founding of this country. It's gonna take a little more than less than a year in office for Obama to change that. There are political realities that Obama has to deal with that simply can't be ignored. DADT and DOMA will be a thing of the past. it's just a shame that people like Dan Savage are too short-sighted and politically ignorant to see that. Wake me up when Dan gets a passing grade in Poli Sci 101.
8
So every rape victim and every gay man is entitled to asylum? That makes sense.
10
Dan, why don't we just get right of the INS? No immigration laws, yeah! Dan Savage talking about politics is tantamount to Glenn Beck being a constitutional scholar. It would be laughable if it weren't so sad. How'd Iraq work out for you, Dan?
12
No, Dan is right.

The Matthew Shephard Bill and the end of the HIV travel ban ARE important and valuable steps but they were SAFE or small, EASY steps compared to DOMA and DADT. The administration doesn't want to dirty itself with the hard issues but it wants to appease the gays (at least enough so they continue donating and voting). Doing anything about DADT or DOMA might upset the Republicans or the fucking Blue Dogs and we wouldn't want to do that, now would we? It would ruin the spirit of the non-partisan brotherhood they're so busy trying (and failing) to obtain.
13
Got health care?

Got our troops home?

No? then stop whining and focus on the first two. At best the other issues you mentioned are maybe #8, #9, and #10 on the list.

Besides, McCain would have reneged on DADT and you know it.
14
Yes Dan, when will you learn. The Lilly Ledbetter equal pay act was far more important than equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans.

Fiercy Fraud wants the trigger option for healthcare so much so that his administration is at odds with Harry Reid. The liberal/progressive/democrat doormats and Canadian rejects/placeholders who defend him couldn't care less about him being a leader. They just want to feel good, even when they're being shit on. Fiercy knows that these tools have no other place to go when 2012 comes around.

Fiercy's a politician, pure and simple.
15
@14 Of course he is a politician, you moron. Are you somehow under the impression that someone who wasn't a politician ever won the fucking White House? But here's the key: Politicians are the ones who actually get things done. I know it's fun to sit around and bitch about shit without actually doing anything, but Obama will be the reason DOMA and DADT will be done with. The ends remain the same, just don't be a little bitch if you can't realize that the means to get there are a lot more difficult for your simplistic brain to comprehend. What you morons call "apologizing for Obama" I call "political skill and necessity". It's funny how quickly you forget the political capabilities of someone like Obama. He went from being denied a fucking FLOOR PASS at the 2000 DNC convention because no one knew who he was to becoming the fucking President eight years later. Ask HRC, dismiss his political skills at your own peril.
16
I think it's easy for everyone on this board (and around the country) who already has all their rights to say that we need to STFU and stop complaining. Take a moment and imagine not being allowed to marry the person you love. Or take a moment and imagine wanting desperately to serve your country, building your life around that desire, and then getting kicked out of the military with no other place to go simply because of who you love. It's crazy to me that in America, you know, the land of the free, so many are completely fine telling a group of second class citizens that their equality is secondary to every other issue the country faces at any given time.

And for those of you who say that Obama will "get to it" - please read the political atmosphere. 2010 elections? Yea, not looking good. We're set to lose the supermajorities in both houses and you know that any attempt to move on DOMA, ENDA, and DADT (if it hasn't already been dealt with by then) will be filibustered or blocked by Republicans. The gay community is impatient for good reason - these first two years really represent probably the only time in Obama's administration that he has to pass these crucial items for equality.

Finally, you don't just "get to" controversial legislation, you work on it for months and even years to ensure its passage. What, at this point, has Obama done to push movement on the gay agenda other than to say he'll sign things that come to his desk? Fierce advocacy? It's hard to be a fierce advocate when all you do is push responsibility off on other people.
17
@15
Hide little tool. Hide.
18
@16 That is the unfortunate political reality: Yes, you must wait. It's not an apology, it's just the way it is at the moment. If you don't like it, tough shit. Just don't say that you knew it all along when DOMA and DADT are ended.

@17 Be ignorant little queen. Be ignorant. You have absolutely ZERO idea what it takes to pass meaningful legislation let alone what it takes to fucking REPEAL legislation. Don't blame your ignorance, impatience, and political inabilities on those of whose are far-sighted, competent, logical, and rational thinkers. You may have voted for Obama. Hell, you may have even campaigned for him. But guess what: WE DON'T LIVE IN A DIRECT DEMOCRACY. That means that the President is not beholden to any idea that you have. We live in a representative democracy. That means that you elect someone who will best REPRESENT your beliefs. It's pretty simple.

You and Savage can circle-jerk each other all you want, but you ignore realities at your peril. You're a shortsighted idiot, plain and simple.
19
Obama is not good enough for the gays?
Who is good enough, Dan?
If no one is good enough for you then you have unrealistic immature spoiled expectations.
Work the system.
And STFU.
The constant bitching annoys everyone, your fanboys have their heads too far up your ass to tell you.
20
Dan, I agree with you that Obama has not lived up to his promises, but these two cases are not comparable. If the gay guy was from Iran or Jamaica, he'd have had a much better case. He was seeking a special exemption just for him; the Guatemalan case sets a standard for a whole group of victims seeking asylum.
21
Wake me when the bitching stops. Nothing the President does on this issue is good enough.

Like it or not, Savage, the President has the obligation to defend established law, period.

Unlike Bush, he will not go over what has been democratically instituted by Congress just to please you.

You're not the sole representative of the american people, sorry to brake it to you...but that's what thankfully happens in a democracy like ours.
22
@15
Yeah, I didn't think so.

DADT, DOMA, ENDA. Fiercy does all 3 before 2012 then you're a fucking profit. He doesn't. Then you're like all the other addlebrained HRC losers. A new and more sophisticated French Revolution here in the USofA wouldn't even be as satisfying--you know, the "national razor" and all.
23
@15

Yeah, I didn't think so.

DADT, DOMA, ENDA. Fiercy leads on and is successful on all three, then you're a fucking profit. He doesn't, then of course you're like all the other addlebrained losers.

Even a modern day, more sophisticated French Revolution here in the good ole USofA wouldn't be satisfying. You know, the "national razor" and all.
24
@9 & @ 11 That's right, the "socialist" is just getting to work, while the rest of the gay people have been working their asses off so Lonnie Lopez, Seattle's douchiest gay has equal rights even if he is a big fucking douchebag.

(I love it when Lonnie Lopez spam's slog so I get to remind Seattle that he is a fucking douche and a thorn in the side of equality.)
25
@9 & @ 11 That's right, the "socialist" is just getting to work, while the rest of the gay people have been working their asses off so Lonnie Lopez, Seattle's douchiest gay has equal rights even if he is a big fucking douchebag.

(I love it when Lonnie Lopez spam's slog so I get to remind Seattle that he is a fucking douche and a thorn in the side of equality.)
26
@ Confluence -- That guy from "oppressive *BRAZIL*" was in fact repeatedly raped and assaulted, and our government's response was to find that there was no physical damage done to him and therefore he had no case. He and his American husband are legally married, but of course that carries no weight with the feds. The Guatemalan woman hasn't had to keep going back to the doctors to see whether she's been infected with HIV by a rapist; she hasn't been bashed on the street several times; she doesn't have to fear for her life if she returns to the less than safe neighborhoods where she fits economically. Get down off your snark for a minute and look at the picture again -- maybe you'll be able to see that just because someone comes from "oppressive *BRAZIL*" doesn't guarantee his safety in public as a result of his perceived differences from the mainstream.
27
Obama is not a gay rights activist, and if you're waiting for him to act like one you'll be waiting a long time. The job of actual gay rights activists is to put him in a position where he feels there's public support for doing the right thing. You gotta make him do it, you can't just throw up your hands and say, "Well, we elected him, and he screwed us. Guess that's it."
28
Yawn. Nice to know Dan is still as whiney and self-centered as ever.
29
@22 Tell me, who is your "profit" (read: prophet)? Is it someone who puts ideology always before logic and reason? Is it someone who does more harm than good to the gay community? Because that is what your dealing with in anyone other than Obama. He is our President. And despite what you continue to say, he is the single most gay friendly President in this country's history. HIV Travel Ban, Hate Crimes Bill, Appointing more openly gay people in the Executive Department than any President in history, and the first President in this country to mention the term "LGBT" numerous times on live national television. If you or Dan Savage don't think that is progress, then you guys are seriously not paying attention. Also, get a basic education. Your lack of critical thinking is painful, "Mark in Colorado."
30
Every single one of you who wants to bitch about Dan's post has to tell us the date and location of the last time you were denied rights equal to mine (I am a straight white American male) and how it has affected your life, first.

Everyone who doesn't support equal rights for everyone and can't do this, kindly STFU.
31
Obama has had to clean up 8 years of horrible crap that Bush left of his administration and its going to take awhile. I was frustrated recently too about the lack of lgbt rights being addressed but I do believe by the end of his term, Obama will repeal DOMA and also end don't ask don't tell.
32
Speaking as a gay man who doesn't worship the ground Obama works on - the immigration case is so full of holes it's not funny. The Brazilian guy said he was raped long ago... and at other times said that nobody had hurt him... and basically, has been unable to make an even slightly convincing case that he faces danger at home.

Which sucks for him and his husband, but they are trying to take an end run around DOMA but seeking asylum based on a threat at home that does not appear there. Note that the US has indeed given people asylum because their sexual orientation means it's dangerous for them to return to their home counties. The problem is that this guy is having a hard time proving it.

I feel sorry for him and his husband and it's ridiculous that our laws don't allow them to be here together legally. But a president can't just make DOMA go away.

And he shouldn't. One of the absolute worst things about Bush was that he ignored the rule of law over and over, acting more like a king than a president. I don't want any other president to do that, ever. Even when the outcome would be something I like. It's dangerous for democracy.
33
I was recently scheduled to phone bank for the Approve R-71 campaign, but then I decided not to. Dan Savage and his ilk made me think that spending time around gay rights activists could be unpleasant. After seeing so much irrational, counterproductive whining about Obama, the HRC, Democrats in Congress, and even the organizers of Seattle's last gay rights rally, I realized that folks like Dan aren't very nice to their friends.
34
2009: Obama signs Hate Crimes Bill and lifts HIV travel ban. Dan Savage whines.
2010: Obama ends DADT by Executive Order. Dan Savage whines.
2011: Obama signs ENDA and statutory repeal of DADT. Dan Savage whines.
2012: Dan Savage whines. Democratic turnout is suppressed. Obama loses reelection.
2013: Dan Savage's readership soars after Mitt Romney is elected. Dan Savage whines.
35
Wanting more from your president =/= not recognizing that he's already done so much.
36
@35 But not recognizing that he's done so much because, like Dan Savage, your whole career is based on being constantly "outraged" = sheer and utter stupidity. Dan Savage has never had an intellectual leg to stand on and continues to be the biggest embarrassment to the gay community. He loves to spout off but never knows what the fuck he is talking about. He is Glenn Beck. An uneducated loon who makes money by riling up the ignorant.
37
it's ironic that Savage is so obsessed with Beck because he is just a queer Beck- a loudmouthed obnoxious uninformed attention-whore.
38
jared: Of fucking course we expect more from a Dem/progressive than we do republicans.

Loveschild: Your opinion as a homophobe is irrelevant.
39
It seems to me the standard of criticism rests on Obama's self-description as a "fierce advocate". To me, that's the 'hook' we all (justifiably) can hang our disbelief, concern, frustration and pending disappointment on.

[During the campaign] nobody told Obama to describe himself as such...there are many more words in English a man as smart as he could have used to qualify himself as an ally to the LGBT community and its related issues & conflicts. By (repeatedly) describing himself as fierce, he implied certain urgency and priority to unresolved conflicts of the voters he spoke to with which he could be judged. He affirmed this as his responsibility with subsequent speeches and these exciting, controversial but lofty claims.

It might sound "whiny" to hear Dan's criticism but think of it more as an observation. And if we are to look at the current political climate and it's current/future implications, it's not hard to suppose that these issues could very well remain unresolved. To Obama's credit, a few positive things have happened on our behalf but unfortunately, by his own descriptive standards, Obama has already failed in his "fierce advocacy"...so if nothing else, that specific criticism is justified.
40
@ Confluence, et al: You have the rights you fight for. If you don't keep a scorecard for politicians and their promises, there's no way to tell whether they're full of righteous fury or just full of shit. So yeah, if a politician puts themselves out there as "a fierce advocate" for someone, and takes their money, and accepts their votes, and their advocacy on behalf of their election campaigns, then yeah, someone ought to be calling BULLSHIT when they turn out to be less "fierce advocates" than "occasional appeaser".
Also, as for YOU calling DAN a whiny bitch? Pot, kettle, black, asshole.
41
stupid. a wife beaten by her husband? horrible, it happens and women are scared and more chauvinistic than men. they are blamed by their families, and they cannot leave their husbands (the firsts thing they should do, after maybe beating them with a baseball bat or similar instrument.. only my private opinion of what I would do).
now, why is this woman seeking assylum in the US? and why is it granted? what is the real reason? she could leave her husband and live happily in guatemala, where she is from... and knows the language. will she be better off cleaning toilets in the US living in the limits of poverty (much like in guatemala), not speaking the language and being a third class citizen forever? If she cannot make a better life for her in one place, changing country won't do.
same for the guy raped in brazil, which is not one of those countries where they lapidate gay people.. please, brazil is a free country, with lots of problems, I know. but really, that is not a reason to seek assylum. It's terrible what happenned ot both of them (and to many others). maybe I am the only onw who finds this ridiculous.
42
Wow. How interesting to see the true face of tolerance: "shut the fuck up you whiny queer."

You people are horrible.

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