Obama’s Amendment One silence

[xchrom]

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/24/obama’s_amendment_one_silence/


Anyone hoping that President Obama will finish “evolving” and announce his support for gay marriage this year might want to look at what’s unfolding in North Carolina right now.

On May 8, voters there will be asked to decide whether to amend the state’s constitution to ban not just gay marriage but also civil unions. This would represent a serious step back for the marriage equality movement, and polls show that Amendment One, as the proposed ban is known, would pass if the vote were held today. Last month, Obama’s campaign released a statement expressing his opposition to the amendment, but he didn’t say anything about it during his visit to the state today, sticking instead to his script on student loans.

A good case can be made that Obama is seriously hurting the campaign to defeat Amendment One with his silence. For one thing, there are signs that many North Carolina voters aren’t engaged in – or even aware of – the referendum battle. And since it will be settled in the state’s primary election, and not in November, turnout could be low. So there might be real value in Obama speaking out and drawing attention to what’s at stake in two weeks.

Beyond that, the president could be of particularly help with two particular groups of voters: Young people and African-Americans.

[Lawlbringer]

1. It's a shame this is taking place immediately before a Presidential election

because if this happened next year, I'm sure he'd be all over it.

Although that's just me being optimistic.

[William769]

2. Silence = Death. n/t

[nofurylike]

6. that phrase is about US keeping silence, not about others sticking their necks,

hopes, careers, the entire country's future on the line while so many of us lgbttqics will not do that much for other lgbttqics.

[FreeState]

11. ACT UP was not just LBGT persons

Silence = Death has a much wider meaning in this day and age, as do most sayings within the community. And yes, when the countries leaders are silent on issues of stigma vulnerable people die because of these amendments.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/proposition-8-contributes-depression-substance-abuse-among-homosexuals-professor

San Francisco (AP) - A Columbia University social scientist says California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriages contributed to the social stigma that makes gay men and lesbians more susceptible to depression, suicide and substance abuse.

Testifying in the federal trial to decide if Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution, Ilan Meyer said the measure sent a message of "You are not welcome here" to gay people by erecting a barrier to a "desirable and respected" institution.

"People in our society have goals that are cherished by all people, that are part of the social convention," Meyer said. "We are all raised to think there are certain things we want to achieve in life, and this Proposition 8 says if you are gay or lesbian, you cannot achieve this particular goal."

The trial, the first in a federal to examine the constitutionality of state gay marriage bans, is scheduled to resume Friday with testimony from Michael Lamb, a Cambridge University psychologist who will discuss gay and lesbian parenting and the benefits to children of allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Supporting marriage would not jeopardize the entire country or re-election.

[nofurylike]

12. for now, just briefly, more later.

President Obama has known exactly how to progress on our behalf, how far to blatantly go, when to act quietly.

repugs having as much power as they do now jeopardizes the entire country; having even more: far worse than just jeopardizing it.

re-election is far too urgent, imperative, and far too at-risk, to take risks with it that would have no benefits.


Silence=Death preceded Act Up. it was about victims keeping silence out of fear for themselves, out of fear of the repercussions of being outed by being honest.
and it included the dangers we allowed others to be in by our silence, by not coming out ourselves.


to be continued when i have a chance. rushed now, sorry.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Knowledge = Life

The President would do well to ponder that in his silence, while perusing the statistics on AIDS deaths in the African American community, historically and to this day.
Silence = Death Knowledge = Life

[FreeState]

28. There is no such risk in supporting marriage equality

All current polling shows otherwise.

http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm

"Would you say you are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports same-sex marriage, a candidate who opposes same-sex marriage, or would it not make much difference in how you might vote?"

More likely to vote for supporter 25%
More likely to vote for opponent 20%
Would not make much difference 54%
Unsure 1%

So lets see 54 would make no difference - its about the amount that say that they support ending marriage discrimination. Add 25% to that that would be more likely - thats 79%.

Only 20% would be less likely to vote for a candidate.

Sounds like if its a close election he would gain at least 5% of the votes for supporting marriage equality.

President Obama has known exactly how to progress on our behalf

He knows more than all the LGBT organizations that have been working on marriage equality for all these years? How so?

[nofurylike]

32. from an article posted on this forum:

&quot Representative Barney) Frank was quick, however, to applaud Obama's overall record on gay issues, giving him an 'A-minus' across the board."

yes, he has known exactly how to progress on our behalf, outshining any other president ever.

thank you.

[laconicsax]

34. There's a lot of worthlessness in those sentiments.

Obama's been better on LGBT issues than any previous president.

That standard was so low, he would have had to try really hard to not surpass it.

[nofurylike]

35. "a lot of worthlessness"? (rather a personal attack, you know.) tell it to Rep Frank. and

the person who posted that article.

as for my own comment about more than any other president ever, i agree with you that the standard was low. the president could have done more than any other even doing what Rep Frank would have determined a D-.

still, i don't remember people leveling such shrieking vitriol at Pres Clinton or Carter or Kennedy or ....

do you see what i mean?

[Bluenorthwest]

36. What you are ignoring is the arc of history and the context that creates...

William Jefferson Clinton was the FIRST national Democrat to so much as mention the glbt community as a part of this Party. So prior to him, there was zero, nothing, not a shred of support from the DNC or any of their national candidates.
This means that each new Democratic President now enters a discussion that simply was not going on in the Party prior to Clinton, or more to the point, prior to Reagan's pathetic refusal to so much as mention the AIDS crisis for many years, and the DNC waking up to the fact that there was organization, power and passion in our community ready to draw on for their own agenda's sake.
No Democratic President can now return to the pre-Clinton era. The metrics are entirely different than they were in the past. That's how progress and history work.

[nofurylike]

37. that is the point. context mitigates for Pres Clinton, but not for Pres Obama.

while many rage for there to be nothing short of ALL, NOW, we have been blessed with more progress than most of us ever dreamed was possible. yet, there is the ever present rant of "but what have you done for me today?!"

it is one thing to speak of the incredible progress, and then to express what is left to do, but another to swipe from memory ALL of the gains, claiming that not having ALL means we have received NONE.

incremental change is okay for aravosis, who advocated for our rights while throwing transexuals under some people's proverbial bus, yes? and okay for even Rep Frank, who, as i recall, did the same, at least at first, yes? but to trust that the one who has given us the most progress we have ever known, who HAS stuck his political neck out beyond what any other has ever done, is just too, too, what? too reasonable, to those who seek to find fault no matter how much he accomplishes for us, unless he does it their superioristic way?

marriage is not the province of federal government, and there is important process occuring to deal with the attempt to make it so in the form of DOMA. in every way that our rights are federal concern, our president is chopping away at the edges, making the changes that will make all our rights possible to attain. he very wisely leaves the legal processes to those who are - obviously, since it is working! - best suited to those battles.

for those who give him NO credit, who only slam him, relentlessly, it is simply obvious that they have questionable intentions. you might not be doing that, many are not, but why do so many defend those who do, against those of us who point it out?

thank you.

[FreeState]

38. So you choose not to address this and change the subject? n/t

[joeybee12]

3. Barack Obama has always been about one thing:

Barack Obama. If he thought that speaking out against this would help him with his re-election, he would. But he feels it won't, or his handlers don't, so he remains silent. He won't stick his neck out for anything because doing so opens one up to criticism, and also controversy, and he never met a controversy he wouldn't back down from.

[msongs]

4. smoke a joint go to for profit prison. Oh sorry, wrong issue nt

[nofurylike]

7. i am sorry to see you must be way too busy to get to appreciate the facts.

you are missing an incredible mass of amazing progress we lgbttqics have gained thanks to President Obama, and other Democratic leaders. more than we had ever imagined possible, a very short time ago.

[BillStein]

8. I recognize what's been accomplished BUT

that doesn't prevent my being angry at what has not been, or at the glacial pace of progress

[nofurylike]

13. that was not what the poster i replied to said. thank you, though. nt

[joeybee12]

9. Typical response...rhethoric, no facts...nt

[nofurylike]

14. plenty of facts in this group's forum. i hope you take the time

to explore them.

with such strong opinions, i imagine you want very much to have the facts.

thank you.

[Creideiki]

10. I'm a federal employee and

until I can cover my husband under my health insurance, the minimal incrementalism practiced by Obama is not enough to earn more than a vote (because Romney would be a disaster and I'm in a swing state).

Basically, Obama suh-hucks--so bad it takes two syllables--but the alternative is somehow worse. About the best we can hope for is for Romney to decide he needs to shake the Etch-a-Sketch again and become less of an ass toward us.

[The Philosopher]

16. Condescendence isn't an argument.

[nofurylike]

25. direct, calm, sincere responses are often demeaned as condescension here.

maybe because there is nothing to alert on in them.

i recognize that arguing is pointless.

thank you.

[The Philosopher]

27. No, telling people

they're "too busy" to see a "point" is like telling them they're too stupid to see it, because it must take some time and effort on their part to understand what comes to you as plain as day, is what's condescending. You made no "direct, calm, sincere" response. You condescended to protect your point.

[nofurylike]

29. i am sincerely sorry when someone does not know facts that could

make a positive difference for them, and for those around them. presuming that person must not have time to learn the facts is kinder than presuming they do not care to, or have another reason. no?

whatever reason, that person does not know the facts, and that is a fact. how should i put it to your judgment's satisfaction, hmm?

and no need to reply. arguing about your view of what is proper arguing is ...

[yardwork]

17. I have not received any additional rights. None.

My state is getting ready to pass a constitutional amendment that makes even more sweeping the institutionalized homophobia. Since I am not in the military and don't plan on being I'm happy that DADT was repealed but it didn't give me any more rights.

In my state I can still be fired for being gay. No expansion of rights whatsoever. Nothing.

[MNBrewer]

18. My state is voting on one, too.

[yardwork]

19. I know. We're actually going backwards in many parts of the country.

There is some kind of meme going around that LGBTQ people have a ton of new rights all of a sudden, and we should shut up and sit down (right after voting for Obama) but I'm here to tell everybody that I haven't received any new rights.

I will be voting for Obama but I'll be damned if I'm going to pretend that everything is seashells and balloons.

[MNBrewer]

21. Yes, I've decided that I will be voting for Obama as well.

As spineless, two-timing, backstabbing, wimpy, tepid, timid and mealymouthed as the Democrats are, they're a good sight better than any Republican. I'll vote for Obama and will expect exactly nothing out of his second term, should he get one.

[yardwork]

22. Gosh, I feel exactly the same way!

[Fearless]

5. We're not worth enough.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

15. Don't Expect Obama to Stick His Neck Out For Us...

He's too worried that some of his "base" will get all upset.

[Doctor_J]

23. Obama is a social conservative

[yardwork]

24. I said that in 2008 right after the election and got in big trouble for it on DU.

I believe that I have been proven to be correct. He is a social conservative.

[Doctor_J]

26. Between this, his crackdown on pot smokers, his gifts to the gun culture,

and a couple others, what other inference can be drawn??

[laconicsax]

30. That he's playing 7-dimensional chess?

Or is it that you never really loved him?

[Doctor_J]

31. Yes, we encountered that chess argument before

by moving all the way to the right, the president forces the Repukes even farther to the right - so far that people won't vote for them. That strategy proved a thundering success in 2010.

[laconicsax]

33. The mistake everyone made was in assuming that Obama wasn't playing chess against us.

All the signs were there from the beginning--the "one song," "inadvertently" endorsing Prop 8, the "two-minute prayer," etc.