NY Daily News: Michelle Obama's the belle of gay Democrats ball

[Stephanie]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/06/26/2008-06-26_michelle_obamas_the_belle_of_gay_democra.html

Michelle Obama's the belle of gay Democrats ball
BY CELESTE KATZ
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Thursday, June 26th 2008, 10:22 PM

A week after her smash appearance on "The View," Michelle Obama returned here Thursday night to win more kudos - this time from well-heeled gay activists at a Waldorf-Astoria party fund-raiser.

The wife of Democratic candidate Barack Obama spoke before the Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council about civil rights struggles "from Selma to Stonewall."

She showcased what she called her husband's long record of pushing for equal treatment for all, spinning his refusal to endorse gay marriage by noting he supports civil unions and would let states decide what's best.

link

[slinkerwink]

1. oh, and that IS a fantastic dress!

[saracat]

2. Great dress but unflattering picture.

[Stephanie]

3. Agreed. There were only two and the other was no better >

The AP could have done a better job.

[Adelante]

27. Love the neckline

:)

[msongs]

4. oh sure and btw no gay marriage in the obama platform - just send checks n cash nt

[IndianaJones]

5. he is free to practice his religion, as long as it doesn't interfere in his policy. nt.

[hokies4ever]

6. Would you rather have a candidate

who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and endorsed the don't ask, don't tell policy? It's clear to even armchair political pundits out there that gay marriage will come about from the legislative and judicial branches at the state level, not the executive branch at the national level.

[IndianaJones]

8. like civil rights for say...african americans? nt.

[hokies4ever]

10. The executive branch doesn't decide if gay marriage is legal

We're electing a President, not a dictator. It's the legislative and judicial branches of government that decide this.

[IndianaJones]

11. you said its a state issue. do you feel that civil rights for african americans was as well? nt.

[hokies4ever]

12. I never said that it's a state issue

I said that's the only way it will be changed over the next 10-15 years. Obama can't just issue an edict to allow all gay marriage. President does not equal dictator.

Plus the opponents to this viewpoint won't recognize marriage as a Constitutionally-protected civil right.

[IndianaJones]

13. Obama is an opponent to the viewpoint. and a legislator. civil rights are federally protected. nt.

[hokies4ever]

16. Obama announced that he supports the CA court decision

Sounds like he supports the CA court decision to me. Let me break it down for you. Here are a couple of ways to get gay marriage passed:

1. Legislative branch makes it legal, appeal to judicial branch is denied. Executive branch abides by the decision.
2. Judicial branch repeals ban on gay marriage, legislative branch fails in referendum attempt during election. Executive branch abides by the decision.

Got it? Here's how gay marriage won't get passed:
1. President says that gays should marry. Announces that he is the dictator and the legislative and judicial branches don't have the power to contest him.

So to recap, Obama wouldn't have the power to eliminate gay marriage bans as President. The best you can hope for is the absence of a veto if the legislative branch passes a gay marriage ban. This is answered by Obama supporting the CA court decision.

The REAL question you should ask is what kind of judges Obama will appoint to the Supreme Court. That's the true power that he will have over issues like gay marriage.

[IndianaJones]

17. Thank goodness JFK and LBJ didn't have this view on civil rights. nt.

[hokies4ever]

19. LBJ authored the bill that he signed?

Funny, I always thought that it was Congress that authored that bill. Silly me.

If you want to be politically effective, you need to understand how politics work. Call your Congressman to get them to pass a bill making it illegal to ban gay marriage.

Don't be fooled by the Dumbya years. Obama believes that there are three branches of government. It's the legislative branch that needs to pass a bill legalizing gay marriage.

[IndianaJones]

20. John F. Kennedy submitted the bill that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on June 19th 1963.

LBJ bullied the bill to passage after JFK's death.

If you want to comment on civil rights, you need to learn the history of the civil rights movement.

[hokies4ever]

23. DOMA

House: 342 yeas, 67 nays. Senate: 85 yeas, 14 nays. President Clinton signed the bill into law in 1996.

Obama needs Congress to get more on board if he's going to have any shot at this. As long as people elect politicians that view gay marriage this way, it will never be accomplished. Civil unions are hanging on a thread as it is already. Even the CA ruling isn't in the clear yet.

Also, gay marriage isn't considered to be an important election issue for most Americans, which is where your comparison falls flat. As long as it is viewed as a wedge issue and not an issue of great national importance, it won't be passed on the national level. Hate the message not the messenger.

[dsc]

26. If you are referring to Hillary she did neither one of those

DOMA was passed in 1996, when she was first lady, and she has repeatedly called for repeal of DADT which also happened when she was first lady. She isn't pure on this issue but you are making stuff up here.

[Stephanie]

7. .

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid53048.asp

Obama Holds LGBT Fund-raiser in NYC

Sen. Barack Obama waded deep into Clinton territory Thursday evening at a private LGBT fund-raiser in New York City where the price of admission was $2,300 per person.

Held at the apartment of GLSEN founder and executive director Kevin Jennings and his partner, Jeff Davis, the event drew about 125 people and raised $170,000. No press were admitted, but based on several accounts, attendees were struck by the Illinois senator’s candor as well as his fluency with LGBT issues.

“I’ve been to many events over the past 10 years of candidates running for office,” said Corey Johnson, one of the hosts, “This was the most forthright, eloquent, and detailed stuff I’ve heard from a politician .”

Molly Lenore, 43, compared Obama’s discussion of the LGBT community to the speech he gave about race in America last week. “During his race speech, everybody said afterward that he treated the American people like adults, and I felt like that’s what he did,” said Lenore, who is transgender and an Obama supporter. “I might not agree 100%, but I want to have an intelligent conversation with somebody.”

According to those present, Obama spoke for about 30 to 35 minutes about queer issues and then fielded questions, most of which were not LGBT-specific.

Johnson, who is 25, has supported Obama for about a year but prefaced his remarks by saying he has never been an “Obama-phile.” He said the senator addressed some of the most contentious LGBT issues without prompting, such as same-sex marriage and the inclusion of transgender people in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In fact, those were the two issues Sen. Obama singled out as being potential disappointments to the LGBT community right now, while he signaled that a hate-crimes bill could likely be passed and signed into law and that repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” might be on the horizon.

According to several sources, including Johnson and Lenore, Obama said he did not think it was “politically feasible” to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples in the country at this point. Sen. Obama acknowledged that the community wanted full marriage rights but said that he favored civil unions for now while leaving open the possibility that his position might evolve in the future.

In terms of ENDA, Obama said he supported an ENDA that included transgender protections but that he didn’t believe a fully inclusive bill had enough votes to pass the Senate at this time.

“I don’t agree -- I think we’re much stronger united as a community,” Lenore said of keeping transgender protections in the bill. “But I do understand the politics and I do appreciate the fact that he said, hey, it’s not going to pass in this political climate. Many other politicians haven’t really done that. They make decisions but they never really address the trans community.”

Should he become president, Obama said his first three priorities would be designing a safe exit strategy for Iraq, working on affordable health care, and addressing greenhouse gases and the environment.

As Sen. Obama made his way to the door, Johnson said he asked the senator directly to do more interviews with the gay press, citing the fact that he has conducted only one interview with an LGBT outlet during his presidential campaign. “I said, ‘Your speech tonight was so moving to all of us, the way you spoke about our community. You need to do more ,” recalled Johnson. “And he said, ‘You’re right, absolutely. We do need to do more with the LGBT press.’” (Kerry Eleveld, The Advocate)

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Obama in Equality

Senator Obama gave a good written reply type of interview with Equality, the magazine of the Human Rights Campaign. It was good. Nuanced. Anyone who cares about these issues should read it carefully. Cyndy Lauper on the cover....

[Stephanie]

25. It doesn't seem to be online

.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PM7nj]

14. None in McCain's either.

[cbc5g]

18. Oh yeah, that's a real winning position in the general election

:eyes:

more purist bullshit from people who don't understand the American electorate. And even if he were President he wouldn't be able to pass it anyways...we have a thing called seperation of powers.

Let states decide

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. Are you ever gonna let go? I'm sure it's your dream that Obama get

dragged down in these wedge issues just so you get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so". But isn't Hillary's stance on this issue the same as Obama's? Let's not be hypocritical.

[Thrill]

24. Don't expect there to be one either. We actually want to win this election

[blogslut]

15. I like that pic

Looks like she's really connecting to the crowd.