Yeah, I'm a little disappointed.

[omorka]

I'm not angry (yet), but really, come on - Rick freaking Warren for the inauguration? That's seriously a slap in the face to pretty much everyone in the GLBTQ camp. Obama, we expected better. I know, you and Warren have a little quid pro quo thing going where you increase his visibility outside the crazy fundie world, and he increases yours inside it. You figure if he shows up at the inauguration it will put the 'secret Muslim' Internet rumor to bed for good. I think you're underestimating the potential for tinhattery, here, and I really don't think it was worth throwing us queers under the bus so soon after the Prop 8 debacle. Inviting the Rev. Joseph Lowery for the benediction doesn't even come close to making up for it.

Link Soup on the topic:

John Cole at Balloon Juice says we have nothing to worry about, that Obama's record on gay rights is pretty solid. Well, it's certainly an improvement over the last twenty years, and I'm glad for that. I just wish it were better.

Time's Joe Klein, straight but Jewish, says he's not a fan of Warren or the decision, but doesn't see what the big deal is. While I see the point about opening doors, there are lots of other right-of-center Evangelical pastors whose past public records on women's rights and gay rights aren't as toxic. Then again, they're not as famous as Warren, except for Osteen, and I have issues with him for other reasons.

Andrew Sullivan and an anonymous correspondent, on the other hand, are deeply unhappy.

And bradhicks uses the issue to comment on the fundie "sex-addiction" and "ex-gay" ministries.

--

Oh, here's a photo of the "lizard people" ballot, courtesy of fivethirtyeight.com, since several people at last week's Bagels hadn't seen it.

--

And finally, in other news, is it still a RickRoll if he's singing "Silent Night"?

Comments

[b3zsgirl.livejournal.com]

I was really disappointed in the Warren choice. The GLBT issue is basic civil rights. I expected better. I am wondering if he is actually going to live up to everyone's expectations.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Warren or Obama? If you mean Obama, then the answer is no; it is logically impossible for him to live up to everyone's expectations, as different groups expect mutually incompatible things from him - say, the GLBT community and the Black Fundamentalist community. I am absolutely positive, still, that he will be a better President than either of the Bushes was. Whether he can reach beyond those lowered expectations is an open question. I am grateful for any improvement, but I had hoped for even better.

[bibulb.livejournal.com]

Susie Bright had some stuff to say about the Warren issue (http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/19/susie-bright-rick-wa.html) on bOING bOING.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw that where bradhicks linked to it. Honestly, I expected better from the Sexpert. While I know she doesn't mean it that way, her comments read as "well, he's probably a dirty queer himself, neener neener neener!" and play into the straight reader's ingrained homophobia. That is precisely the message we need to not be sending out into the world.