This whole Donnie McClurkin scandal is much ado about nothing. Basically, Barack Obama was putting together a gospel tour of South Carolina, and included a singer who happens to be "ex-gay" and a completely homophobic nutjob (McClurkin). To be clear: McClurkin is a reprehensible bigot, Obama's said that McClurken's a reprehensible bigot, and I personally wish that McClurken would leave the tour.
But anyone, gay or straight, who cares about GLBT rights would be out of their mind not to support Obama because of this. Consider the alternatives. There's the man who says of gays, "I'm not comfortable around those people", and who I watched recoil in fear as a Dartmouth student asked him a question about gay rights. There's the woman who did nothing as her husband pushed the Defense of Marriage Act and instituted "don't ask don't tell" because he didn't have the balls to get rid of the military ban altogether. And then there's Obama, who I have personally watched call for a new Civil Rights Act to establish a federal hate crimes statute, ban employment discrimination, institute national civil unions, and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. These are the choices. It's pretty obvious which candidate is best on gay and lesbian issues.
The whole situation is pretty ironic, if you think about it. Obama, obviously, is using a homophobe in order to get votes to get elected to the presidency, wherein he do more for gay rights than any other major candidate. In a way, he's using a homophobe to work toward GLBT rights. I, for one, think that's a good thing, and rather poetic justice for McClurkin to boot.
But anyone, gay or straight, who cares about GLBT rights would be out of their mind not to support Obama because of this. Consider the alternatives. There's the man who says of gays, "I'm not comfortable around those people", and who I watched recoil in fear as a Dartmouth student asked him a question about gay rights. There's the woman who did nothing as her husband pushed the Defense of Marriage Act and instituted "don't ask don't tell" because he didn't have the balls to get rid of the military ban altogether. And then there's Obama, who I have personally watched call for a new Civil Rights Act to establish a federal hate crimes statute, ban employment discrimination, institute national civil unions, and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. These are the choices. It's pretty obvious which candidate is best on gay and lesbian issues.
The whole situation is pretty ironic, if you think about it. Obama, obviously, is using a homophobe in order to get votes to get elected to the presidency, wherein he do more for gay rights than any other major candidate. In a way, he's using a homophobe to work toward GLBT rights. I, for one, think that's a good thing, and rather poetic justice for McClurkin to boot.
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