The Flip Side

[Pab Sungenis]

In a very articulate post about Obama's record on women's rights (and I will grant you that in that area he has been probably the most progressive President of my lifetime), vabarella expressed righteous indignation at the criticisms and "hit pieces" that have been coming out about Obama lately. She had some very good points, and very valid ones.

Now I'm going to ask you to do something we used to refer to in my former field of broadcasting as "the flip side." Turn the record over and see what's on the side that no one plays. The extra bit that got shoved there just to fill the empty space back when music media had two distinct sides and material was needed for each. Still, every flip side was someone's creation, someone's inspiration, and some of them took on lives of their own.

So now I want you to listen to the flip side, and how the President's record on my rights first angered, then alienated, and eventually somewhat placated me while still leaving me on edge.

Background

I have never hidden the fact that Barack Obama wasn't my first choice for the nomination in 2008. I prayed for Howard Dean or Al Gore to step in, but they didn't. He wasn't even my first choice among declared candidates, but my third. (Bill Richardson and then John Edwards had my support.) But after Iowa, Obama had won me over. I donated. I volunteered. And for the first time (not counting 1996, for obvious reasons) the candidate I voted for in the New Jersey primary went on to win the nomination.

I remember every detail of election night that year. The shock when Indiana, which any Republican would normally have won hands down, was suddenly too close to call. Then Virginia and North Carolina started shifting our way. At 11 PM, when California put the Obama-Biden ticket over the top, the elderly woman next to me openly broke down and cried. She didn't think she would live to see a President with the same skin color as her. To be honest, four years before, no one else in that room would have either.

I had such hopes for an Obama presidency, as did every Democrat. But unlike many others, I didn't have long at all to wait before my hopes were shattered.

Warning signs

There had been a few clues I should have picked up on early. Obama "palling around" with alleged ex-gay Donnie McClurkin was one, and McClurkin's statements could have provided an excellent "Sister Souljah" moment which Obama passed on. There was his Saddleback interview where he reinforced the right-wing meme of "one man and one woman." These moments should have tipped me off long before that Obama would not be a good President for gay Americans, but I was blinded by the hope and change.

Even the fact that Obama's one comments were used to help facilitate the passage of Prop 8, and that Obama did absolutely nothing to stop or contradict that misuse of his words, didn't warn me.

Then Obama invited Rick Warren to give a prayer at his inauguration, the one event meant to set the tone for his entire Administration. It did set the tone for a lot of us, and that tone was "I don't need your votes any more, so screw you."

So much for hope.

It gets worse

One by one all issues that were of vital, and for some even life and death, importance for LGBT*.* Americans were suddenly back burnered. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, so loudly championed by the President during the campaign, suddenly disappeared from his lips. Policy advisers warned us that repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" might need to be delayed for a year (in fact, it's taken over 30 months and still technically isn't dead yet as of this writing) and Obama kept appealing decisions striking the policy down. Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act was completely out of the question; in fact, Obama's Justice Department argued for keeping the law by comparing same-sex relationships to pedophilia and incest.

Yes, the President signed a hate-crimes bill, but even the title of the bill became a slap in the face for gays. The "Matthew Shepard Act" suddenly became the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Act," even though James Byrd Jr.'s killers didn't need the bill to be sentenced to death and any court in the land would laugh at a "black panic" defense like the "gay panic" one Shepard's killers tried to use.

It just kept coming. Valerie Jarrett claimed that homosexuality was a "lifestyle choice," a pure right-wing term, and Obama stood behind her. He put a woman on the Supreme Court who openly said that homosexuals did not have a right to marry under the Constitution, despite all of the precedents that made marriage a fundamental civil right.

As much of an advocate as Obama had been for women's rights, his positions on LGBT*.* issues ranged from semi-benign neglect to direct hindrance. And all this despite all of the lofty rhetoric and promises he made to us to win our votes.

The tide turns

Eventually the President got the message. Maybe the fact that over 20% of the gay vote actively turned against him and the Democrats in 2010 was a shock, but after the way we were treated it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. How big an impact this had has yet to be researched, but losing 20% of the gay vote can cause a 4-point swing in some competitive districts and more than one Blue Dog probably owes anger at what was (not entirely incorrectly) seen as an anti-gay Democratic administration for their defeat.

Whatever the cause, suddenly the President started "evolving." Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal finally made its way through a lame-duck session of Congress and the President signed it. Moreover he actually signed the certification implementing the repeal, an act which some people (myself included) expected him to delay and slow-walk as long as humanly possible. Now barring some new form of Republican obstructionism, that horrible policy will finally be off the books in a matter of days.

The next surprise came with the President's decision to stop defending DOMA. Even with a solid five vote bloc now on the Supreme Court who say that there is no fundamental right to marry, even a symbolic move in that area was welcome. Then he actually went ahead and endorsed legislation repealing DOMA, which was a very pleasant shock. Deeds joined words. While this legislation will never get past the obstructionist Republican House, the groundwork has been laid for 2013 with any luck.

So the President's "evolution" finally won me back. Of course, like anyone subjected to the kinds of treatment that the Obama of 2009-2010 put the LGBT*.* community through, I keep looking over my shoulder. I keep waiting for the next shoe to drop. But the more time that goes by the easier it becomes to relax. Maybe this administration won't be a complete disaster for gays after all.

Conclusion

Not that I feel a need to defend my criticism (past and present) of the President, but I hope that this makes clear to the stalwarts where it comes from. Just as certain people, justly proud of the President's record on their core issues, see any criticism of Obama as an attack on them and their entire class, a fair number of LGBT*.* Democrats see blind unquestioning support for the President no matter what and a need to take down anyone who offers any criticism as an attack against all of us.

Try to see it from our viewpoint. Look at the flip side.

Copyright 2011 Paul L. Sungenis, all rights reserved. May not be reproduced or redistributed, in whole or in part, without express written permission of the author.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[tblue]

2. I do see it that way.

I had missed what Valerie Jarret said, but I remember most of the rest. I'm straight but all that offended me too. I thought the Ric Warren choice was disgraceful and a slap in the face. If it takes a coming election to remind him who voted for him, I guess it's better than nothing.

[Name removed]

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[dsc]

4. nice post