thomascwaters.com

Kirchick’s article in the Washington Post is a must read, if you ask me.  I won’t go into teling you what he said- you can read that on your own, I’m more interested in offering some of my views as to why I think he has an excellent point.

People want to like political leaders, and when someone as charismatic as Clinton or Obama comes along, it’s easy to ignore the facts that get in the way of an idealized image. That liberal politicians are indifferent — if not outright opposed — to same-sex marriage stands at utter odds with liberals’ notion of an enlightened community of like-minded progressives. “

I agree and feel he makes this point quite well in the article. I also think another attitude is at work.  We (especially GLBTQ’s) need a politician who we can believe without doubt is on our side, even when they have offered no shred of evidence past a few words while campaigning. Need isn’t nearly a strong enough word here- we need it like we need oxygen and water. Without it, hopelessness grows quickly, so does despair and being shut down. After eight years of Bush following eight years of Clinton where we got so very little (Like Bush was really that much worse on GLBTQ issues? Sure he was worse on other stuff, but towards us, they were more similar than different), it is like trying to come up for air after being held under water for too long.  Of course, we believe he will be on our side because to not believe that means that it may never get better.

I think another reason we look past the lack of evidence and just decide to trust Obama, is because we don’t want to position ourselves with the conservatives who don’t want any part of us- I don’t care what that McCain girl is saying. We want to believe we fit somewhere, and so the side which claims to care that everyone has a place, has to be the place for us or we are just as bad as those critical republicans who take every opportunity to fault the President. We don’t want to appear like them!

Because people such as Kushner view political liberalism as a positive personality trait and not just a worldview, they assume that someone who opposed the Iraq war and sees himself as a “citizen of the world” would also believe in the right of gays to marry.

We see this played out all the time. Even I fall guilty in a big way. I wouldn’t be caught dead being associated with conservatism. That’s for the bad guys, and liberals are the good guys! Perhaps it is time to stop viewing all of this from a purely partisan perspective.

I think the solution is two-fold. First, we have to stop waiting for some liberal politician to take the lead on the issues that are most meaningful to us. We need to be pushing all politicians to “do the right thing,” and those that do, we back and support and those who offer only lip service get dumped. This isn’t merely about voting however. It is our responsibility to be engaged with every level of government and be vocal, and demanding for what is important to us.

Second, we must be willing to be the architects of social change outside of the political arena. Laws are good things, but legislation is rarely enough and often not even the most expedient course to the desired end result. Being out of the closet is possibly the single most important way to align oneself with this agenda. This may mean, holding your partner’s hand in the grocery store, introducing him/her as your lover or husband, or girlfriend, or life partner, or whatever is the appropriate term that makes your comfortable whenever possible. Writing letters to the editor- of newspapers, but also in church newsletters, organizational publications and other venues, where our voice is needed. and most importantly, being wiling to have one on one dialogues with those who do not see eye to eye with us.  If we allow ourselves to be invisible, our needs will never take up space in the agendas of others.

The question shouldn’t be, can we count on Obama or not, but rather, no matter what are Obama’s true feelings on GLBTQ issues, how are we going to position our needs so that always and through out his entire presidency, we are demanding attention for actions that will be good for us, and thereby good for everyone.

James Kirchick — Don’t Trust Obama on Gay Marriage – washingtonpost.com.