Further matters for the President-Elect to ponder

Notes to President-Elect Obama:

Last night I urged you to turn your attention to full civil and economic rights for women. Today I write to remind you of another group within American society that will now need the full support of their President in order gain full legal standing: gay and lesbian Americans. Along with thousands of others I donated funds to defeat Proposition 8 in California (a referendum banning gay marriage, and which passed despite your win in California). One of the reasons I supported Senator Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination is her steadfast commitment to stand with GBLT community, by marching in PRIDE parades and, during the primary seasons, consistently speaking with GBLT press about issues of particular concern to the GBLT community. You chose a different path, declining to give interviews and you did not raise your voice against Proposition 8.

I know that not every gay or lesbian person agrees that gay marriage is of the highest priority on the issues facing gays and lesbians. I, however, believe that denying same sex couples the right to marry is the moral equivalent of denying people of different races the right to marry. There is no basis in civil society (as opposed to particular religious traditions) to deny the civil benefits of marriage to same sex couples.

In my own wedding ceremony, we asked the judge to quote large portions of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws against interrracial marriage. We made this request because we believe the institution of civil marriage is of political and legal import and that when two people join in that institution they should do so in recognition and honor of that fact.

But the institution becomes less worthy of honor when it is infected with bigotry and discrimination. Proposition 8 carries this malignancy.

As I wrote yesterday, when I congratulated you on your victory, my hope is that you will live up to the highest hopes of your most fervent supporters. I believe they supported you because you promised to bring unity where there was division and to create a more just America, and they believed your promise. Now that you have won election to the Presidency, I hope that you become a leader in the fight for full legal and social standing for members of the GBLT community. They are among the many Americans who must be encompassed by the unity and justice that for which you have claimed to stand.

Comments

[Elnora]

Thank you, Heidi, for your steadfastness! I need this today!

[indigogrrl]

Thanks Heidi for this post.
As a LGBT I feel like the first of the collateral damage that the election of this fraud has wrought. It has been very hard to see the celebrating today. I haven't felt this sad and hopeless since Reagan won and my Dem family mourned.

[texasdemocrat]

Heidi Li, It has been a pleasure and an honor to know you. Met you on Taylor, and then we went to Bitter. Your courage, your willingness to speak up when others were 'working the odds' has always impressed me more than I can say.

Please take care, please stay strong,
Shirley Luther
National Delegate for Hillary Clinton
TEXAS!

[democraticjack]

On a day when one barrier was breached another was being built enabled in great part by those who enjoyed the bounty delivered by the former. We have a long walk to the promised land and we need to understand how difficult it is to walk alone. Thank you for your support of my community, Heidi.
BUT! The red type is killing my eyes! Make it go away.

[PattyR]

Thank you for your comments, Heidi.

My partner and I have been together for 30 years. Unfortunately, she is ill and not expected to live beyond 2 years from now. I fear that our relationship will not survive long enough see the unity and justice that Obama claims to support.

PattyR

[dcattorney]

Thank you once again, Heidi Li, for your insight and courage. You have a lot of fans.

It is imperative that President-elect Obama get behind the GLBT community ASAP. It has suffered stinging defeats in Calfornia, Arkansas, Arizona and Florida and has little cause to celebrate today. Time Magazine noted today that it was likely that the high African American turnout in the Florida voting contributed to the victory for the amendment to Florida's constitution, preventing GLBT people from marrying there. If true, that sure is not moving forward together. We need leadership and we need it fast.

[TG]

Keep talking, Heidi. You are one of the few voices of sanity I've heard lately. Despite being a longtime Dem, I feel no joy whatsoever in the outcome of this election. It's depressing.

[glennmcgahee]

All the focus on Prop 8 in California leaves out the extremely discriminatory Amendment 2 in Florida. Our Amendment does not only ban gay marriage but any type of Union, civil and otherwise that would grant even the most basic rights of couples to care and share with each other if you are not 1 man-1 woman. I listened closely as Biden and Obama stated their support for discrimination and also was flabbergasted as gays and lesbians supported this ticket although they never once asked their supporters to vote against these measures. As a matter of fact, I know that many of their supporters contributed to the passage of these same discriminatory bills. Change? Hope? Not if you are gay.