An ambitious program, to be sure:
Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described “Office of the President-elect.”
A section titled “Support for the LGBT Community” outlines the agenda for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered activists and quotes remarks Obama made on June 1, 2007.
“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do,” Obama said, referring to riots which followed a police raid on a New York City gay bar.
“Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”
According to the web site, President-elect Obama and vice-president-elect Joe Biden will support expand crimes legislation such as the Matthew Shepard Act. They also back the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which they claim will “prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”
“While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy,” the web site states, referring to similar legislation sponsored by Obama in the Illinois state legislature.
Regarding civil unions and same-sex marriage, the site says “Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
Advocating the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the agenda plans to “enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions.”
So, defensive rhetoric aside during the campaign and eschewing the words “gay marriage”, Obama is essentially pledging to support the entire gay rights agenda less repeal of “don’t ask/don’t tell”. Some how, this strikes a false note with me - there would be nothing so likely to rouse and unite the conservative movement than a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and adding things as nebulous as “gender identity” to US civil rights laws. Meanwhile, in return for generating very strong opposition which would be used to devastating effect in GOP leaning Congressional districts currently held by moderate-to-conservative Democrats, all Obama would gain is the slavish devotion of people who are already slavishly devoted to him. This seems to me to be a bit of fluff designed to disarm a gay rights movement already miffed by the backing off on “don’t ask/don’t tell” issue.
On the other hand, Obama might be in deadly earnest on this - so we might as well be prepared for a tough but ultimately rewarding fight.
Tags: gay marriage, gay rights, liberal lies, Obama Deceptions, traditional morality
November 25th, 2008
Without a large Hispanic vote, Democrats don’t have a chance of winning the White House - just won’t win the required 270 electoral votes unless there’s a good turn out, and a strong majority of that turn out voting Democrat. So, Democrats will make stroking Hispanic voters a prime focus of their fall effort…but there are some rather strong differences between a lot of Hispanics and some core Democratic principles:
Washington DC, Feb 14, 2008 (CNA).- Key Latino leaders will rally at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver later this year in support of a national marriage amendment and marriage-friendly policy.
The event, organized by the Alliance for Marriage, will take place near the Colorado Convention Center where the DNC will hold its meeting. The Alliance for Marriage will also conduct a public relations campaign, including paid advertisements, to publicize the issue and the event.
Organizers claim that the Colorado political landscape has been transformed from “the very heart of America’s pro-marriage and pro-family movement” into a “home front for radical activists.” As an example of this upheaval the Latino leaders singled out Colorado billionaire and former software magnate Tim Gill, who has funded homosexual activist causes.
The Alliance for Marriage plans to mobilize the Hispanic vote to bring about renewal “within both national political parties, but especially the Democrat party”. Citing the influence of millionaire activists, the organizers see Latino support for the family as the “only chance of pushing back the forces of Gill and others.”
“For far too long the votes of Latinos have been taken for granted,” said Rev. Sam Rodriguez, Jr., President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Advisory Board Member of the Alliance for Marriage Foundation. “As our numbers grow, our influence is growing, and it is time for leaders of both parties to put protecting marriage and strong family values at the center of their agenda. Candidates like to tout ‘family values’ on the stump, but then toss our values aside when they get to Washington. We’re not going to tolerate that any more.”
Now, truth be told, in the immigration/border security issue there is a large opening for Democrats to move in and scoop up a high percentage of Latino voters - but in John McCain, the GOP has at least a partial antidote to that. Meanwhile, the Democrats also have a lot of appeal in areas of social spending for Hispanics as a lot of them are immigrants or first or second generation Americans who tend to be poorer than the American average and thus willing to lend an ear (and a vote) to those who pledge large sums to improve the day to day lives of the less wealthy. There’s not much the GOP can do about that - we’re not about to out-pander the Democrats on social spending, and we’ll just have to make the very correct argument that while social spending can be useful, it can also be destructive to family - and Latinos tend to have very strong families; much stronger than the American average. Family is important, and Hispanic voters are concerned about threats to this very important thing.
The problem for Democrats will be how to try and square this circle - especially in the face of a GOP which will easily and naturally assure Hispanic voters that we hear their concerns for family loud and clear and we are determined to keep marriage as an institution between one man and one woman. Democrats don’t dare do this, as it would splinter various parts of their coalition - so, they will try to weave and dodge. But I don’t think they’ll be able to do it - eventually, they’ll have to come out and say what they believe and there will lie the GOP’s opening to garner a large Hispanic vote.
An interesting election this will be, that is for sure.
Tags: family issues, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, traditional morality
February 17th, 2008
