If Not You, Who? If Not Now, When?
A. Serwer over at Tapped gets it…
I think it’s more likely that he’s marginalizing Warren’s rivals among the Evangelical leadership. Warren is not actually any less conservative than Dobson or Robertson or anyone else. He is less partisan. His views on abortion and violence are similarly inconsistent, with one being abhorrent and the other acceptable. (The power and legitimacy of the American state, it seems, turns the conservative faithful into moral relativists.) But Warren has shown a tendency not to attack individual political figures the way his peers have, and so Obama has made the decision to elevate Warren at his rivals’ expense. I had an argument with my colleague Brentin Mock yesterday about Obama’s decision, where he pointed out that someone else would be occupying Warren’s leadership role if it wasn’t Warren, and given the alternatives he’s the best choice.
None of this really changes the fact that mainstreaming homophobia is inexcusable, and that Warren does not deserve to share a stage with the Rev. Joseph Lowery. The contrast between Warren’s celebrity and Lowery’s life fighting for civil rights is absolutely staggering. It’s possible to interpret the decision to include Warren and Lowery as another Lincoln "we are not enemies but friends" moment, an attempt to bring the religious right and religious left together. The only problem is the most offended parties, the LGBTQ community and the women Warren equates with Nazis, are not in any symbolic sense present to make the choice to be friends or enemies. Had Obama, say, chosen a gay pastor and forced Warren to make the difficult decision of whether or not to appear, the situation might be a bit different. At the same time, Lowery’s presence as a symbol of his generation’s sacrifice is absolutely necessary. Obama simply wouldn’t be able to run for president without men like Joseph Lowery.
Even if one reads Warren’s presence as a cold political calculation, it’s hard to see why the LGBTQ community wouldn’t be outraged at being exploited for the purpose of cultural triangulation. Obama isn’t a homophobe, but you gotta wonder how long the LGBTQ community has to wait before they get a president who thinks homophobia is unacceptable…
Someone else…I forget who…remarked that it was as if it was 1993 all over again…an unpopular Bush leaves office and a bright and shining new hope for everyone who believes in liberty and justice for all takes office, only to sell out gay Americans and begin a strategy of triangulation…
How long? Yes. That is The Question. How long do we have to wait for our heterosexual neighbors to finally, at long last, become appalled at what has been done all these years to their gay and lesbian neighbors…to their friends…to their own children…? How long before they finally, Finally see the magnitude of what has been taken from? How long before the sight of hate toward loving couples disgusts them more, then the sight of someone making excuses for hate? How long before shaking hands with gutter crawling bigots like Rick Warren disgusts them enough that even a politician can feel it?
December 19th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I dunno how long. It took the anti-slavery forces almost 100 years in the US. It took the anti-racists over 200 years here, and they aren’t done yet. However, open racist statements are no longer publicly acceptable, and there are lots fewer hangings and black church bombings these days.
Change is slow, painfully slow. And yet I think we ARE changing, we Americans. Even many of the young conservatives and fundamentalists don’t understand the anti-gay rhetoric, and don’t buy into it. Some of them even buck the popular opinion in their social groups and speak up for their gay friends and relatives. Yes, I know that a lot of gay kids who make the mistake of revealing themselves to ignorant, fearful parents are still thrown out of their homes. I know gay kids are still half of the homeless youth, and still are killing themselves at a horrific rate.
Still, I’m hopeful, and I don’t think the movement will take a hundred years. It’s been, what — 70 years so far? Around 40 years since Stonewall, and the public became aware of a Movement. I know we aren’t close to there. In this country, even in the worst areas, it isn’t illegal to be gay. OK, shit, I wrote that, and I have to stop. Illegal for Colin to be who he is? Illegal for you and Bob and David and so many other dear ones, to BE?
Yeah, we have a problem, and it’s still serious, and there IS some progress, and we have a long way to go. It really sucks that untold thousands of men who should be leaders of the movement now, are dead. And millions of votes we should have had, stilled by AIDS. But HIV is no longer a death sentence, and if there are fewer leaders than there should be, then we have to make do with Joe Solomonese and etc., no matter how milquetoast they are. And hey, you have me, and thousands more moms and dads and friends, who ARE horrified at the injustices, and fighting alongside you to create a just society. Many of us are appalled at the state of civil rights in this country, and around the world, and are working to change the laws, minds and hearts of the unaware and complacent.