A Republican Shows More Leadership on Gay Rights than Barack Obama

I think it is most ironic that the Republican Governor of California said the following:

Schwarzenegger tells backers of gay marriage: Don’t give up
The governor expresses hope that Proposition 8 would be overturned as protesters continued to march outside churches across California.

This story was filed today by Michael Rothfeld and Tony Barboza of none other than the Los Angeles Times.

Curiouser and curiouser that the ‘Governator,’ Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know, the guy who was campaigning in Ohio for his Republican buddy, Senator John McCain, would be the one to tell GLBT constituents to not give up:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday expressed hope that the California Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage. He also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already wed would not see their marriages nullified by the initiative.

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview Sunday on CNN. “I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”

With his favorable comments toward gay marriage, the governor’s thinking appears to have evolved on the issue.

Wow. It is unfortunate that our President Elect, Barack Obama has not “evolved on the issue,” but instead is trying to have it both ways. He said he was against Prop. 8 but also that he is against gay marriage. How do you do that exactly? Sort of like his original position about the AIG bailout – he’s for it and against it. Confusing.

The numbers proved that Obama’s AA and Latino voters certainly helped in the passage of Prop 8. Do we really believe if Obama had the guts to come out and unequivocally say that Prop 8 was wrong, period, Californians would have seen the same result?

Please see American Girl in Italy’s excellent article on the subject, African Americans Have Suffered at the Hand of Racism and Bigotry and Are in Turn Bigots.

How unfortunate that along with women getting kicked in the teeth this year, GLBT voters did as well, by a candidate who wanted to have his cake and eat it, too.

According to ABC News, 11/2/08, Obama Says He Is Against Same-Sex Marriage But Also Against Ending Its Practice In Calif.

Obama told MTV he believes marriage is “between a man and a woman” and that he is “not in favor of gay marriage.”

So ABC News reporters quoted Obama on what they referred to as his “nuanced position” on gay marriage.

Nuanced – is that something like horse hooey? A distant cousin to Joe Bidens’ “rhetorical flourishes?”

At the same time, Obama reiterated his opposition to Proposition 8, the California ballot measure which would eliminate a right to same-sex marriage that the state’s Supreme Court recently recognized.

“I’ve stated my opposition to this. I think it’s unnecessary,” Obama told MTV. “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about.”

So wait a minute – by sending such a ridiculous mixed message to his supporters, what did he think they would do? If he really had any guts, he would have unequivocally said he opposed Prop 8 and not temper it with this kind of religious, moralistic caveat.

Contrast this with Governor Schwarzenegger:

Schwarzenegger publicly opposed Proposition 8, which amends the state Constitution to declare that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

On Sunday, he urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that were too heavy for him at first. “I learned that you should never ever give up. . . . They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”

The governor’s position on the fate of the existing same-sex marriages aligns him with California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who has said he believes that the state Supreme Court will uphold the existing marriages as valid.

The 14-word constitutional amendment does not state explicitly that it would nullify same-sex marriages performed before the Nov. 4 election, although proponents say it will. Legal experts differ on this point.

Schwarzenegger’s comments came as protesters took to the streets for a fifth day in a row, sometimes marching to Catholic and Mormon churches that supported passage of the ballot measure.

For all I know, Schwarzenegger is playing politics too, but he is a Republican. Gay rights are not supposed to be top on the Republican agenda. Remember? I thought Democrats were supposed to lead the charge on that one. Not so much, I guess.

Does anyone think if it were Senator Hillary Clinton, she would be doing a two-step on this one. She has always marched in the gay pride parade – and stands up very publicly for gay rights. Oh, what could have been. Sigh.

Some churches, to be sure, assailed Proposition 8 as discriminatory.

“We will continue to bless same-sex unions here until we can legally celebrate same-sex unions again,” the Rev. Ed Bacon told 1,000 congregants during Sunday services at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, which has blessed same-sex unions for 16 years.

After the service, Bacon and other clergy members held a news conference on the church steps. They were surrounded by gay and lesbian couples, some standing with young children.

“I know these couples. I know their relationships,” Bacon said, addressing a phalanx of television cameras. “They should be celebrated, rather than disparaged. . . . In the eyes of God, these people are married.”

I wonder how Mrs. Governator, Maria Schriver, she of the Kennedy family progressives, die hard Democrat and die hard Obama supporter squares Obama being so wishy washy on this issue. I also wonder how Mrs. Governator reconciles that Barack Obama spent valuable time and money courting evangelicals, campaigning down south with the likes of Donnie McClurkin, an “ex-gay man reformed through prayer.”

Many of Obama supporters are very happy to declare that the ends justifies the means when they turn a blind eye to any of his primary and election shenanigans. I wonder how his GLBT supporters likewise think his historic election justifies him courting groups that wish to deprive them of their rights.

I sincerely hope that Prop. 8 will be repealed. How interesting that a Republican Governor is willing to stand up and make a public statement about GLBT rights that is more progressive than our “progressive” Democratic President Elect.