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All Or Nothing

A rather dispiriting thread at AmericaBlog on the topic of (what else?) a gay boycott of Obama/the DNC vs. sticking with the Democrats.

DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias (pictured), himself an out gay man, argues with AmericaBlog's John Aravosis and is skinned alive by commenters who simply are not moved by the idea that the president has done anything positive for gay people and/or who are not going along with "better the Democrats than the Republicans."

Is This A Proposal?

Bill Clinton tells Anderson Cooper that he was "wrong" to be against marriage equality, saying he was hung up on the word "marriage."

It's a welcome development (and an expansion on an earlier comment he made on this topic), but a few things to keep in mind:

Soul Man

My buddy Gavin Newsom—endorsed for California governor by fellow "Big Dog" Bill Clinton—gets a major boost from his "Last Call" profile in Details (October 2009), illustrated by a photo of him that visually compares him to JFK.

Asked if he's ever been brought to tears on the job, this legit fierce advocate for the LGBT community says:

"Oh, God, yeah! I mean, I'm easy. I'll never forget walking outside of city hall when we were doing the same-sex marriage amendment—there was this beautiful young girl, 8 or 9 years old She tugs on my leg and she goes, 'Thank you for giving me tow mommies.' And I was like, Okay, that's it. I can't handle it anymore. Those are the things, seriously, that define success and failure in life, not just i politics. I mean, I see myself as the next governor. But I'm not gonna sell my soul. I'm happy to go back to the restaurants, hotel, winery, [my wife] Jen, the new baby."

"If President Obama Walked On Water, He'd Say He Couldn't Swim"

I miss the laugh. Hillary heaps scorn on John Bolton.

Harry & Louise Finally Got Sick & Tired

Harry & Louise—fictional characters who effectively helped end President Clinton's hopes of enacting health care in the 1990s (above)—are back...and this time, they're pro-health care reform (below)!

Do Tell!

With a hat tip to Inside, Looking Out: Harry Reid has indicated he would support Kirsten Gillibrand's proposed legislation to suspend  discharges under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In fact, he says, "I would make it permanent."

Nice!

Things are really cooking. This is much better and more immediately useful news than Bill Clinton's sudden admission that he's on board with marriage equality. After gifting us with DADT and DOMA, it's a bit late. But it's never too late. The former tightrope-walker's support might be construed as an unhelpful push mid-walk for the current tightrope-walker, and it probably is; but it can also help make Obama's life easier should his own "evolution" begin sometime while he's in office at least.

Be Kool

Just a quick blog based on a comment I posted on my own site.

Signed, sealed & delivered...but is he ours?

I was, frankly, embarrassed by all the snarkasm oozing from the various gay blogs yesterday over President Obama's LGBT proclamation. Or at least turned off. If it turns out that the proclamation is all he ever does for us, then yes, I'll be angry, too. But this is much more likely just the tip of the iceberg of what he will do on our behalf, and it's pretty fuckin' great after eight years of absolute hell. Even if he totally lives up to his stated goal—to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights—I have to wonder if anything will ever be enough for the people who are already seething that he's a total fraud on the subject.

I have to believe a lot of this goes back to Obama's snatching of the nomination from Hillary Clinton, which apparently stirred even more passions than the infamous alleged racism of which the white gay power-brokers are routinely accused by their black gay counterparts. (Sidebar: According to exit polls, the most liberal president in history got about 70% of the gay vote—the same as Al Gore and a point less than Bill Clinton—in spite of the fact that his opponent's veep candidate was cheerfully anti-gay.)

I am not a Clinton basher, but I marvel—MARVEL—at the fact that so many in the LGBT community seem to focus on the many positive aspects of the Clintons (who are not in power and can't actually help us!) while ignoring their noteworthy negatives (DADT was better than nothing but was not what Bill promised, DOMA was a dee-zaz-ter that Hillary never pledged to K.O.), and yet seem almost sexually thrilled to focus on the noteworthy negatives (the McClurklin kerfluffle, God being too prominently in the mix, a so far tepid start on LGBT issues) of Obama (who's in power and can actually help us!) while ignoring his many positives on gay issues and on progressive issues in general.