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Obama Drama at LGBT Fundraiser in NYC

Friday, June 24, 2011 05:15 AM

tags: David Mixner, Fierce Advocate?, GetEqual, Marriage Equality, Peter Tatchell, President Obama

I made the decision to stop blogging for WOW about a month ago, mainly due to financial reasons. The bad economy is putting a strain on my finances and I’m working overtime to keep afloat, so the free-time I have to spend blogging has become very limited. But I attended the protest of the LGBT presidential fundraiser in NYC last night and thought I would post some photos from the event. President Obama did himself no favors at the fundraiser by basically punting on the question of marriage equality, and worse, actually advocating a ‘State’s Rights' argument on equality that probably caused MLK and Bayard Rustin to roll over in their graves. Gay rights activist, David Mixner, attended the fundraiser and wrote of his frustration and disappointment on his blog, saying: “Last night I went to the President's speech in New York City. There was no question that I entered with very low expectations since he had made it clear before hand that he would not support marriage equality (which by the way puts him with about 20% of the Democratic Party!). However, I didn't expect to leave feeling that my low expectations should have been even lower.”

I had texted Dan Choi to see if he would be attending the protest or the fundraiser, but he told me that he was in Kansas and would not be able to make it, but that he was happy to hear that a protest was being organized and to give hell to those who refuse to support our full equality. I carried a sign to the protest that read: STOP FUNDING OBAMA'S BIGOTRY which seemed to garner a fair bit of attention. I was interviewed by Andy Humm (Gay U.S.A.) as well as Jennifer Vanasco (of 365gay.com). When asked what message my sign was conveying, I said my message is that Obama has unfortunately made anti-gay bigoted and exclusionary statements such as "marriage is between a man and a woman" and that "God is in the mix" in defense of his refusal to support full equality for gay Americans. And though many in the gay community like to play mind reader and claim that Obama doesn't really believe those statements, the sad fact is, he has said them, and has not retracted them, and virulent anti-gay bigots often use Obama's words as cover for their own bigotry. And it is past time for gay people to stop funding our own inequality by giving Obama's promotion of inequality and anti-gay bigotry a pass. Also in attendance were British activist, Peter Tatchell, Justin Elzie (the first soldier discharged through the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy), and several other activists and GetEQUAL members.

It also occurred to me that I never actually said my goodbyes. I’ve had a great time writing for WOW over the last five years and I know I will miss it. But I’ve had a good run and though I remain dedicated to gay equality issues and will continue to stay involved in the struggle, it’s time for me to try some different things. I wish everyone at WOW, and their readers, all the best.