Reply #5: Nothing less than full equality

[IndianaGreen]

Nothing less than full equality

September 11, 2009

Probably the biggest reason I said that was that I believed in Barack Obama. I chose, as did Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the film Milk, to leave California in the last days before the election--we went up to Nevada to campaign for Obama, and we were working precincts in Reno to try to help win the state, which we did win.

Then I came home to California, and I listened to the voicemails that came in while I was gone. There were the robo-calls, and they said, "Please listen to an important message from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama." And there was Barack Obama's voice saying, "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman."

The election results came in, and we started to celebrate, and then the news came from California, and it was devastating. I couldn't believe it. Then Inauguration Day comes, and who's there to give the benediction? Rick fucking Warren.

Then, at the end of February, Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave an interview to a gay newspaper in San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi has actually been a friend to me--she helped me with the quilt; she held the first fundraiser for the quilt in her home; she was the one who went to the National Park Service when they wouldn't let me display the quilt and convinced them that I would fluff it every 20 minutes so that the grass wouldn't die under it.

I think Nancy genuinely believes in equality for gay people, but she gave an interview to a gay newspaper in San Francisco, in her district, which has probably the largest concentration of gay and gay-friendly people in the world, and she said that repealing the Defense of Marriage Act was not a priority.

Then I called up Barney Frank, who was on our side before he was outed, and said "Barney, would you be willing to expand the ENDA bill to include housing and public accommodations?" And he said, "No, it won't pass."

http://socialistworker.org/2009/09/11/nothing-less-than-equality