Reply #36: Barack Obama didn't help the NAACP ... they've been helping themselves for 100 years

[frazzled]

That was the occasion for this speech: the NAACP was celebrating its 100th year of work ... It was not Barack Obama giving them a pony.

I'm referring to your statement: "Am I, and my people, going to have to wait for a gay president to help us? "

As a strong advocate of gay rights (possibly for more years than you've been alive), I have to admonish you for waiting for someone to deliver help to you. All civil rights and liberation struggles have had to work for decades and decades and decades for every modicum of progress they've obtained. And their efforts continue. This will be true as well for the gay rights movement. Remember that the movement for marriage equality really only started less than a decade ago. (I know: I worked in Massachusetts to garner support in the Commonwealth's senate and house for the constitutional convention; I was also around during the "Act Up" years, when the idea of gay marriage would have been both laughable and repugnant to activists.) Remember that the women's movement still has not achieved full pay equity, and the ERA has never passed.

I'm not dissing the goals of marriage equality and the repeal of DADT. I fully support those goals. But if you think they should be handed to you by someone, you've missed the point. All things considered, amazing progress has been made on the front of gay rights in this country in recent years. My friends and family members have gotten married; my nephew and his partner adopted a beautiful baby this year; and the public has, all in all, reacted very positively. That Obama hasn't achieved your goals in the first 5 months of his presidency, during a time the economy is on the brink and health care for all (gay and straight, black and white) MUST be passed, should give you pause. As your president said the other week, you will be pleased before the end of his term. In the meantime, keep working (and we all will work with you), and don't be jealous of other groups who have struggled, organized, and put themselves in the way of dogs and fire hoses for 100 years to achieve part of their goals.

PS: Obama did mention gay rights in his NAACP speech tonight, and people there cheered.