HRC Slams Inclusion of Antigay Reverend Rick Warren in Obama Inauguration

[Truth Teller]

Source: GayWired.com

The Human Rights Campaign and gay and lesbian activists are up in arms over the Obama transition team’s announcement that the Reverend Rick Warren has been selected to deliver the invocation at his inauguration in January.

The HRC sent a letter to president elect Barack Obama Wednesday expressing their disappointment in the selection of Warren.“Our loss in California over the passage of Proposition 8 which stripped loving, committed same-sex couples of their given legal right to marry is the greatest loss our community has faced in 40 years,” the letter reads. “And by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table.”

...

Read more: http://www.gaywired.com/Article.cfm?ID=21185

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. EXCELLENT! We need to write Change.gov and make sure they know what we think nt

[Truth Teller]

3. Agreed

I wrote and got a form letter back thanking me for my enthusiasm(?)

They were too busy for indivdual replies.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. They won't respond but they will count all the pro and all the con letters nt

[Truth Teller]

16. Good

Has the Obama team made a statement?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. Not yet but I think better than a statement would be to quietly select an unknown non-homophobe

preacher

[lapfog_1]

10. Already did. - n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. GREAT! nt

[jetphixer]

28. Email

Didnt have a spot there to just e mail or i couldn't find it..

[No Elephants]

50. You have to scroll down to near the bottom of the page and click on

Contact. Or, just go here. . http://change.gov/page/content/contact

There's even an "Inauguration" topic you can select as the subject of your email to Obama. I have a post further down in the thread that starts "Make Your" and gives contact info for each of the Democratic members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. That is the group that made the announcement about Warren and the rest of the program.

[Taverner]

2. Go Hill!

Damn - that's the Hillary I know and love!

[rateyes]

6. I thought it was Hill, too. It's not Hillary Rodham Clinton...it's

Human Rights Campaign. Hillary is probably thinking the same thing, but can't get off on the wrong foot with her new boss.

[tekisui]

7. Not Hillary.

Human Rights Campaign. Different HRC. Too bad, though.

[lapfog_1]

8. Read the post, not the headline.

Human Rights Campaign.

[Taverner]

9. DOH! Beer + post = epic fail

[Truth Teller]

14. LOL!

Didn't think of it that way!

[wellst0nev0ter]

20. To Bad, It Would Have Gone A Long Way Towards Redeeming Her

In my eyes at least.

[Taverner]

29. Definitely

She's still OK in my book, but if she did this it would be pretty amazing

[Sultana]

24. .

[snooper2]

51. um...

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Wow. The Human Rights Campaign finally stands up for human rights!

Excuse me, I feel faint.

[lapfog_1]

5. For a second I thought it was Hillary R. Clinton

and was just about to take back a lot of negative things I've written here about her.

Oh well. Sigh.

You might want to make it clear which HRC you are talking about in the headline.

[Truth Teller]

I don't think a new cabinet member

Would cut the PE like that, tempting as it may be.

[lapfog_1]

18. Yeah, I was shocked until I read the post.

But, as you can tell from the number of responders that didn't read the post carefully, it's common to assume that HRC is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

[Truth Teller]

15. Duplicate post n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

33. But if that is how the headline read...

that is how it is supposed to be posted.

[still_one]

12. If true, good for her, but I would expect it to make MSM headlines if it were /nt

[balantz]

19. HRC. When I first saw that I thought it meant Hillary. n/t

[unkachuck]

21. who would have thought....

....Hillary would turn out to be more Progressive than Obama?

....I'm starting to feel bad for all the terrible things I said about her....

[Critters2]

22. HRC= Human Rights Campaign nt

[unkachuck]

25. thanks....now I don't feel so bad....n/t

[TankLV]

41. fuck you...

Hillary and Bill have done more for Gag persons than obama can even begin to think of doing...

They've gone out of their way to support the GBLT THOUSANDS of times, while at the same time, obama has gone out of his way to MARGINALIZE and ANGER us...

[No Elephants]

47. Oh, for pity sake. Don't make this about the Clintons, just because some people made a mistake

about HRC.

[No Elephants]

53. Good to know. All I knew was that Bill signed the Defense of Marriage Act and came up with "Don't

ask. Don't tell," which I consider a bad joke. So, I am happy to hear that they have done a lot for gays. Can you give some examples?

(I agree Obama has not done much for gays, either, but he isn't in office yet.)

[shadowknows69]

27. Dunce cap. In the corner with you.

Try reading a whole thread.

[makinguphumans]

23. Glad to see this organization speaking out on this issue.

[The abyss]

26. Rule number 1

Always keep the sheep divided! Lest they realize they outnumber you by tens of thousands.

[jetphixer]

30. Please No

Please not this over stuffed bigoted asshole... Im not a gay I have gay acquaintances an i see where they to had hopes than we get this over stuffed jerk stuffed down my throats. Thanks Obama

[Sultana]

31. LOL at all the pumas getting excited

[Fearless]

37. HAHAHAHAHA!

[robcon]

32. Wow! I didn't think that many DUers were religious,

and care who give the invocation.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. I am not religious...

I am an atheist. I would rather there be no prayer. But if you have to have one to coddle the poor persecuted christians, at least make it someone who is not on the wrong side of a civil rights fight.

[Dorian Gray]

46. Oh please

Obama is Christian, so it's not about coddling the "poor persecuted Christians."

I agree with your main point, though. He should have chosen someone who didn't focus on anti-gay rights. Or someone who meshed more with his religious philosophy.

[LSK]

39. its not about religion, its about rewarding bigots with the spotlight

[lapfog_1]

43. I am not religious.

Which is precisely why I am upset over this.

Pick some middle of the road Protestant or Unitarian or even a fiery African American Southern Baptist. But a bigot like Rick Warren?

If it comforts the Christians to have an invocation... please, I can tune it out. But don't put someone up there who's very face will make my blood boil. Bad enough that I have to watch George W. Bush and the inevitable split screen of George and Laura taking Marine 1 and Barack and Michelle doing the after inauguration crowd greeting while the pundits desperately trying to sum up the "poignancy" of the event and to do a 10 minute summary of the Bush Presidency and how many will "miss him" in Washington.



Now I have to for the invocation as well.

[Generator]

35. Oh damn! I thought it was Hillary

that would have made the DU rumble worth watching for WEEKS.

[karynnj]

36. I read this as Hillary Rodham Clinton and clicked on it to praise her for speaking up

[No Elephants]

48. Self delete...

[No Elephants]

49. Make your

voice heard. Please don't simply post and think you've actually accomplished something significant IRL.

Contact Obama. http://change.gov/page/content/contact /

There's even an "Inauguration" topic you can select as the subject of your email to Obama.

You may also want to contact the office of Barbara Feinstein, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and/or Reid, Pelosi or Hoyer, the Democratic members of that committee. http://inaugural.senate.gov/cmte / (Bennett and Boehner are the Republican members of the Committee, but I think we should keep it in the family. So, if you want to contact them, you're on your own.)

Feinstein Contact Info Page http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction...

Reid Contact Info Page http://reid.senate.gov / (Scroll to bottom.)

Pelosi Email Address [e-mail]

Pelosi Email Form and Telephone Numbers Page http://www.house.gov/pelosi/contact/contact.html

Hoyer Email Page http://hoyer.house.gov / (Scroll to Bottom)

Hoyer Contact Info Page- http://hoyer.house.gov/contact /

[Pastiche423]

38. K&R for ALL Human Rights!

[Bette Noir]

40. Rick Warren is a douche.

I'm sickened that our Prez wants him in the same city.

I should add-- I'm sure the invitation was Barack's attempt to "reach across the aisle," but some aisles should not be reached across! These Fundies are pure Anti-Christ EVIL.

[semillama]

56. Warren is a douche for sure

but now he's a douche who owes Obama for the favor of this small moment in the spotlight. Might Obama be thinking that a good way to influence this guy is to give him what amounts to a historically inconsequential moment like the invocation, but will keep a window open to get this guy to maybe rethink his positions? From what I have read and know about Obama, that appears to be his style. He's definitely not the guy who would "slap his supporters in the face."

That being said, I am going to his website to let him know that perhaps this isn't the best way to try and influence the right-wing christians.

[Beacool]

42. I thought that it was Hillary too.

The main reason that I never wanted Hillary to be in Obama's cabinet was because she would lose her independence and power base. What can Hillary say about Warren when it's Obama who chose to give him such an important and symbolic spot in his inauguration?

Knowing Hillary, I'm sure that she's not happy about it. Personally, I'm very surprised that he would choose Warren. I have spoken to several of my gay friends and the reaction goes from disappointment to anger. I don't get it, why Warren when there are far more suitable pastors who don't use the gay issue to spread fear and division?

[No Elephants]

55. "Knowing Hillary?" How often do the two of you converse? Did she mention speaking at Warren's

church? She didn't seem to have many problems with Warren or his church then.

[keepCAblue]

44. Write to change.gov and demand they refund your campaign contributions. n/t

[marshall]

52. Better yet have it transferred to the other HRC

She's still got a lot of campaign debt to pay off.

[Dorian Gray]

45. Funny

when I read the title, I thought HRC was Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Either way, the slam is warranted. Good for them.

[4_TN_TITANS]

54. I thought it was (H)illary (R)oddam (C)linton

I made the popcorn for nothing!

[RCinBrooklyn]

57. CEO of the Inaugural Committee is named Emmett Beliveau. His number is 202-203-1715 or emmett@pic200