"Advocacy" Means Doing Something
On some issues, though, I really don't see anything but black and white. Among them is the "question" of granting full equal rights to gay and lesbian Americans, which really isn't a question at all. It's a long-overdue imperative, one that the nation is finally beginning to acknowledge.
Before his inauguration, President Obama called himself a "fierce advocate of equality for gay and lesbian Americans." Now, with the same-sex marriage issue percolating in state after state and with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy ripe for repeal, it's time for Obama to put some of his political capital where his rhetoric is.
[Eugene Robinson, "MIA On Gay Marriage", Washington Post, 8 May 2009.]
As I understand it, "fierce advocacy" probably requires actually at least saying something every now and then. I'm finding it interesting how many people are noticing that our "fierce advocate" in the White House has said remarkably nothing.
We know that arguing that marriage equality is "something best left to the states" is just a way for national politicians to avoid taking any responsibility for fiercely advocating for equality, but isn't it then odd that when the states do something for marriage equality that none of these fierce advocates cheer the states' actions?
We know that all those anti-gay folks who continually trotted out their rhetoric about "activist judges" were just hiding their homophobia behind what they thought was a rational argument (in fact, though, one that refuses to acknowledge separation of powers and the importance of the judiciary), but I don't remember hearing cheers when state legislatures began taking the lead on marriage equality. What's that about?
Applauding the twelfth, or fifteenth, or thirty-fifth state that finally recognizes marriage equality for its citizens will look more like a timid after thought than the leadership of a "fierce advocate".
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Feeling Peevish
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on Friday, 8 May 2009 at 18.17
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Not exactly on topic, but:
http://www.kuow.org has a podcast of the speech bishop Gene Robinson gave in Seattle on January 12, the day it was announced he was to give the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial event that marked the opening of Inauguration festivities. It is a very fine address, and on its own is almost enough to stand against the rantings of the christian right and prevail. If only the voice of this sane Christianity were better heard, and reported in the press. The speech was broadcast last night. I don't know how long the podcast link will be available.
on Friday, 8 May 2009 at 18.18
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Oh — type "Robinson" in the search box on the KUOW webpage.
on Wednesday, 10 June 2009 at 14.05
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What is even more interesting, is the fact that Dick Cheney has come out in favor of it, and yet the Great Crusader has turned the other way on this and so many other promises he made.