Obama insisted in his 2004 DNC speech that we secretly have more in common than our leaders would have us believe, that social issues have been used to drive coalitions apart that could do dramatic good in the world. At Saddleback, Obama took a public AIDS test alongside Republican Senator Sam Brownback --- and he did not waver in his message or shy away from speaking out about the desperate need to include contraception as a way to prevent AIDS: Having said that, I also believe that we cannot ignore that abstinence and fidelity may too often be the ideal and not the reality - that we are dealing with flesh and blood men and women and not abstractions - and that if condoms and potentially microbicides can prevent millions of deaths, they should be made more widely available. I know that there are those who, out of sincere religious conviction, oppose such measures. And with these folks, I must respectfully but unequivocally disagree. I do not accept the notion that those who make mistakes in their lives should be given an effective death sentence. We can disagree forcefully on certain issues --- on contraception, on homosexuality, on abortion --- but still be capable of coming to the table. Appearing publicly with others does not have to mean that we are compromising on our convictions or endorsing each and every one of their views. During Obama's 2004 DNC convention speech, the political event of his life, an event that would make his career, he did not hesitate to speak out against homophobia: ...Alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that we are all connected as one people.... It is that fundamental belief-I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper-that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: "E pluribus unum"; out of many, one.... There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and a white America and a Latino America and an Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice our country into red states and blue states.... But I've got news for them, too: We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.
Obama has never hesistated, in his outreach to the faith-based community, to be upfront about his disagreements. All of this talk about McClurkin leads me to a question: If Rick Warren were to endorse Barack Obama --- he won't, but let's say that he did --- if Warren were to decide to endorse Obama based on his work on AIDS, or on his willingness to work with the faith community, should Obama refuse that endorsement based on Warren's statements on abortion and gay marriage? If Warren were to hold a fundraiser for Obama in order to support his work on other issues, would Obama be responsible for all of Warren's statements on any issue? How do we expect to govern and produce change on global problems like climate change and poverty and AIDS if we turn away from potential allies? For more on Obama's unequivocal and strong positions on LGBT issues, see this factsheet or his answers to the HRC questionaire. You can also visit the campaign's LGBT blog. |
