It’s Gay Pride Month. Here is the schedule of events in Albany [PDF]. Also, check out Libby Post’s blog. And I’ve been encouraged by several things:
ITEM: Home Depot to American Family Association: take a hike, we support gay causes. It wasn’t that long ago that corporate America would cower under threat of a boycott by anti-gay forces.
ITEM: A prominent billboard urging a local politician to vote for same-sex marriage has a restaurant source: Bombers Burrito Bar. Bombers owner Matt Baumgartner owns Bombers in Albany and Schenectady, Wolff’s Biergarten in Albany, and a forthcoming Albany pub called The Olde English. He’s trying to sway state senator Roy McDonald, who voted no in 2009, but is perceived to be persuadable.
ITEM: Kicking off Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, the Office of Public Engagement has launched a new webpage, Winning the Future: President Obama and LGBT Americans. People complain, not entirely without merit, that the Obama administration has been cautious about gay rights. But you would not see this type of initiative from President McCain or either President Bush.
So I’m feeling encouraged that, in the cliched language of the pollsters, the country is “moving in the right direction” on gay rights. What says you?
Yes, Yes, Yes!!! to your blog post.
I’m an ardent supporter of Gay Rights…Human Rights.
previous comment was from “gel”. I came out of the blog closet and am using my real life name now on a different site.
I think it’s moving in the right direction. Still have a long way to go, in my opinion.
Roger, I am proud to call myself a supporter of rights for all human beings, despite the opposition of my Catholic Faith. I believe that to be a true follower of Jesus you have to love and honor all people. I would proudly go to a wedding for any two people.
Those who try to deny marital equality appeal to religion, tradition, or the “yuck” factor. We are not a theocracy, and religion has no trademark on the term or definition of “marriage.” Long-standing traditions have changed (even ones with religious backing); we no longer support monarchy, slavery, or treating women as chattel (well, most of us don’t). As for the “yuck,” well people need to restrain their obsession with others sexual habits, that’s the real perversity.
I think that the fact that the anti-gay industry has raised the volume of their vitriol is the clearest demonstration that the country is moving in the right direction. They know they’re losing and they’re getting desperate.
However, I also think that for some folks in some places, things will get worse before they get better. Still, as Dr. King famously said, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” I fervently believe he was right.