Obama's Got Some Gay Rights Problems

by Michael Jones · 2010-01-09 15:33:00 UTC
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Obama White HouseIt's one thing for a pool of gay rights bloggers to point out the Obama administration's sticky relationship with all things gay rights. But it's another thing altogether for America's favorite sinister cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), to blast off on Obama.

Sure enough, Lynch, who has emerged as one of the most popular television actresses working today given her role in GLEE, has some choice words for Obama and what she sees as a lack of action on his administration's part when it comes to equal rights. Her verdict? Year one of Obama has been disappointing.

That gels well with growing consensus among gay rights folks, particularly bloggers, who've felt left out of the equation when it comes to the White House's priorities. Cue John Aravosis at AmericaBLOG, who says that Obama hasn't been just a disappointment on gay rights. He's allowed his administration to succumb to "gay panic."

Scathing. But is it true?

Lynch's comments came in a weekend interview with The Guardian. She largely talks about her increasing profile as one of America's comedy gurus, but she certainly has some thoughts on Obama.

"Shouldn't there be safeguards against the majority voting on the rights of a minority?" Lynch tells the paper. "If people voted on civil rights in the 60s, it would have never happened. It took somebody like [President] Lyndon Johnson going, 'F all of you! I'm going to do this. Obama won't do it. He's a huge disappointment to me."

If you think that's harsh, then wait 'til you see what Aravosis writes at AmericaBLOG.

"Democrats, and far too many of our own leaders, think that if the President meets the bare minimum of what was expected from a Democratic president nearly two decades ago -- hiring gays in the administration (but not too too senior a position), giving a few speeches about your commitment to gay civil rights (but only to gay crowds), and signing a law that the President didn't lift a finger (or spend an ounce of political capital) to get passed -- then that's all that is needed to buy our community's favor," Aravosis writes.

Yeesh! I think it's safe to say that Aravosis just out-snarkified Sue Sylvester! But clearly, they're both fed up. Is it for good reason? How much patience should the LGBT population have with this White House before it runs out of patience?

Photo: The White House

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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