Teh Gays? Not so much

My first emotional break with the on-line community came about because of how quick they were to forgive Obama for his pandering to the homophobic Christian right of the African-American community. This was the Donnie McClurkin affair, when Obama chose a gay-hating evangelist to front a rally in South Carolina. He has never really been held accountable for that insult.

I “get” the hierarchy of the left. I learned it during the last great wave of the women’s movement. The most important issues were those leftist white men cared most about. Racial issues came second; women’s issues came third (if there was room), and GLBT issues came last. So I learned early that those who were supposed to be in my same corner of the political universe could be my worst enemies or, at least, my most untrustworthy friends.

I, for one, have never forgiven Bill Clinton for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) or for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and I blamed Hillary as well. She actually started out behind with me at the beginning of this campaign.

But she spoke out early on behalf of gay teens when she was ahead in the polls – with little to gain and much to lose. I worked with homeless kids, and a disproportionate share of those who had been “thrown-away” by their own parents were gay or lesbian kids.

Hillary won the points Obama lost, for me at least. I would never trust him to care about the ways this hatred affects my life except in the most philosophic and vacuous sense. Obama spent a lot of time courting votes in Pennsylvania this week. But the gays? Not so much.

Since this observation is counter to the prevailing narrative about Obama, it doesn’t surprise me much that this isn’t getting much play in the netroots. Via Corrente,