Obama’s Stonewall

In 1996, when Barack Obama was running for the Illinois Senate, he was asked in a survey by Outlines, a gay community newspaper in Chicago, if he supported same-sex marriage.

Unlike most candidates, who merely indicated yes or no, Obama took the unusual step of typing in his response, to which he affixed his signature. Back then not a single state permitted same-sex marriage, and sodomy was a crime. Nonetheless, Obama took a position on the progressive edge of the Democratic Party, and he did so with unmistakable clarity: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

There is a great debate going on over whether or not President Obama has done enough in his first 5 months in office for the LGBT community.

I for one believe that as much as change is needed, the old cliche “change doesn’t happen overnight” is an old cliche for a reason.  Our expectation as the LGBT community can’t be too high, and we certainly have to recognize our rights would be in great jeopardy if the McCain/Palin ticket won the election.

What are your thoughts?