Here is a video of a rousing speech given in Utah by Cleve Jones demanding full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and announcing the March on Washington that is to be held on October 10th and 11th.
This march will likely have little impact on Obama and on other politicians at this time, for the simple reason that most of those who are not in favor of equal rights for LGBT people have yet to see what political mileage and career enhancements can come from people who they think make up a relatively small part of their constituency, except in a relatively few selected jurisdictions in this country.
The major impact that this march is likely to have will be to generate enthusiasm to demand equal rights; enable latent anger to become manifest both to others and to oneself; reinforce the need to demand equal rights across the board, without settling for any incremental steps, the indignity of having one's civil rights voted upon by the electorate, or settling for empty rhetoric from some smiling politician who counts on his charisma and charm to override his having to do anything to deliver on his empty promises.
Obama cannot be counted on to deliver on his cynical rhetoric for the simple reason that I feel that he is homophobic as well as having a narcissistic personality that enables him to say one thing and do the very opposite without his seeming to have any hint of guilt, or perhaps even of his seeing any contradiction between his words and his deeds.
To him, it seems, just looking good and saying what he perceives people want to hear, transcend what values he has if, indeed, he holds any core values that he uses as a compass with which to navigate his behavior and decisions regarding the welfare of others.
Moreover, I think his extreme narcissism enables him to also transcend any contradiction between his words and his deeds because he may well be oblivious to such contradiction; if that contradiction is pointed out to him, his narcissism is likely to override what would be very embarrassing to an average person.
His homophobia that makes a mockery of his public rhetoric regarding LGBT people is abundantly evident, from his being against same-sex marriage, aligning himself with Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary during part of his campaign, having homophobic Rick Warren give the inaugural prayer, allowing highly decorated military personnel such as Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col. Fehrenbach to be discharged under DADT under his watch, aggressively defending DOMA under his watch, and also pressuring Rep. Alcee Hastings to withdraw his Amendment to not fund DADT.
Rep. Alcee Hastings was interviewed by Rachel Maddow, and this interview is instructive as to Obama's level of commitment to living up to his lofty, though patently empty, rhetoric to LGBT people:
It seems that the National Equality March is coming at an appropriate time!
2 comments:
Jerry,
I'm still skeptical about this march. With money being so tight for everyone these days, I fear that few will show up. I also fear that those who do show up will turn the event into a counter-productive spectacle with a Mardi Gras atmosphere. That would hurt more than help us.
People forget that what made the 1963 march so memorable was the heavy turnout and the compelling speakers, especially Dr. King. Will this march have anything comparable? If it doesn't, it will have been as much a waste of time as the forthcoming "kiss-in" demonstrations against nothing in particular.
I absolutely agree with you, Don Charles, on all counts! The "kiss in" demonstrations are pathetic, at best, and if the National Equality March does not contain the same kind of integrity as did the March on Washington led by Dr. King, it will not only be a waste of time, but can actually be counterproductive. Best wishes, Jerry.
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