As I mentioned before, it is still uncertain how US President Barrack Obama's support of gay marriage will affect him at the November polls but one thing is for sure. They are not going to sit around and wait to see what's going to happen. On Wednesday, the Obama campaign launched Obama Pride: LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders) Americans for Obama which is an outreach targetted at the LGBT community. This proposal coincides with Pride Month in June and will focus on efforts to take on the community and rally voters. LGBT-targeted registration efforts were held Tuesday in honor of Harvey Milk Day. On the to-do list for Obama Pride are workshops, planning sessions, phone banks and house parties, particularly in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.Jamie Citron, the campaign’s LGBT vote director, adrressed reporters on Wednesday saying that organizers will be working “neighborhood by neighborhood and block by block,” and reaching out to “friends, families and coworkers.” Plans to aggressively court the gay community represents a shift for the Obama campaign, which has been more soft-spoken about LGBT recruiting efforts in the past. Some critics charge that Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage was a ploy to rake in cash from the gay community. For a president who was for years reluctant to weigh in on the marriage equality issue at all, Obama Pride shows the campaign has pivoted to a new aggressive approach to make sure they reap the benefits of the president’s support of same-sex marriage.
The campaign’s outreach effort includes pushing a list of achievements for LGBT Americans under Obama, including the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act and ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. On the conference call, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign and a national co-chair of Obama for America, ran through a version of the list, saying that Obama was not paying them lip service and that "he really and truly cares.” Given that same-sex marriage remains a divisive issue, the new campaign initiative is trying to harness any and all support for Obama’s position.
Even music industry mogul, Hip Hop producer/artist Jay Z has jumped on to the Obama bandwagon revealing his support for the Presidents stance on same sex marriage saying,
“I’ve always thought of it as something that was still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against Blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple. It’s about people.”
In the end, the question will be whether the trade-off is worth it — there’s only a small percentage of voters in the middle who say Obama’s position will make a difference in how they are going to vote. The launch of Obama Pride indicates that the Obama camp has decided that the boost they get in enthusiasm, organization and fundraising could outweigh any crucial wavering voters who will decide their vote on gay marriage.
I think Obama is expressing his freedom of expression more openly which is quite opposite to what majority people think about him and the issue.
ReplyDeleteHe might be supporting the(Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender because it may be time they and him come out of their comfort zone and face reality.
I mean who knows what is Obama’s agenda behind the support, for all we know an election is coming up. Like most politicians they need minorities at times of need, the LGBT may make up a quarter of the middle class so you get them your back in the game.
The don’t ask, don’t tell policy is really discriminating, why the disclosure in relationship, what happens in times of emergency who do the employers contact.
I personally think that Obama is expressing an open opinion similarly is the RNB rapper Jay-Z which tends to be displeasing to the majority
Since taking office President Obama has been trying to do more for the LGBT community, including ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) which was officially put to rest in September of 2011. (Thank goodness because under DADT more than 13,000 members were kicked out of the military!) So, It is no secret across the United States the President Obama supports equal rights for members of the LGBT community.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the launch of this new push and support for gay marriage happens to fall during an important political time period as campaigning is well under way. However, I don't know if I am necessarily convinced that his motive is purely for the polls. Many presidents of the past were quite cautious in their first term in hopes of getting re-elected. I think that if President Obama does win the upcoming November election we can expect to see some big changes over the next four years.
US should be U.S. Use Reuters style. There is an extra line before your block quote. As it is all one person speaking and you have introduced the speaker, you don't need to put it in quote marks.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans > democrats.
ReplyDelete