Does the LGBT Community Need New Thinking for a New President?
Filed by: Waymon Hudson
January 19, 2009 11:00 AM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/01/does_the_lgbt_community_need_new_thinkin.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2009/01/does_the_lgbt_community_need_new_thinkin.php)
I'll be the first to admit that after 8 years of horrendous Bush policies and many more years of seeing our community sacrificed on the altar of politics, I have grown cynical and combative. After so much betrayal, demonization, and denigration forced on LGBT people by political forces, I and many others like me are quick to write off people after they act against the interest of our community and other equality-minded Americans.
But have we been trained to be so defensive that we have become close-minded ourselves? Do we need to find a new way of acting and reacting now that we have a new President, one that may be our ally on some issues and need our prodding on others?
Do we need new thinking for a new President?
I personally believe that we need to begin to appeal to our new president, not using the same demanding tones as we have with Bush, but rather with a voice of optimistic cooperation. Obama is much more open than Bush when it comes to the glbt community, and therefore, we need to take a slightly different approach, but our spirit must remain the same.
I also think that we all need to become more active in our involvement if we aren't already. I belong to a couple of organizations and want to be even more involved.
Gennee