As Hate Crimes Continue, Need for LGBT Protections Increases
October 13, 2009
This weekend’s widely publicized National Equality March called on activists and government officials alike to take action to end inequality.
Already at least one issue of LBGT equality appears very close to resolution – the expansion of federal hate crime legislation to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. One accomplishment that President Obama shared at the HRC Gala Dinner on Friday evening included the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act through the House of Representatives last week, as reported by The New York Times last Thursday. Attached to the National Defense and Authorization Act of 2009 in July, the bill is now expected to pass the Senate as well, and land on the President’s desk within the week.
The Colorado Independent quoted the bill’s cosponsoring Congresswoman Diana Degette (D-CO):
When signed by President Obama, this will be the first federal law specifically protecting LGBT Americans. This Act will provide state and local law enforcement agencies with resources they need to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, while also protecting the exercise of free speech under our Constitution.
However, no sooner had the march concluded in Washington, D.C. than The New York Times and the New York Daily News were back reporting on the beating of a gay man in College Point, Queens as he left his neighborhood deli early Friday morning. The man is being treated for a fractured jaw, ribs, and lacerated spleen but is now in stable condition. Police have categorized the assault as a hate crime based on New York State legislation, which does classify crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation as hate crimes.
There is currently no similar classification, at either the state or national level, for crimes motivated by a victim’s gender identity. This gaping legal hole was most recently exposed by the verbal and physical attacks endured by Carmella Etienne, a transgender woman who shared her story of assault at last week’s Transgender Hate Crimes panel in Brooklyn. Etienne, also attacked in her own neighborhood in Queens, had rocks and empty beer bottles hurled at her by a group of young men, who taunted her with antigay and transphobic slurs. As The New York Times’ CityRoom blog reports:
The attackers’ use of homophobic slurs could be used to prosecute them under New York State’s hate crime law, but the taunts about her gender identity would not be covered under that statute.
Similarly, when 22-year-old Lateisha Green was shot last year in a car in Syracuse simply for being a transgender woman, her attack could only be categorized as a hate crime based on the antigay slurs from her assailant.
According to Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented both Carmella Etienne and the Green family, a “hate crime charge could mean the difference between a one-day jail sentence and a minimum three-and-a-half-year sentence.”
We will continue to keep you informed about media coverage of inclusive hate crimes legislation at both national and state levels.
Related Posts:Tens of Thousands Gather on Capitol for LGBT Equality
October 12, 2009
Tens of thousands marched on Washington D.C. Sunday to demand equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans.
Activists and allies called for an end to discriminatory federal laws such as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and advocated for marriage equality in all 50 states.
Speakers at the rally included NAACP Chairman Julian Bond; Army 1st Lt. Daniel Choi, an Iraq war veteran who faces discharge after revealing that he is gay; pop music sensation Lady Gaga; “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon; and GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios.
As The New York Times reported on Sunday, the National Equality March came just one day after President Obama addressed 3,000 people at a fundraising event for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT organization.
President Obama renewed his promise to overturn DADT and DOMA at the HRC gala, but drew criticism from some advocates who believe the president must act more swiftly in realizing his campaign promises to the LGBT community.
“I think he has a lot on his plate,” Rachael McIntosh of Worcester, Mass. told The New York Times. “But I’d hoped we’d be a priority.”
Be that as it may, the speakers at Sunday’s rally invigorated the community.
The Washington Post profiled glam rocker Lady Gaga on Monday and highlighted her significant role in raising awareness about the Equality March. Gaga, who is openly bisexual, called the rally “the most important moment of [her] career.”
The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, pointed to NAACP Chairman Julian Bond as being particularly moving.
“We have a lot of real and serious problems in this country,” Bond said. “And same-sex marriage is not one of them.”
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios also spoke at Sunday’s rally. Barrios stressed the importance of everyday conversation in the fight for total equality:
Our impatient march begins in far more humble places than Capitol Hill – at the office water cooler, at the Friday night fish-fry, at the Facebook page staring at you from your laptop, or the dining room filled with family for Sunday supper. In these plain-spoken places it isn’t legislation — it isn’t a lawsuit that moves us forward – it is our stories that we tell about our lives.
(Video of Barrios’s speech can be found here)
GLAAD also offered media training services at Georgetown University to assist an array of community activists and organizers with developing media outreach campaigns and sharing personal stories with national media outlets.
For more information about the National March for Equality, please visit: http://equalityacrossamerica.org/
Related Posts:UPDATE: Military Board Recommends Dismissal of Lt. Dan Choi
July 1, 2009
On Tuesday, a military administrative board recommended that Lt. Dan Choi – Iraq war veteran, Arabic linguist, and member of the LGBT service member’s organization Knights Out – be discharged from the National Guard under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. The panel of military administrators heard Choi’s testimony and, after four hours of deliberation, submitted their recommendation.
Lt. Choi became one of the leading advocates for the repeal of DADT after coming out in March in the Army Times newspaper and on The Rachel Maddow Show.
In a statement to MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Lt. Choi responded to the decision saying, “I’m disappointed but I need to send a message to my soldiers that if you get knocked down, get yourself back up and keep fighting. What kind of officer or leader would I be if I gave up?”
Lt. Choi’s case now goes to the First Army commander and the chief of the National Guard Bureau for review. If discharged, Lt. Choi will become the 266th service member to be dismissed under DADT since President Obama took office in January 2009.
News of Lt. Choi’s dismissal comes after a slew of media coverage of DADT in the past week:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a statement indicating that he wants to make the implementation of DADT “more humane” until Congress can address its possible repeal. Secretary Gates stated he has lawyers studying ways the law might be “selectively enforced.”
The White House also issued this response to a question regarding the timetable for the repeal of the policy:
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach appeared on Tuesday’s CNN Newsroom to discuss his own pending dismissal. The 19-year veteran spoke with President Obama at this week’s White House reception celebrating the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. Although the Lt. Col. was hopeful for President Obama’s movement on DADT, he did not appear as hopeful for his own pending case:
“I think that I may end up being discharged at the end of the day, but if the law’s repealed, then that’s—that’s for the greater good. I hope that, if it is repealed, then maybe I can come right back in the military and finish out my career.”
On Monday’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Chuck Todd interviewed openly gay Rep. Jared Polis of Colo. During the interview, Rep. Polis voiced his support for the repeal of DADT saying:
“Really, the only area where I have seen any disagreement over this is under the Capital dome. I think we need to make a lot of progress on that. The American people and the military are more than ready.”
Keith Olbermann brought on writer and LGBT advocate Dan Savage on Countdown to discuss President Obama’s addressing of DADT during the White House reception in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
Savage brought up the interesting comparison between Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s suspension of the “widower’s penalty” – a policy which requires the deportation of non-citizen widowers of U.S. citizens – to the reluctance of the Obama administration to halt DADT dismissals. Savage sarcastically joked, “[Napolitano] seems to have authorities and powers that the President, her boss, Commander-in-Chief does not.”
We’ll keep you updated as Lt. Choi’s case progresses.
Related Posts:Celebrating Pride in New York and Across the Country
June 30, 2009
Hundreds of thousands crowded New York City’s streets Sunday for the city’s annual LGBT Pride festivities. Sunday’s march marked an especially significant occasion for LGBT people and their allies as it commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the event that most view as sparking the modern LGBT rights movement.
San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities across the globe celebrated on Sunday as well – marking 40 years to the day since the famed uprising took place.
New York’s march, which ends its two mile course near the historic Stonewall Inn, drew prominent figures from the LGBT movement, both past and present. Dustin Lance Black, who recently won an Oscar for his screenplay Milk, was one of four grand marshals at the parade. Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, both of whom worked closely with the iconic LGBT rights leader, Harvey Milk, also grand marshaled the event. Additionally, hundreds of organizations, companies, and political groups marched in support of the local and national LGBT community.
New Yorkers appeared hopeful that soon they would join the ranks of such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Delaware and New Hampshire and become the seventh state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. A bill that would extend marriage protections to same-sex couples is currently pending a vote in the NY senate.
Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), a strong proponent of the bill, was an honorary grand marshal in yesterday’s parade. Gov. Paterson told The Associated Press yesterday that “if we have an end to the stalemate in Albany, [he] would think that [the bill] would be passed shortly after.”
But some were in more somber spirits, reflecting on what they see as President Obama’s lack of commitment to the LGBT community. The New York Times, for instance, published an editorial on Sunday, in which columnist Frank Rich noted that “Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking.”
Rich goes on challenge President Obama to action, saying:
Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.
Blogger ‘ARDem’, however, said to readers on DailyKos and Pam’s House Blend that LGBT people should celebrate their progress, rather than ruminate over their losses:
the fact that a popular President is being held to task for his lack of action on behalf of [the LGBT] community is something that should be reassuring… instead we could be facing the same things those that went before us did – organized state oppression, a world where hatred of LGBT Americans isn’t simply a disgusting fact of life but something to be expected and uplifted. . .
‘ARDem’ bids his readers to “channel the courage of Stonewall” in their struggle toward equality.
Yesterday, President Obama honored the 40th anniversary of Stonewall alongside 250 plus LGBT leaders in the East Room of the White House.
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said of the event:
[It] is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.
GLAAD’s incoming President, Jarrett Barrios, attended the White House event with his 17-year-old son, Javier. Barrios said the event “was a symbol of the fact that the administration recognizes our community at a time when there has been growing frustration about his administration’s seeming reticence to follow through on campaign promises.”
GLAAD will continue to report on the media’s coverage of Stonewall’s 40th Anniversary. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org as they become available.
Related Posts:A Personal Promise From President Obama On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
May 7, 2009
Last night, I received a phone call filled with exciting news from a close friend to GLAAD, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao. Sandy is a Chinese American woman and army officer based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Sandy originally reached out to me last January as a result of her brave decision to come out as gay.
At the same time, Sandy also sent a heartfelt letter to President Obama urging him to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).
Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao
An excerpt from her original letter in January reads:
Today is Chinese New Year day. I hope it will bring good fortune to you and your newly elected office. Today is also the day I inform my chain of command of who I am. One of the seven army values is integrity. It means choosing to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be. As a Christian, this also means living an honest life.
In closing, she wrote:
We have the best military in the world and I would like to continue to be part of it. My mother can tell you it is my dream to serve our country. I have fought and overcome many barriers to arrive at the point I am at today. This is the only battle I fear I may lose. Even if it is too late for me, I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
Obama's Letter (click to view larger image)
This past Tuesday, May 5, Sandy received a package from the White House. As Sandy unwrapped the thick envelope and looked inside, she tearfully fell to her knees. Protected between two pieces of cardboard, the parcel contained a handwritten note from President Obama.
The President, responding to Sandy’s letter, wrote:
Sandy – Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama.
Sandy and I have spent the past few months sharing her story in the media so others know about the unfortunate reality facing gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens in the armed forces. We began sharing her story with Asian Pacific Islander media, mainly because of their growing interest for more LGBT stories. We had also shared her story with mainstream media outlets, but received no response.
I initially pitched her story to Audrey, a magazine reaching more than 10,000 Asian American women across the country.
Click here for the full story by Sandy
Audrey’s Editor-in-Chief, Anne Kim, readily agreed to pick up Sandy’s personal account about coming out in the military. Her editorial can be found in the April/May issue that is currently on newsstands (or by clicking on the image to the left).
I also reached out to my contact at The World Journal, a Chinese language daily newspaper reaching nearly 350,000 readers. The reporter immediately interviewed Sandy and subsequently wrote a feature piece on DADT and its impact on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.
Sandy’s last day in the army is May 19. She is being forced to leave the military, another service member discharged under the DADT policy.
Right now, she is preparing to rejoin everyday life as a civilian. But even though Sandy is sad to leave her dream job, she hopes her story will contribute to repealing the military ban. Sandy is even more encouraged by President Obama’s personal promise to allow others like her to serve openly in the military with pride and dignity.
The White House Web site
The debate over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still alive in the media landscape. Bloggers like Joe. My. God recently found the White House Web site had revised its language on President Obama’s commitment to lift the ban for openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving in the military.
While the story of revised White House Web site language may fall out of the news cycle, we can be sure that DADT will continue to capture the media spotlight. The advocacy, reports and media coverage surrounding the ban have only expanded the public debate, scrutinizing the reasons and rationale for delaying the day when openly lesbian, gay and bisexual people can serve in the military.
The President’s personal reply extends beyond Sandy and her story. It’s a powerful message to the American people that one day everyone will be able to serve their country free from the fear of being discharged simply because of their sexual orientation. However, as the President’s note alludes to, the timeline to fulfill that commitment remains unknown.
My work with Sandy is one example from many that highlights the very reason why we need GLAAD’s Asian Pacific Islander Media Program. Whether we are providing a media training for LGBT community leaders from Mainland China to pitching a Seoul-based newspaper a hate crimes story, my work aims to harness the power of media with cultural competency. GLAAD’s commitment to the Asian Pacific Islander community and other communities of color is united by a simple belief that we must bring all of our experiences to the table when engaging in meaningful debate for fairness and equality.
Below, you can watch a clip from The Rachel Maddow Show which followed the story of the White House Website revising its DADT language:
And here is a collection of media coverage related to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:
Related Blog Coverage
Joe. My. God:
- White house fixes DADT Language on website, “repeal” replaces “change”
- White house restores LGBT rights promises on website (but changes DADT wording from “repeal” to “change”
- White house shrinks LGBT rights commitments list on official site
The Bilerico Project:
- Disrespecting the troops, one thousand officers at a time
- Obama hits pause on the repeal DADT button
- Robert Gates wants to “push” DADT repeal “down the road a little bit”
Anti-Gay Coach, Dungy Steps Down; Harry Knox, HRC Religion Director Steps Up
April 6, 2009
Shortly after the White House published a list of faith-based council members that included anti-gay evangelical football coach, Dungy, an AP article reported that Dungy declined the invitation.
Harry Knox, HRC director of religion and faith, was also on the list and said, “…we will support the President in living up to his promise that government has no place in funding bigotry against any group of people.”
The AP article stated:
President Barack Obama announced the appointments of Bishop Charles E. Blake and Harry Knox on Monday, filling out a 25-person roster that is part of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy declined an invitation, citing scheduling conflicts, a White House spokesman said. Dungy will still advise Obama on fatherhood issues and help lead that effort, the spokesman said.
Dungy, an evangelical Christian, supported efforts in Indiana to ban same-sex marriage in 2007, prompting some criticism from liberal groups last week when the invitation was made public. <snip>
Also newly appointed to the panel was Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay rights group. Obama was criticized by liberal and gay rights groups for inviting evangelical pastor and author Rick Warren – who supported a California ballot measure that banned gay marriage in that state – to deliver the inaugural invocation.
The White House office enlists faith and community groups to address four priorities: economic recovery, reducing abortions, encouraging responsible fatherhood and improving interfaith relations. An expanded and tweaked version of a faith-based office begun by President George W. Bush, the office is charged with administering federal grants and advising the White House on policy.
Statement by GLAAD President on the Rev. Robinson’s Participation in Inauguration
January 13, 2009
GLAAD’s President, Neil G. Giuliano, made a statement about the selection of the Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson to deliver the invocation at the opening celebration of the Presidential Inauguration:
President-elect Obama has made an excellent choice with the selection of Rev. Gene Robinson, and the broadcast will allow millions of people worldwide to participate in this historic event.
Rev. Robinson represents an incredible voice who has made great strides toward encouraging LGBT inclusion in faith communities. By featuring an openly gay faith leader, Obama is sending a strong message about the importance of truly inclusive faith voices that can move us away from exclusion and division and toward the common ground we share.
You can read the entire release here.
Openly Gay Bishop to Pray at Lincoln Memorial Inaugural Event
January 12, 2009
When the announcement came that openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson was tapped to lead the prayer of invocation for the opening inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at 2:00 p.m. on January 18, The Associated Press article was published in hundreds of news outlets across the country and around the globe, from France to the Philippines.
It was not long ago that President-elect Obama faced heavy criticism from LGBT advocacy groups and leaders for his selection of conservative evangelist Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation. GLAAD issued a statement, and also published clips of Warren’s previous media statements on LGBT issues.
Obama defended his choice as part of his commitment to diverse voices at his inauguration, and pointed to the closing prayer invitation of straight ally, The Reverend Joseph Lowery, a United Methodist and veteran Civil Rights activist. Lowery is a signer on the Methodist statement of “People of Color for an All Inclusive Church.”
Robinson’s prayer at an opening inaugural event in front of the Lincoln Memorial is a powerful reminder of this country’s efforts to move toward freedom and equality for all. Change is possible.
When Bishop Robinson was interviewed by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently, he reflected on church support of his ministry and said, “There is great excitement in my heart to be living in a time when the church is starting to get it right.” We can only imagine that he may have been thinking that the country is starting to get it right, too.
Join the Impact: Saturday, January 10
January 7, 2009
Join the Impact is coordinating a nationwide protest of the Defenase of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Here’s information from the Join the Impact website:
On Saturday January 10th, 2009
We ask you to join us in making the LARGEST IMPACT YET!
Let’s take our message all the way up the ladder to President Elect Barack Obama himself!
On January 10th, we will come together as one UNITED FRONT asking the LGBTQ community to join us in signing an Open Letter to President Barack Obama, during a NATIONAL DOMA PROTEST.
This letter will remind President Elect Barack Obama of the promises he made to us.
It will also serve as a pledge from our community that we will hold him to his promises and help him achieve them.
We can’t just put a letter online and ask that people sign it.
We need to take to the streets. As we all know…
VISIBILITY IS THE KEY TO EQUALITY!
Outreach & Education Will End Discrimination.
We MUST Infiltrate, to Educate, and Stop Hate!
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Find out who is organizing a DOMA Protest in your area. (Quick Link to State Page) If there isn’t one, then volunteer to organize an event, or organize to collect signatures!
- Download the Open Letter and take to the streets to gain signatures.
- Get one million signatures (in total across the nation) by the end of the day on January 10th.
- Mail the collected signatures to the JTI clearinghouse address BY DEADLINE: Join The Impact, PO Box 141491, Columbus, OH 43214
NOTE:
If you can’t organize a protest or one is not organized in your city (understandable with the holidays and all), then don’t worry, you can still participate:
-
- Sign up to organize a carpool in your area that gets everyone to the closest protest
- Get a group of friends together to canvas your neighborhood to get signatures for the open letter.
The Point of this event…
… to gather at least one million signatures on an Open Letter to President Barack Obama
to be delivered to him on his first day in office.
The event itself will vary by location depending on organizers availability and local sense of how to best do it. Please make posts below to discuss ideas…
Join Us on January 10th for 1 Million Signatures to Repeal DOMA!
IMPORTANT:
We all have to use the official letter and signature page (downloaded from this website) so that they can be joined together and sent to President Obama as one cohesive piece. If you are not using a letter that was downloaded from this website, your signatures will not be sent in.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that the signature be on the official signature sheet or one of the sheets provided on this site over the past 2 weeks. Due to many great ideas, the signature sheets have evolved since the first version. For those of you that took early initiative using an early version of the signature sheet, all of your hard work is still completely valid and extremely appreciated! Any signature sheet not made by JTI will not be valid for legal reasons.
HERE ARE THE DETAILS:
Print one copy of the ‘Open Letter to Obama” for each set of signature sheets:
Show your signers the full letter.
Print as many of the signature sheets as you think you can fill, each page holds 20 signatures. Sheets with less than 20 will still be accepted.
Please ask your signers if they have already signed, try to avoid duplicates.
Your signers DO NOT need to include their address, only the ZIP CODE is required.
NO ONE will contact your signers, they are not going to be put on any mailing list.
Continuing Media Coverage of Rick Warren Controversy
December 22, 2008
Media outlets continue their coverage of the controversy over Present-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. See the commentary and videos below:
December 19, 2008
CNN: American Morning – Warren Responds to Inauguration Outrage
12.19.08 06:15 am – CNN reports on anti-gay evangelical leader Rick Warren responding to the outcry over Obama inviting him to speak at the presidential inauguration. Warren: “Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and right will recognize that both of us have shown a model commitment to civility in America.”
December 18, 2008
Fox News: On the Record with Greta Van Susteren – Obama and The Base
12.18.08 10:42 pm – Greta Van Susteren and Rick Santorum share thoughts on Rick Warren speaking at the presidential inauguration. Santorum claims with such a move, Obama is saying, “‘Look, let me have the cover of being the moderate, and then I will go ahead and govern as a liberal.’”
Fox News: Hannity & Colmes – Barack Obama Defends Choosing Rick Warren to Deliver Inauguration
12.18.08 09:11 pm – Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Michael Steele, Maria Cardona and Erick Erickson talk about the Rick Warren controversy. Hannity claims, “Rick Warren – this is the kind of diversity and the kind of change Obama talked about. It’s not being ideological, it’s not having people only with whom you agree.”
MSNBC: The Rachel Maddow Show – Obama Selected Rick Warren to Give His Inauguration Invocation
12.18.08 09:00 pm – Rachel Maddow speaks out at length against Obama choosing Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation. Maddow also interviews S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who says he “disagree[s] with [Warren] vehemently” on LGBT issues, but that Warren’s selection can be “an opportunity, if we make it one.”
CNN: Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull – Inauguration Prayer Fight
12.18.08 08:26 pm – HRC’s Joe Solmonese on Rick Warren: “[I]n this moment, a symbolically important moment, when the eyes of the world are on this country and on this transitional moment, it would seem to me that there would be someone that president-elect Obama could pick to usher in a new day in America.”
Fox News: The O’Reilly Factor – Battle with the Base
12.18.08 08:21 pm – Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen and pastor (and Rick Warren’s friend) Robert Jeffress share their opinions on the Rick Warren controversy. Besen: “[L]et’s stop pretending that Rick Warren is a moderate. He’s masquerading as a moderate. This olive branch to evangelicals is more like poison ivy to [the LGBT community].”
MSNBC: Hardball with Chris Matthews – Obama Chooses Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren to Deliver Inaguration Invocation
12.18.08 07:43 pm – Chris Matthews, HRC’s Joe Solmonese and BeliefNet.com’s Steven Waldman debate the subject of Rick Warren’s inaugural invocation. Solmonese asserts that Obama’s selection of Warren is “an insensitive and politically shortsighted act,” while Waldman claims Obama is “trying to reach out to moderate evangelicals.”
PBS: NewsHour with Jim Lehrer – Insulting or Inclusive?
12.18.08 06:39 pm – Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, and Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, offer opposing viewpoints on the issue of Rick Warren delivering the invocation at Obama’s inauguration.
MSNBC: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with David Gregory – Inaugural Invocation Uproar
12.18.08 06:37 pm – FRC’s Peter Sprigg and PFAW’s Kathryn Kolbert debate Obama’s selection of the anti-gay Rick Warren as an inaugural speaker. Kolbert says Warren is a “divisive” choice, while Sprigg claims Obama “wanted to reach out across some of these lines of division.”
CNN: The Situation Room – Gays to Obama: We Feel Disrespected
12.18.08 06:37 pm – HRC’s Harry Knox on Rick Warren at Obama’s inauguration: “It’s really very sad for us because we worked very hard for Senator Obama’s election – and now president-elect. And for us to not be respected by his choices in this case is really very disappointing to us.”
NBC: NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams – Politics & Prayer
12.18.08 06:28 pm – NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports on LGBT equality advocates’ outcry over Rick Warren’s inauguration speech. HRC’s Harry Knox: “By making this pick, the president-elect really sent a message to me and to my community that we don’t matter as much to him as people who didn’t even vote for him.”
Fox News: Special Report with Brit Hume – Prayer Problems
12.18.08 06:16 pm – Brit Hume reports on reactions from the LGBT community and its supporters to Rick Warren speaking at President-elect Obama’s inauguration.
CNN: CNN Newsroom – Left Miffed at Obama
12.18.08 03:22 pm – CNN’s Rick Sanchez discusses the Rick Warren controversy with Firedoglake.com’s Jane Hamsher. Hamsher: “If [Obama} really wants to preach inclusiveness, then why not have somebody up there, a pastor who represents inclusiveness, and isn’t trying to build his political power by alienating and victimizing people who are gay?”
WSJ.com: Rick Warren
12.18.08 01:05 pm – The Wall Street Journal’s Adam Najberg discusses the controversy over Rick Warren’s anti-gay views and provides excerpt from an interview between Warren and BeliefNet.com’s Steve Waldman in which Warren made strong anti-gay statements.
CNN: American Morning – Obama Outrage over Rick Warren
12.18.08 07:04 am – Hilary Rosen on Rick Warren at Obama’s inauguration: “I think Rick Warren loses his moral authority when he, you know, is completely hypocritical about the way he deals with the issue of gays and lesbians and equality.”
More Media Coverage of Rick Warren Inaugural Controversy
December 19, 2008
MSNBC: MSNBC News Live – Rick Warren & The Inauguration
12.18.08 04:43 pm – PFAW’s Kathryn Kolbert, The American Prospect’s Ezra Klein, and Townhall.com’s Amanda Carpenter debate Obama’s selection of Rick Warren as an inaugural speaker. Kolbert: “We’re disappointed with the choice of pastor Warren primarily because he is opposed to many of the key constituents of the Obama electorate.”
MSNBC: MSNBC News Live – Rick Warren Invocation
12.18.08 01:59 pm – NBC News correspondent Chuck Todd says Obama’s decision to have pastor Rick Warren give the invocation at his inauguration is “almost like a final straw in what has been a very tense relationship between major gay Democratic power players and the Obama world. ”
MSNBC: MSNBC News Live – Ann Curry & Rev. Warren
12.18.08 12:20 pm – Dateline co-host Ann Curry talks about her interview with Rick Warren. Curry claims that Warren was “worried” that if Prop. 8 failed, “it would prevent him from getting up on the pulpit and speaking out against same-sex marriage,” even though the Calif. marriage decision had nothing to do with clergy.
ABC: The View – Elisabeth Hasselback on Rick Warren
12.18.08 11:17 am – The hosts of The View debate Rick Warren giving the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. Elisabeth Hasselback claims Rick Warren “is a great choice,” saying, “potentially maybe what President-elect Obama is trying to do is diminish the sort of negative cast that’s on Christian evangelicals.”
President-Elect Obama’s Troubling Inaugural Choice
December 18, 2008
Across the nation, LGBT people and progressives gasped as they read the headlines that President-elect Obama selected the Rev. Rick Warren to give the prayer of invocation at his inauguration. Obama’s hopeful statements of support for the LGBT community made the invitation to Warren that much more shocking. Bloggers and our collected media clips show that Warren has a long history of using his platform to perpetuate anti-gay stances.
Box Turtle states:
“Rick Warren claims he’s not a homophobe because he has “many gay friends” and has “eaten dinner in gay homes.” And yet, he still believes that his friends’ relationships are no different morally from child rape, incest or polygamy.
As the pastor of Saddleback mega-church (the fourth-largest church in the United States) he and his wife spent millions on global HIV/AIDS ministries. Conservatives criticize him for taking such a “liberal” stance on the HIV/AIDS issue, but he continues to equate same-sex marriage with incest and polygamy.
On Father’s Day this year, Warren met was persuaded to meet with the gay-affirming organization Soulforce, where he argued that gay people had to be celibate if they want to serve the church.
Saddleback Church drew global media attention as the venue for a presidential debate on values, which Warren followed up by using his media influence to speak against marriage for same-sex marriage. He was instrumental in building support for the passage of Proposition 8, which banned marriage for gay couples.
Today, President-elect Obama responded at a live press conference with carefully crafted talking points by saying that Warren had invited him to Saddleback in spite of their differing views on many topics and now he has invited Warren to be part of America’s “noisy conversation” of divergent opinions. Obama pointed to the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery as the minister who will give the benediction and has vastly different view on gay issues.
Recently, Warren said in an interview over at Beliefnet that he believes in full equality:
Beliefnet: Do you support civil unions or domestic partnerships?
Warren: I don’t know if I’d use the term there but I support full equal rights for everybody in America. I don’t believe we should have unequal rights depending on particular lifestyles so I fully support equal rights.
Beliefnet: What about partnership benefits in terms of insurance or hospital visitation?
Warren: You know, not a problem with me.
GLAAD has already urged the media ask incisive questions about what equality means in relation to employment, housing and protection from hate crimes. We challenge them to hold both Rick Warren and President-Elect Obama accountable and clarify what “equality” truly means to them.
Rick Warren Media Coverage Update
December 18, 2008
More media outlets are covering the growing controversy over Present-elect Barack Obama’s decision to select Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. See the commentary and videos below:
December 18, 2008
MSNBC: MSNBC News Live – Rick Warren Controversy
12.18.08 11:27 am – Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter analyzes Obama’s response to a reporter’s question on why he asked Rick Warren to speak at his inauguration. Alter: “What [Obama is] saying to gay rights activists is, ‘Look, the era of interest group politics leading around the Democratic party by the nose is over.’”
MSNBC: MSNBC News Live – President-elect Obama on Rick Warren
12.18.08 11:14 am – President-elect Obama discusses why he invited pastor Rick Warren to speak at his inauguration despite Warren holding views on social issues such as LGBT equality at odds with Obama’s own: “We’re not going to agree on every single issue. But what we have to do is be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable [...]”
CNN: American Morning – Inauguration Outrage
12.18.08 06:05 am – CNN reports on the outcry over President-elect Obama inviting pastor Rick Warren to speak at his inauguration. LGBT equality advocates are upset over the choice because of various anti-gay statements Warren has made in the past.
CNN: American Morning – Obama Outrage over Rick Warren
12.18.08 07:04 am – Hilary Rosen on Rick Warren at Obama’s inauguration: “I think Rick Warren loses his moral authority when he, you know, is completely hypocritical about the way he deals with the issue of gays and lesbians and equality.”
December 17, 2008
CNN: Anderson Cooper 360 – Digging Deeper: Inauguration Controversy
12.17.08 11:08 pm – Hilary Rosen, Robert Zimmerman and Roland Martin weigh in on Rick Warren giving the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. Rosen: “This is not a policy difference. This is not even about gay marriage. This is about the way that Pastor Warren has used homosexuality as a weapon [...]”
MSNBC: The Rachel Maddow Show – Lineup Announced for Obama’s Inauguration
12.17.08 09:52 pm – Rachel Maddow and Kent Jones discuss Rick Warren speaking at Obama’s inauguration. Jones sarcastically comments, “Apparently, in his invocation, Dr. Warren will be asking God not only to bless America but also to make it a lot less gay. They couldn’t get someone else? Come on.”
CNN: The Situation Room – Obama’s Choice Questioned
12.17.08 06:39 pm – In reference to the controversy over Rick Warren speaking at Obama’s inauguration, The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes claims that it’s “not unhelpful…”
Past Media Coverage of Rick Warren
December 18, 2008
We’ve gone through and pulled some video from our archives on the past media coverage of Rick Warren. Check out the commentary and video below.
You can also view our YouTube playlist that GLAAD will be updating here: : http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3719D1D6EADA54BE
November 11, 2008
Comedy Central: The Colbert Report – Dan Savage
11.11.08 10:15 pm – Steven Colbert jokingly talks about Prop. 8 protests in front of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and interviews Dan Savage on the suggested connection between Prop. 8 and black voters’ support.
Fox News: Hannity & Colmes – Rick Warren: Controversy Continues Over Prop. 8 in California
11.11.08 09:31 pm – Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren addresses a question about a gay member of his congregation being conflicted over his support of Prop. 8: “I just am opposed to redefining marriage. For five thousand years that term, ‘marriage,’ has represented a man and a woman.”
November 10, 2008
Fox News: The O’Reilly Factor – Culture Warrior: Prop. 8 Protests at Rick Warren’s Church
11.10.08 09:54 pm – Bill O’Reilly denounces Prop. 8 protests in front of Rick Warren’s church: “My problem here is that they’re directing their ire toward the wrong target. To go after a church, which is a private institution, they’re preaching based on biblical teachings. And there are biblical admonitions against homosexuality.”
January 2, 2008
Comedy Central: The Colbert Report – Rick Warren
December 20, 2007
Fox News: Hannity & Colmes – Warrens Address AIDS
12.20.07 09:00 pm – Pastor Rick and Kay Warren talk about their work with AIDS and Kay says, “I thought it was a gay disease. And for me I thought that meant I didn’t have to care. And I was so wrong.”
December 14, 2007
ABC: Nightline – Kay Warren on AIDS
12.14.07 11:42 pm – Kay Warren, wife of pastor Rick Warren, admits she did not respond to the AIDS crisis immediately because it “was tied with homosexuality,” but now says all people with HIV/AIDS should be treated with compassion.
April 6, 2007
CNN: What Would Jesus Really Do? – Pastor Rick Warren on Gays and AIDS
04.06.07 08:31 pm – Pastor Rick Warren says he does not agree with his “gay friends” on every issue, but that he can still work with them on issues like HIV/AIDS; says he can usually find common ground.
December 1, 2006
MSNBC: Tucker – Evangelicals Against Obama?
12.01.06 04:12 pm – Pastor Rick Warren talks about bringing together politicians on HIV/AIDS despite their other political views; Warren briefly mentions Ted Haggard and the the extreme right on LGBT issues.
April 19, 2006
CNN: CNN Saturday Night – Battling AIDS
08.19.06 10:13 pm – Purpose Driven Life author Pastor Rick Warren and his wife say AIDS is not a “gay disease” and that Christians should help people even if it was.
December 2, 2005
CNN: Larry King Live – Rick Warren on Gay People and AIDS
12.02.05 09:01 pm – Rick Warren, pastor and author of The Purpose-Driven Life, talks about churches fighting AIDS and why people are gay or lesbian.
December 1, 2005
ABC: ABC World News with Charles Gibson – Evangelicals Start AIDS Fight
12.01.05 06:30 pm – Evangelical Rick Warren talks about his new push to fight AIDS in America; says church has ignored AIDS in the past because it was seen as a gay issue.
GLAAD Calls on Media to Examine Rick Warren’s History of Anti-Gay Rhetoric
December 18, 2008
GLAAD released a statement today about President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
From GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano:
The inauguration of a new President is a day when Americans should be brought together, to signal a new beginning for our country. It is therefore deeply troubling that the President-elect has selected someone whose defamatory and damaging anti-gay statements and views, including linking marriage for committed same-sex couples to incest and pedophilia, clearly divide rather than unite Americans. Media outlets have a responsibility to scrutinize Rick Warren’s history of using his powerful platform to advance anti-gay rhetoric and prevent loving couples from being able to take care of and be responsible for one another.
