Hope sometimes can be a rare commodity. It also can be a dangerous one. Hope creates expectations and if they aren't fulfilled they can be devastating to people's dreams. In 2008 many of us responded to Barack Obama's campaign with hope and enthusiasm that I have never seen in my fifty years of working in politics. Millions around the world chanted "Yes We Can" and really believed that our lives would be dramatically different under a President Obama. Our hearts and souls were filled with hope.
Even after he took office his rhetoric never ceased to be filled with promises and that progress was just around the corner. His speeches at such events as the HRC Dinner or mentioning DADT in the State of Union message were electrifying. He appointed hundreds more LGBT people to governmental positions than any other President in history. Constantly we were told that change was just around the corner and we had to be patient and understand the process. After many false hopes, major disappointment has set in with much of the LGBT community..
However we can never stop dreaming or hoping and perhaps, just perhaps we got a glimpse of hope yesterday. There is a pleasantly gnawing feeling in my gut that the President might have at long last heard our collective voices and understands that we will not be put off any longer. On Wednesday he met with a group of progressive bloggers and among them was Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog. Thank God, Joe was in the meeting and he was just short of spectacular.
Read this excerpt on marriage equality and go to AmericaBlog and read the entire transcript, and just allow yourself to have not blind faith but maybe just a glimmer of hope since it has been so long we have felt it. (The questions are Joe's)
Q So I have another gay question. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: It’s okay, man. (Laughter.)
Q And this one is on the issue of marriage. Since you’ve become President, a lot has changed. More states have passed marriage equality laws. This summer a federal judge declared DOMA unconstitutional in two different cases. A judge in San Francisco declared Prop 8 was unconstitutional. And I know during the campaign you often said you thought marriage was the union between a man and a woman, and there -- like I said, when you look at public opinion polling, it’s heading in the right direction. We’ve actually got Republicans like Ted Olson and even Ken Mehlman on our side now. So I just really want to know what is your position on same-sex marriage?
THE PRESIDENT: Joe, I do not intend to make big news sitting here with the five of you, as wonderful as you guys are. (Laughter.) But I’ll say this --
Q I just want to say, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you this question.
THE PRESIDENT: Of course.
Q People in our community are really desperate to know.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a fair question to ask. I think that -- I am a strong supporter of civil unions. As you say, I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents. And I care about them deeply. And so while I’m not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it’s fair to say that it’s something that I think a lot about. That’s probably the best you’ll do out of me today. (Laughter.)
Q It is an important issue, and I think that --
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s an entirely fair question to ask.
Q And part of it is that you can’t be equal in this country if the very core of who you are as a person and the love -- the person you love is not -- if that relationship isn’t the same as everybody else’s, then we’re not equal. And I think that a lot of -- particularly in the wake of the California election on Prop 8, a lot of gay people realized we’re not equal. And I think that that’s -- that’s been part of the change in the --
THE PRESIDENT: Prop 8, which I opposed.
Q Right. I remember you did. You sent the letter and that was great. I think that the level of intensity in the LGBT community changed after we lost rights in that election. And I think that’s a lot of where the community is right now.
THE PRESIDENT: The one thing I will say today is I think it’s pretty clear where the trendlines are going.
Q The arc of history
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