See in the Lower Haight

Sign of the times

Hail to the new Chief

Barack Obama is now officially the 44th President of the United States!  Ding, dong and all that too!  The White House website has been updated already to include an ambitious civil rights agenda which includes LGBT folks.  Found here, examples are:

• Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

As disappointed as I am about Obama’s highlighting of Rick Warren in the inauguration celebration, I am hopeful that he will pursue what us outlined here. This would be a breakthrough.

No doubt the road will be bumpy, and we will need to keep our eyes and ears open to what is really going on as we get more experience with Obama’s administration. And we have to be ready to shout loudly if the time comes when we’re about to be pushed under the bus.

Obama uppity? Or GOP racist?

Dead on the heels of my observation last night about the sea of white faces at the RNC as I watched Ms. Palin’s speech, GOP Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA) basically confirms the “old fashioned values” of today’s GOP.

In an interview today Westmoreland labelled Barack Obama “uppity” during an interview at the RNC. This is the same congressman who wanted to display the biblical ten commandments in Congress, because they are so important, but could only name three when asked.

Via Pam’s House Blend:

The GOP’s white sheet is showing (again). There’s a reason the RNC has hit a record low in black attendees at its convention.

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term “uppity” to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said. Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.

You may recall that Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) expressed his inner bigot regarding Obama’s middle name – Hussein – back in March, warning that an Obama presidency would mean “[T]he radical Islamists, the al Qaeda, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror.”

Westmoreland, btw, was humiliated by Stephen Colbert when he was asked what the Ten Commandments were. He flunked.

Added: So now we know that for more careful republicans the proper code-word for uppity is “elitist”