About President Obama's Dramatic Statement

Mike & Friends Blog

Joe Lapointe

Joe Lapointe has worked as a sports reporter with the New York Times and a segment producer for "Countdown With Keith Olbermann'' on Current TV

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May 9th, 2012 6:03 PM

About President Obama's Dramatic Statement

By Joe Lapointe

The impetus toward gay marriage – supported dramatically by President Obama Wednesday – is both conservative and Christian. It also could be a brilliant re-election strategy that hoists conservatives with their own petards by using a "culture war" wedge issue against them.

Let's not be sarcastic or flippant here. Married people, straight or gay, tend to buy property, pay taxes, cut their lawns, insist on good schools and demand safe streets, not necessarily in that order. They tend to respect institutions and established procedure.

It is time to stop persecuting gay people. The reactionaries of the "religious" right wing and those severely judgmental "Christian conservatives" should stop preaching for a moment to read the gospel of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount.

In it, Jesus Christ says " . . . Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied . . . Pray for those who persecute and calumniate you . . . Do not judge, that you may not be judged . . ."

Or, in the gospel of Joe, "If you are arguing with a Bible-beater, pick up the Bible and beat him with it – figuratively speaking, of course." The swing toward acceptance of homosexual love has been astonishingly swift.

Anyone who has had children in school in the last decade knows that the younger citizens of this country, including some who vote, are repulsed by anti-gay bigotry far more their parents were at the same age. The trend is exponential.

The more gay and lesbian people come out and go public with their sexuality, the more they are accepted and supported by their straight brothers, sisters, parents, neighbors and friends. Some are still astonished to find that all their lives they've respected and enjoyed the company of folks who were – surprise! -- gay.

Mitt Romney and the Republicans have been using this issue for years to divide people with suspicion and fear. But the current flows the other way now. The gay voters will vote in November and so will their straight friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members.

All voters, gay and straight, will cast their ballots in secret, as always. In that ironic way, a voting booth is like a private closet. If Mr. Romney and his ilk choose to take the side of hate, fear and prejudice, they are welcome to run on that platform.