Did Obama Team Play Us Over Bishop Robinson?

During the inauguration kick off party at the Lincoln Memorial, openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of the Diocese of NH gave the opening prayer. This was seen by many as an olive branch given to the gay community in light of the anti-gay preacher Rick Warren invitation.

While, the appearance of Bishop Robinson is historic in nature, it was not carried by HBO or NPR the only two companies with filming rights.

After receiving hundreds of comaplints, they then promised to carry it on the later broadcast, yet it was not seen on the 7pm transmission.

After Elton has contacted HBO to find out why the Bishop was not televised.

"The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show."

There are also reports from people who were there live that there were 'sound difficulties' and most people in the crowd of 500,000 did not even hear Bishop Gene Robinson speak.

Is the Obama team trying to play it both ways? Trying to shut us up, over the Rick Warren fiasco, while also silencing the voices of the LGBT community?

We are not pointing fingers, or accusing anyone of any wrongdoing, but we have a right to know why the well planned event did not go according to plan, or did it?

Contact the Presidential Inauguration Committee at 202-651-2009.

Starting Tuesday, Jan 20th all mail can be directed to:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

E-mail President Barack Obama.

Your Activism Had An Effect! Openly Gay Bishop Part of Inauguration!

Congratulations, Rev. Warren critics: You did it. Yesterday's announcement that Episcopal New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson would lead the opening invocation of the Inauguration is great news for the gay community, but more importantly, it's proof that vocal opposition to Rev. Warren had an effect.

An unnamed transition official claimed the appearance was planned all along, but of course, that's a lie.

If it were true, why would it not have been announced in tandem with or shortly after the announcement that Rev. Warren would lead the day-of invocation? Are we to believe that Mr. Political Strategy decided to hold off on the announcement for three weeks while he suffered blistering criticism (from us, among many others) for being completely tone deaf to the needs of the LGBT community? Are we to believe that Bishop Robinson's criticism of Warren's inclusion in the event was done while all along, he knew he was going to be invited.

Crossposted via Queerty

Rick-A-Thon

Rick Warren is a homophobic, anti-equality preacher who will be delivering a prayer at the inauguration ceremony for president-elect Barack Obama. For every second that Rick Warren speaks, he will be raising thousands of dollars for LGBT equality.

Be sure to check out and pledge support for the Rick-A-Thon. You can opt to pledge a given amount for every second he speaks or just give a flat rate for the entire time he is on the podium.

Tammy Baldwin, Take Your Name Off that List!

CBS News is reporting that lesbian legislator Tammy Baldwin is an Honorary Inaugural Co-Chair. And the press will not be slow to see Baldwin’s inclusion as an endorsement of Warren and as a buffer to criticism against the President-Elect.

Clearly this is but another token of valueless “inclusion” like the marching band. Gays can have a silent and distant honorary place at the table, but the head seat goes to the guy who will “not tolerate” us and thinks we have no human rights and writes tributes to those who seek to imprison us.

Openly gay Barney Frank has already taken a stand. Now it’s time for Tammy Baldwin to show whether she truly cares about the community. It’s time that she decide, is she on the side of that tomboy in Wisconsin who is being told that she’s an abomination, or does she want to be part of the Obama Nation? Does she want to protect the vulnerable, or does she want to win points with the powerful?

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Crossposted via Box Turtle Bulletin

"Drop Rick Warren" Campaign

Efforts are underway to have Obama rescind his invitation to anti-gay preacher Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church. Pastor Warren fiercely supported proposition 8 (overturning equal marriage rights in California), his church engages in "ex-gay" therapy, and bans openly homosexual members. He has also made offensive comments regarding the gay community, suggesting gays are "immature and promiscuous" and comparing same-sex marriage to incest, child rape, and polygamy.

Email Parag Mehta, Obama's LGBT liaison on the transition team at: parag.mehta@ptt.gov to express your concern.

Emmett Belivau is the Executive Director/CEO of the Inaugural Committee. Let him know your thoughts:
202-203-1715
emmett@pic2009.org

Rick Warren: "Gays Are Immature And Promiscuous"

News headlines broke earlier in the week with the announcement that President-elect Barack Obama had chosen anti-gay pastor Rick Warren to be part of the inauguration. This alone sparked a media frenzy and anger from liberal and LGBT organizations.

Now in an interview with NBC's Ann Curry, Pastor Warren responds to the question of how he would deal with homosexuality if it proves to be biologically based.


The insinuation that we are somehow underdeveloped and "immature" and that all LGBT people are "promiscuous" is a lie and downright offensive.

Take action by clicking here to send a form through Equality California, demanding Obama rescind the invitation.

Rick Warren To Deliver Invocation at Inauguration

The New York Times’ Katharine Seelye has is reporting that Rick Warren, the pastor at Saddleback Church, has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to deliver the invocation at the inaugural ceremony.

This is the same Rick Warren who recently said that the relationships of his “many gay friends” are no different from child rape, incest or polygamy. He also jumped on the paranoia bandwagon surrounding same-sex marriage by falsely claiming that Prop 8’s failure somehow would have overturned the Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and religion.(Box Turtle Bulletin)

Are you looking for someone to email to express your outrage? Well, a well-placed source just provided these email addresses:

parag.mehta@ptt.gov (Parag Mehta is Obama’s LGBT liaison in the transition team.)
dnoble@barackobama.com
bbond@barackobama.com
steve@hildebrandtewes.com (Steve Hildebrandt)
fred.hochberg@ptt.com

You can also contact Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office. She chaired the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and made the announcement.

Seven Weeks to Equality

"We call on all supporters of equality to sustain and intensify the nationwide campaign of mass protests and non-violent civil disobedience, for seven weeks, starting on November 27, 2008, the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk, and to then gather together in mass, from all corners of our country, in Washington, DC on the morning of Tuesday, January 20, 2009, to honor the inauguration of our President, Barack Obama."

Sign the Seven Weeks to Equality petition.