Monday, October 22, 2007

The Obama Show Includes Bush Loving Ex-Gay

Pams House Blend broke the story today, below. As Obama's numbers sink compared to Clinton, Obama appears to also be willing to sink to a new low to grab up the anti-gay crowd in South Carolina.

You really get to know someone when you see how they behave under fire. The cynical move to include a self-hating, self-promoting republican ex-gay in his entourage is a way of signaling to certain right wing elements in the south that Obama is willing to throw gays overboard in a desperate pursuit of votes; any votes, at this point in the campaign.

What an unprincipled move. LGBT urban village Boys Town in Chicago should take note, for their Senator is willing to hang with the anti-gay/ex-gay crowd. When it's all over but the echo of his failing campaign, Chicago gays should review whether Obama is really the Senator for them. For now, Obama should account to all his loyal and trusting gay supporters for this craven move to the right.


The story:
"In another attempt to connect with people of faith in South Carolina, presidential hopeful Barack Obama has decided to reach out by going on a concert tour with gospel artists, including known homophobe and recloseted homosexual Donnie McClurkin.
All three of the dates of the “Embrace the Change” tour are in South Carolina, where Mr. Obama is locked in battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for black voters.

Gospel acts including Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Byron Cage and the Mighty Clouds of Joy are scheduled to appear.

“This is another example of how Barack Obama is defying conventional wisdom about how politics is done and giving new meaning to meeting people at the grassroots level,” Joshua DuBois, the campaign’s religious affairs director, said in a release. “This concert tour is going to bring new people into the political process and engage people of faith in an unprecedented way.”
McClurkin believes one can pray away the gay, that it is a choice, and, according to Keith Boykin, Donnie compares gays and lesbians to liars.
McClurkin explains, "There are certain things like, you know, anybody who has a lying problem; they get to the point where they hate being so, having such a lack of character that they make a change."

In the same interview, McClurkin argues again that homosexuality is simply a lifestyle choice. "There's a group that says, 'God made us this way,' but then there's another group that knows God didn't make them that way," he says. Notice the circularity in his rhetoric. The people who say that God made them gay don't know what they're talking about because the people who say God did not make them gay are right. Well how do they know if someone was born gay or not if they are not gay themselves? It's insulting and presumptuous of others to tell gays and lesbians that they're not smart enough even to know who they are.
The unmarried gospel singer and preacher at Perfecting Faith Church in New York is also Bush supporter; McClurkin performed for Dear Leader and friends at the Republican National Convention."

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