Activists cheer Obama's choice of gay bishop
4h 43m ago
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's decision to have a prominent gay bishop open his inaugural festivities Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial is the latest in a series of moves that have heartened gay rights advocates smarting over evangelical pastor Rick Warren's prime spot at the swearing-in ceremony next week.
The families accompanying Obama on a train ride here from Philadelphia on Sunday include a lesbian couple. Nancy Sutley, a Los Angeles deputy mayor who is gay, has been named to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Gay advocates say they believe more gay appointments are in the offing.
Incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, though he didn't give a time frame, recently told a questioner at www.change.gov that Obama plans to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that requires gay members of the military to hide their sexual orientation.
The Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, an early Obama supporter who advises him on gay issues, said he was invited more than two weeks ago to appear at the Lincoln Memorial. The Episcopal bishop said he was not asked in reaction to the furor over Warren, who has compared gay marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy.
"They made it very clear with me, and I certainly do believe them, that this was in the works for some time," Robinson told USA TODAY.
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The invitation reflects his relationship with Obama, Robinson said, and "the fact that the president-elect is exactly who he says he is. He wants to include all of America's voices in the future."
Robinson was among the many who criticized Obama's choice of Warren — the best-selling author and pastor of a California mega-church — to open the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20. He called the move "a slap in the face."
The announcement stunned and angered a community reeling from the success of Proposition 8, a gay marriage ban on the California ballot last fall. Warren, a leader in fights against AIDS and poverty, helped pass the ban.
The news about Robinson, whose name was listed Monday in an inaugural news release about the Sunday program, also provoked anger. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said Obama chose a "polarizing person" who "offends Catholics as much as he does Protestants. If that's his idea of inclusion, he can keep it."
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, told Obama the Warren pick was "a genuine blow" and sign of disrespect. He says Robinson's role is among several reassuring developments, including e-mails he has from the transition team confirming that Fred Hochberg will head the Export-Import Bank and Brian Bond will be deputy director of public liaison. The appointments of the two gay men haven't been announced.
Solmonese predicts that ultimately, "on his own terms and at his own pace," Obama will do more for gay equality than any other president. "There have been moments when it feels like it is a bit of a roller coaster ride," he concedes. "This is the nature of how it's going to be."
Chuck Wolfe is president of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which promotes gay and lesbian candidates for administration jobs. He says the early personnel indicators are "heartwarming."
Even before Obama is sworn in, "we're tracking these things," Wolfe says. "There's already something to keep track of. That's remarkable in itself."