By Rev. Gene Robinson

Okay, it’s time to get serious. As LGBT voters, it’s time to put our differences and disappointments aside, and get behind the one candidate who has our interests at heart.

If you’re still stinging over the unsuccessful bid for nomination by Hillary Clinton, it’s time to look forward, even if the disappointment still hurts. We are faced with the most stark choice in recent memory, with ramifications for our community like no other. If nothing else convinces you to vote for Barack Obama, surely the likelihood of the next president appointing one, two, or possibly even three Supreme Court justices should do it.

With John McCain, we will see the conservative near-majority on the Court shift to a solid majority – with devastating results when the “full faith and credit clause” of the Constitution is challenged in the recognition of gay marriages. With Barack Obama, we have someone who is utterly sympathetic to our full and equal rights as citizens. I know, he won’t say he’s for equal marriage rights (neither did Hillary), but he still is the most LGBT-friendly president we will have ever had. I know from my own private conversations with him that he is totally in our court. I believe him, and I trust him, not to throw us under the bus when the election is over.

With last night’s speech by Governor Palin, preceded by attack dog presentations by other Republicans, we have seen the official re-igniting of the culture wars. And along with attacking the media, Eastern liberals, and the intellectual “elite,” you and I know that gay-bashing is not far behind.

The reason I was initially drawn to Senator Obama’s candidacy was his vision for a different kind of politics. We are seeing the old politics of division and polarization trumpeted at the Republican Convention. It may be an effective strategy for election (it has worked before, so why shouldn’t they try it again?), but it is a full-stop when it comes to governing and getting problems solved. We know about the gridlock such polarization produces. Once you win, based on dividing us, one against another, how do you govern ALL the people, much less pull together a majority who can move our nation forward – domestically and overseas?

But now it’s time to get serious. It is no longer enough to make a decision to vote for Barack Obama. The polls – unbelievably and frighteningly – are close. The election of a LGBT-friendly candidate is not a foregone conclusion. We now have to WORK for his election. That means calling your parents, your siblings, your friends from college; it means talking to your co-workers at the water cooler and your next door neighbors – about why this election is important to you as a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person, and how it will make a difference to you and your family who inhabits the White House. It’s time to tell them that a vote for the Republican nominee is a vote against YOU, against YOUR rights, YOUR family. And if they don’t understand how that could be true, be ready to tell them.

Whatever you’re doing between now and November 4th, there are few things that are more important, and little that will affect your life, as much as working for the election of Barack Obama. With the election of John McCain as president, we will spend the next four years just trying to hold our own, attempting to fight back the onslaughts to our rights and dignity as citizens. With the election of Barack Obama, we can move forward, holding our heads high, with a president who “gets” our issues and values us as human beings and citizens of this great land.

Won’t you join me in doing this important work?

Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election 08, John McCain, LGBT rights, Sarah Palin

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 11:17 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Democrats, John McCain, LGBT rights, Out and Proud, Republicans, Sarah Palin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.