Obama names openly gay man to senior position

I once worked with Brad...

... and I can't think of anyone I'd rather see in a position of responsibility in the new administration -- a  bright guy, a true believer in equality and an all-around mensch. Congrats, bro!

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by: johnbinpt @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 23:00:27 PM CST

It's no cabinet post but

it's still great news.

I am the lizard queen!

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by: RainbowPhoenix @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 23:05:08 PM CST

hey I bet one of the White House bus boys is queer too

The pittance we settle for is embarrassing

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 23:52:42 PM CST

in comparrison, Condi was secretary of state...just saying

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 23:54:28 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yeah, but if Condi is queer, she's a total closet case.

Hey, don't look to me to defend the Obama team on its queer rights stands -- they've been way awful on the whole. But I do celebrate Brad's appointment.

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by: johnbinpt @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 00:23:33 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I'm actually not all that upset ...

... about the lack of openly GLBT people in Obama's cabinet.  Until someone can point me to a cabinet pick who's completely unqualified for the job and an LGBT person who meets those qualifications and should have been picked in their stead, that doesn't bother me.

I'm much more concerned about action on LGBT issues, and whether certain cabinet officials, like the Attorney General and Secretary of Labor, are pro-LGBT or not.

It does bother me that Obama's "commitment to diversity" translates to working with those who are absolutely opposed to diversity when it comes to our community, mostly because I can't imagine that he'd do this where women, Jews, any ethnic minority, or people with disabilities are concerned.

I solace myself by noting that Rick Warren isn't creating policy (and no, I'm not sidling up to Melissa Etheridge on this one; I think it was a disastrous pick, but I'm happy that the LGBT community took the opportunity it presented to express its outrage) and that Rep. LaHood, as Sec'y of Transportation, won't be making any decisions in his new role that violate my civil rights (unless he can make us move to the back of the literal bus, which I doubt).  But mostly, I'm hopeful that Obama, unlike Shrub, is a genuinely curious and intelligent man, and that it's possible to educate him with further dialogue.

I could just hate on Shrub, because there was nothing else to do with him.  Barack might not be perfect, but I think he wants to be every day better than the day before - unlike Dubya, who thought he was God's gift to the world (literally) from his first day in office.

So yeah ... I still got hope.

"There are two kinds of people in this world -- the kind who separate the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't."  -- Gloria Steinem

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by: red7eric @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 09:00:56 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Any idea whether Steve Hildebrand will be doing anything relevant

Now that he's returned to the private sector?

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by: mcc @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 01:26:00 AM CST

So, is this the guy who gets to book Warren in the Lincoln bedroom?

Crumbs aren't very nutritious. And this isn't news. It's not important.  

The looter rich much prefer working with Democrats like Obama and the Clintons - they're greedier, they fool more people and they're able to get away with a lot more than Republicans.  

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by: donal1944 @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 03:24:20 AM CST

quals, not sexuality, matter

...and he's not really HAWT.....Still, it seems a far more qualified pick than many of the boobs whom Shrub elevated to SES posts, though that's not all that difficult to achieve.

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by: greatwhitebear @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 04:20:37 AM CST

We place too much importance on these appointments

The problem isn't simply that we only get crumbs (which is clearly the case--it sounds like Kiley will be the Hattie McDaniel in this White House).  The other problem is that these appointments, few as they are, have only symbolic importance for the LGBT community.  It's nice to see figures like Kiley get good jobs with the administration, but his appointment is pretty clearly a matter of repaying political favors, as was the case with Clinton's appointments of gay figures like Hormel and Achtenberg.  That's fine, as far as it goes.  But, as we learned bitterly under Clinton, such appointments don't necessarily indicate administration support for the LGBT community at large.  There has been NO indication of that.  

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 09:18:52 AM CST

"human resources management"

i'm wondering if he has hiring discretion.

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Lurleen on Twitter.

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by: Lurleen @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 10:03:15 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Clinton also had Donna Shalala and Janet Reno

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 17:17:24 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Neither of whom was out.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 21:38:15 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Why are people acting as if this is something special for the gay community?

Might I remind everyone that Rick Santorum, James Inhofe, Trent Lott, John McCain, Bob Barr and Mel Martinez all have had or now have gay chiefs of staff?

This means absolutely NOTHING.

I much more concerned about the anti-gay, anti-marriage, anti-civil unions, anti-choice Tim Kaine that Obama appointed to be DNC chair.

When he chose Rick Warren to give his inauguration and gays got upset everyone said Jesus Christ, it's just a prayer.  It's not as if he's putting him in his cabinet or putting him in a position that will affect policy.  Then he turns around and puts the political equivalent of Rick Warren in charge of the Democratic Party and there is virtual silence from the gay community.  I just don't understand it.  Did we burn all of our outrage capital on Rick Warren?  Are we afraid that people will say, "oh there you go again?"

It seems to me that our priorities, as a community, are all screwed up.

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by: Zeke @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 19:35:37 PM CST

Silence on Kaine

Might I remind everyone that Rick Santorum, James Inhofe, Trent Lott, John McCain, Bob Barr and Mel Martinez all have had or now have gay chiefs of staff?"

Excellent point.

And I also agree with you about Kaine. Maybe I missed it, but I don't think there's even been a thread about it here, unbelievable. If you do want to see discussion about Kaine though, try Democratic Underground. There's been plenty there.

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by: Johnny @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 20:08:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

no Kaine thread

I haven't blogged about it because I've been dealing with real life (as in blackouts and server issues on the day job) and sadly can't get to blog everything. My posts have been short and perfunctory the last couple of days. That said, I don't see any reader diaries about Kaine either, which surprises me.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 20:20:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]