Foolish Child #14: Thank You, Obama Family

Foolish Child is a biweekly comic series by Dickens! 

Some Really Actually Good News: Obama Commutes Most of Incarcerated Trans Woman Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

With less than three days left in office, President Obama commuted much of Chelsea Manning’s remaining prison sentence. Manning is set to be freed in May 2017 instead of finishing her 35-year sentence which would have ended in 2045.

Manning, an army intelligence analyst, was convicted of a military leak in 2010 that shed light on abuses of detainees carried out by Iraqi military working with American forces and showed civilian deaths in the Iraq war were much higher than officials suggested, among other secret information. Manning made the files public in order to incite “worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms.” Wikileaks made the information known and was how the group came to prominence.

Prosecutors charged Manning with multiple counts of the Espionage Act as well as “aiding the enemy,” which later was dropped. Manning pleaded guilty to many of the charges brought against her in hopes for leniency in her sentencing but instead was met with the harshest punishment for a leak case.

“I take full and complete responsibility for my decision to disclose those materials to the public,” Manning wrote in her clemency application. “I have never made any excuses for what I did. I pleaded guilty without the protection of a plea agreement because I believed the military justice system would understand my motivation for the disclosure and sentence me fairly. I was wrong.”

She received a 35-year sentence and has been incarcerated at a male military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which has proved to be more tortuous punishment for Manning since coming out as a trans woman.

She endured solitary confinement for 11 months during her pretrial confinement at Quantico and then was denied treatment from the prison for her gender dysphoria even though military doctors diagnosed her since 2010. After the ACLU pressured the military to allow Manning to live her life as a woman, they only allowed Manning to take hormones, wear women’s undergarments and some makeup, but have not allowed her to grow her hair longer than the male military-standard haircut and have not given her access to a surgeon that she can talk to about possible bottom surgery. All these factors have made it extremely difficult for Manning to live her truth as a trans woman. In the past year alone, Manning has attempted to kill herself twice. To add insult to injury, she was punished for her suicide attempt in July with solitary confinement.

In November, Manning applied for clemency, desperately asking Obama to commute her sentence to time served so that way she has a chance to live. “I have spent almost all of my adult life either homeless, in the military or in prison,” she wrote. “I haven’t had the chance to live my life yet.”

Last week, NBC News reported that Manning was on Obama’s shortlist for commutation. As President, Obama is granted power under the US constitution to fully pardon individuals who have been convicted of crimes, or to commute their sentences. Since November when Manning applied for clemency, many have urged Obama to commute Manning’s sentence saying it would solidify his legacy as “standing up for trans people’s rights.”

“The Obama administration has done many commendable things to protect the rights of LGBTQ people, but in the case of Chelsea Manning they have systematically mistreated her and denied her access to medically recommended gender-related healthcare,” Chase Strangio, the ACLU lawyer who represents Manning, told the Guardian. “Chelsea won’t survive another five years in prison, much less another 30.”

It’s still unclear how Obama’s decision may play out in regards to Wikileaks founder, accused rapist and seeming Russian hacking sympathizer Julian Assange, who has previously said he would allow himself to be extradited to the US where he would face prosecution if Obama granted Chelsea Manning clemency before his term ended. Currently Assange is “within the confines of the Ecuadorean embassy in London,” where he has sought political asylum for the past five years. At this time neither Assange nor Wikileaks have issued a statement.

As Friday fast approaches and our country’s impending doom under a Trump presidency will come to actualization, this was one of the last good things Obama could’ve done for us and for Chelsea Manning. He saved Chelsea Manning’s life and allowed her time to live, live, live — free from the confines of a male prison and out in the world as a trans woman. Credit goes to the trans citizens and activists who have worked tirelessly for Manning’s safety and freedom for many years now.

Pop Culture Fix: Ellen DeGeneres Becomes First Out Lesbian Entertainer to Get Presidential Medal of Freedom, Should Maybe Just Be President

Welcome to the pop culture fix, which contains — believe it or not — relevant news in the area of “pop culture.”

+ President Barack Obama, the light of my life, has announced the 21 recipients of the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom, “the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Obama has given out more of these than any other president. He just loves freedom!

One of the recipients this year is Our Lady of the Lesbian Lakes, Ellen DeGeneres.

Ellen is the second living out lesbian to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom. The first out lesbian to receive the Medal of Freedom was tennis player Billie Jean King in 2009. That same year, Obama gave a posthumous medal to activist Harvey Milk. In 2013, Sally Ride’s surviving partner Tam O’Shaughnessy accepted the award on behalf of her wife, who died in 2012 and whose lesbianism was revealed via obituary. Bayard Rusin’s partner Walter Neagle accepted the Medal that year on behalf of the late Civil Rights activist.

+ MTV writer Teo Bugbee took issue with Black Mirror‘s “San Junipero” episode, which depicted a multi-generational love story between two adorable ladies with strong fashion choices. Bugbee felt it was “a patronizing whitewash of the reality of queer life, an empty fantasy.” (Others were opposed to Black Mirror‘s treatment of disability, some arguing that the episode replaced “bury your gays” with “bury your disabled.”) But, after the election, Teo Bugbee reconsidered her perspective of the episode:

Where the goodwill of “San Junipero” read to me just a week ago as a clueless attempt from allies to imagine queer futures without understanding queer histories, in a post-Trump world, I don’t have the extra energy to fight with those who would wish me well. Faced with even the most dubious of queer utopias, my heart and my body will not turn away from the chance to rest.

I have a feeling this is a feeling a lot of us have been feeling and will continue to feel…

+ Out Magazine has a look at two of this season” must-see queer documentaries, Mariela Castro’s March: Cuba’s Sexual Revolution and The Trans List, which features Janet Mock, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and Amos Mac.

+ At the Comics Come Home fundraiser in Boston, Wanda Sykes was booed after making some anti-Trump remarks, to which she accurately replied, “Fuck you, motherfucker, fuck all of y’all. How can you say he’s not racist?”

+ Shameless, now in its seventh season, “tackles queerness from multiple angles and adds some much-needed nuance.”

+ The Clexa Project has released a trailer for their documentary!

+ Hungry, a documentary following queer female chefs, premieres this Saturday on Logo and looks pretty cool.

+ Apparently everybody is hiding away from election sadness by re-watching the live-action Beauty in the Beast trailer. Unclear on why it’s not enough for y’all to just re-watch Kate McKinnon play “Hallelujah” until you’ve cried on so many forms of public transportation that you’re considering canoeing yourself into the middle of the ocean and howling for the goddesses to retrieve you from this hellmouth.

+ Lesbian transgender YouTube star Gigi Gorgeous has released a video honoring Transgender Awareness Week.

+ Exhibiting the voices of Queer Incarcerated Artists With Tatiana Von Furstengberg

+ Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony kissed a girl and Perez Hilton saw it and he liked it and put it on his website. Apparently her fans RUSHED TO HER “DEFENSE,” saying the kiss was merely “playful.”

+ The Ghost in the Shell trailer features a lesbian kiss and also “is filled with a curious racial subtext” suggesting that filmmakers were undaunted by the outcry against the film’s whitewashing of a Japanese manga adaptation starring Scarlett Johansson. Also that lesbian kiss is male gazey, so.

+ “If Meg does come out of the closet on Family Guy, we probably won’t get to see it for a while.”

Sunday Funday Invited Barack Obama To Her Feminist Olympics Watch Party

Happy Sunday Funday! I dropped actual hundred dollar bills at the mall yesterday and today I’m ringing in my birthday like a week and a half late on a patio getting drink drank drunk. Here’s some good news while I pretend I’m not aging still!

The Olympics, Much Like Our Lives, Are Hella Gay

+ Record numbers of LGBT athletes are out and killing the game at the Rio Olympics. (It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but it’s still worth celebrating, y’know?)

+ Also, did you catch Lea T making history during the Opening Ceremony or what.

https://twitter.com/thebrittharris/status/761750097277382656

Barack Obama: Still a F*cking Feminist

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTOS BY PETE SOUZA

Please someone help me deal with how much I have fallen in love with Barack Obama’s feminism over the years. And now, as he paves the way for what we shall all remember as Hillary Clinton’s Feminist America, he took a second to reflect on what feminism means to him in an exclusive piece for Glamour:

As far as we’ve come, all too often we are still boxed in by stereotypes about how men and women should behave. One of my heroines is Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who was the first African American to run for a major party’s presidential nomination. She once said, “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘It’s a girl.’ ” We know that these stereotypes affect how girls see themselves starting at a very young age, making them feel that if they don’t look or act a certain way, they are somehow less worthy. In fact, gender stereotypes affect all of us, regardless of our gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Now, the most important people in my life have always been women. I was raised by a single mom, who spent much of her career working to empower women in developing countries. I watched as my grandmother, who helped raise me, worked her way up at a bank only to hit a glass ceiling. I’ve seen how Michelle has balanced the demands of a busy career and raising a family. Like many working mothers, she worried about the expectations and judgments of how she should handle the trade-offs, knowing that few people would question my choices. And the reality was that when our girls were young, I was often away from home serving in the state legislature, while also juggling my teaching responsibilities as a law professor. I can look back now and see that, while I helped out, it was usually on my schedule and on my terms. The burden disproportionately and unfairly fell on Michelle.

So I’d like to think that I’ve been pretty aware of the unique challenges women face—it’s what has shaped my own feminism. But I also have to admit that when you’re the father of two daughters, you become even more aware of how gender stereotypes pervade our society. You see the subtle and not-so-subtle social cues transmitted through culture. You feel the enormous pressure girls are under to look and behave and even think a certain way.

And those same stereotypes affected my own consciousness as a young man. Growing up without a dad, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I was, how the world perceived me, and what kind of man I wanted to be. It’s easy to absorb all kinds of messages from society about masculinity and come to believe that there’s a right way and a wrong way to be a man. But as I got older, I realized that my ideas about being a tough guy or cool guy just weren’t me. They were a manifestation of my youth and insecurity. Life became a lot easier when I simply started being myself.

Calling All Satanists For Hillary

Turns out Lucifer himself is down to be compared with Hillary Clinton, much like myself.

Tiny Victories / Big Deals

+ Wanna pee at Iowa State University? That’s chill, use whatever fucking bathroom you want on this map because they’re gender-inclusive.

+ The Queensland government is officially opening the doors for same-sex couples to adopt.

“I am proud we are removing one of the last discriminatory barriers that prevents LGBTI Queenslanders from being able to adopt a child,” Fentiman said.

“It is time Queensland joined other Australian states and territories to remove this archaic chapter from our adoption laws.

The Minister said society no longer tolerated discrimination.

“It is only fair that members of the LGBTI community have the same rights as any other Queenslander and that includes the right to raise a family with an adopted child.”

Um Hi Will You Wear My Varsity Pin to the Mid-Cent Shake Or

No but really will someone go to this with me I’m dying thinking I almost missed it. Let it be known I used to dream of being a sock hop girl before I found out that the fifties actually hella sucked for people like me. Oh, but side note, I can’t swing dance. I look cute in saddle shoes, though. Also, I do have a varsity pin for you from the OVO store.

2016 Democratic National Convention, Night Three: Thanks Obama!

I assumed last night’s DNC speaker trifecta of Tim Kaine, Joe Biden, and President Obama would go for Donald Trump’s jugular, but never, in my wildest and most feverish dreams, did I imagine they would so thoroughly destroy him from such different angles. Harry Reid called Trump a “hateful con man.” CIA director/Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said it was “inconceivable that any presidential candidate would be that irresponsible.” And Michael Bloomberg questioned his actual sanity. But in between their ringing endorsements for Hillary Clinton, Kaine, Biden, and Obama took took the whole #NeverTrump thing to new heights.

Vice-President Biden

Vice-President Biden did one thing other Democrats have failed to do during this DNC, and what he did so well when campaigning for President Obama in 2008 and 2012: He reached right for the hearts of older, middle-class Americans, many of whom are probably unmoved to vote by so much talk about identity politics. He appealed right to those voters in his candid, folksy, endearing way and told them repeatedly: You are better than this. He spoke with compassion and gentleness, but when he got fired up, Mr. Mayor, he got FIRED UP. “[Trump’s] trying to tell us he cares about the middle class? Give me a break! That’s a bunch of malarkey!” was probably the line of the night. Twitter went bonkers for it, and apparently Google searches for “malarkey” skyrocketed in the hours after his speech.

For 20 heartfelt minutes he talked about his Very Best Friend, Barack Obama; about the accomplishments of their administration; about his weekly breakfasts with Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State; and about how he knows she’s the right woman for the job at hand. After he ended his pre-written remarks, he stood at the podium an extra second. “Come on,” he yelled, pounding his fist into the podium. “We are America!”

Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine’s vice-presidential introduction Saturday in Miami couldn’t have gone better. In an earnest speech that was delivered in both English and Spanish, Kaine quited many Democrats who’d been hoping for a more progressive choice and also eased the fears of more moderate independent voters who needed a chummy buddy to humanize Hillary. Their chemistry was great at the rally and during their 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night. I’ve never seen Hillary Clinton so relaxed on camera, and I’ve been alive long enough to remember watching the GOP strip “Rodham” right out of her name.

Last night’s speech was basically a rehash of his rollout in Miami (because honestly only me, Stacy, my friend Lynnie, and the people in attendance were spending their Saturday afternoon watching C-Span). It took Kaine a couple of minutes to find his footing, but right when it seemed like the country was going to zone out on him, he came through with an impression of Donald Trump that set the internet on fire. “Believe me” he chortled into the microphone, mocking one of Trump’s oft-repeated phrases. The effect was immediate and it was exponential.

1) Tim Kaine suddenly became everyone’s dad, which is a fantastic post-Biden brand for a Democratic VP. 2) Donald Trump cannot stop himself from saying “believe me” (which, frankly, is a textbook verbal tic for a habitual liar), and now, every time he does it, people are going to hear goofy Tim Kaine going, “Buuuleeeiiieve me!” 3) When Donald Trump ultimately and inevitably loses it and goes in on Tim Kaine, half the dads in America are going to feel personally attacked.

He accidentally birthed the most adorable political meme. The Clinton campaign couldn’t have done this with the best branders money can buy.

https://twitter.com/L_Hoff/status/758487059107414016

Tim Kaine says it's fine if you don't want to go on the Matterhorn, it doesn't make you "a wuss"

— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) July 28, 2016

https://twitter.com/iSmashFizzle/status/758511459550781441

https://twitter.com/dufrau/status/758491759026565120

https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/757236130383269890

https://twitter.com/dan_munz/status/758488928127033345

President Barack Obama

I firmly believe history will look back on President Obama as the most important American president after George Washington. Not only for what he accomplished, but for the hope he continued to infuse into a country he never stopped believing in, despite the ugliness that rose up to meet him from the darkest corners from the moment he announced his candidacy. It’s an ugliness that is made manifest in Donald Trump. He is the personification of the cesspool Fox News created and maintained so the GOP could leech power from it, a cesspool they tripled down on toxifying when a black man took office. President Obama endured it and rose above it, but even more than that, he came out on the other side of it with a litany of accomplishments, a party completely unified around him, political capital he’ll be able to spend for decades, and still with the ability to paint an exceptional America and inspire other people to see it too.

Last night he gave one of his best Hopey-Changey speeches yet, and beautifully crowned Hillary Clinton his successor in it. He also trolled the GOP hardcore by invoking Ronald Reagan and very nearly giggling at Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary surprised the arena by taking the stage after Obama’s speech to hug him and stand with him and wave at the crowd. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered to her at one point. And then, “Come on” before pulling her alongside him to the center of the stage, arms wrapped around each other’s waists.

I have chills writing about it even now because I lived through every single up and down of their primary battle in 2008, and to see them like this only eight years later, it makes me also want to believe in the “great contest of ideas” Obama believes this country is all about.

It’s On Us: Obama’s New Campaign Says Everyone Is Responsible for Helping End Campus Sexual Assault

Barack Obama, the President who has already made history for speaking out against and speaking up for action on sexual assault, asking men to be “part of the solution,” announced today that there’s more. The White House and Generation Progress, in conjunction with some big-name partners ranging from organizations to corporations to sports teams to universities, have launched It’s On Us, a high-tech, multi-platform media campaign targeted at ending campus sexual assault. President Obama and Vice President Biden announced the initiative to a room of activists and advocates today, including feminist allies from Congress and survivors who spoke about their experience.

The campaign, which builds on the findings of the White House Task Force on Sexual Assault’s first report, “Not Alone,” calls on young people to commit to being agents of change in their communities. The goal? For people everywhere — including and especially men — to come together and demand an end to sexual violence. “It’s On Us is a cultural movement aimed at fundamentally shifting the way we think about sexual assault,” reads the campaign mission statement. “It’s On Us is a rallying cry inviting everyone to step up and realize that the solution begins with us.”

The entire campaign is structured around the idea that every single person is accountable for our rape culture. Bystander intervention is a big focus, which is a practice hailed by advocates for being key in shifting social norms around sexual violence. By targeting men and endowing individual people with a sense of accountability and responsibility for preventing violence in their communities, the campaign is strategically working to dismantle rape culture, rather than just working to put a band-aid on its consequences.

“Changing our culture. That’s what prevention is going to require,” Obama said at the campaign launch. “We’ve got to have a fundamental shift in our culture… [Laws] won’t won’t be enough unless we change the culture that allows assault to happen in the first place.”

That’s huge.

1 in 5 women will be raped or sexually assaulted at college. For too long, fixing the campus sexual assault epidemic is a crisis that’s been laid on the shoulders of survivors and student activists, many of whom have been met with hesitancy, dismissal, and rejection from administrators for attempting to pursue justice or common-sense reform. Dozens of schools are under federal investigation for mishandling sexual assault cases, and dozens more are probably doing just as poorly at taking care of their students.

“Every one of these statistics is a life,” Vice President Biden remarked today. “It’s no doubt that colleges and universities need to step up their game.”

It’s On Us isn’t meant to detract from the importance of those federal lawsuits or the need for greater policy change and legislative action on campus sexual assault — it’s meant to build on it. And the campaign isn’t meant to replace the fiery student activism taking the world by storm — it’s meant to institutionalize it. Despite the efforts of activists across the nation, it’s clear that until sexual assault is taken seriously by everyone — and not just the folks who live in fear of it every day — widespread cultural change will not come. It’s On Us could potentially fill the gap between activists and their administrations, creating cultural demand for the work they’ve been pioneering for years.

This isn’t the President’s first attempt to bring men into the movement to end sexual violence. Obama’s historic White House Task Force on Sexual Assault pledged in April to work closely with colleges and universities in order to gauge the actual prevalence of rape and sexual assault happening on campuses nationwide and laid down a lot of suggestions for administrators looking to implement successful primary prevention programs. Alongside that report, the task force also launched NotAlone.Gov, a portal where survivors of campus sexual assault can find information on reporting, locate support services in their area, and the federal investigations happening on their campuses. The White House’s 1 is 2 Many campaign specifically targeted men in the fight to end sexual assault, urging them to “be part of the solution,” not the problem. Since their election, President Obama and Vice President Biden have repeatedly spoken out about their commitment to ending sexual violence, and they’ve acted on those words by supporting comprehensive legislation like the Violence Against Women Act, inviting sexual assault advocates and activists to the White House, and using the Office of Public Engagement for the greater good in producing these campaigns.

It’s On Us is one more important step to ending campus sexual assault. President Obama and Vice President Biden have shown that they have a real dedication to this issue, and by working with Generation Progress and feminist non-profits like the Feminist Majority Foundation and the American Association for University Women, they’ve shown consideration for the real needs of college women and respect for the work anti-violence activists have been doing. Now, partnerships with sports teams, corporations, and university administrations have given those activists a massive platform and support network for getting more results.

“Everybody has a role to play,” Obama added when closing his speech today. “I’m asking all of you to join us in this campaign… Commit to being a part of the solution.”

The President’s right: it’s on us. So take a minute today to sign the pledge, commit your entire social media presence to the campaign, or download the toolkit and hit the ground running. Don’t worry – the White House has got your back.

Also.Also.Also: LGBT Americans Love to Smoke, Supermodels Love to #Fork, and Other Stories We Missed This Week

Hello, corn chips! I’m here to help you get your news fix while you’re busy watching The L Word. Or while you’re busy surviving a snowstorm. Either one.

Here’s the news we missed this week while I was walking Eli in a wannabe-blizzard.

Y’all Love To Smoke

LGBT Americans love to smoke: we spend 7.9 billion bucks on ciggy butts each year. Let me clear my throat and say that one more time:

7.9 … billion… dollars.

“It’s a brutal truth” says the Network’s Director, Dr. Scout, “We’re spending more on something that kills us than everyone else is spending to help us.”

According to Scout, LGBT smoking disparities have been documented with a series of studies over several decades, but the 2012 National Adult Tobacco Survey marked the first time a national surveillance instrument reported LGBT smoking prevalence. In that survey, 32.8 percent of LGBT respondents smoked, versus 19.5 percent of others.

“LGBT people smoke at rates that are 68 percent higher than the general population,” notes Scout, “and the 50 years of Surgeon General’s reports just show us how effectively lethal tobacco is.”

I’m going to hang my head in shame at Camp 5.0 from the Smokers’ Circle. Promise.

Playing Politics

+ GOProud’s a lot less proud of their party now. Turns out even the most conservative gay dudes hate a Boehner every once in a while.

One of the founders of GOProud, a group for gay Republicans, quit the party on Tuesday. And in our discussion about why, Jimmy LaSalvia had some parting shots for Speaker John Boehner and party chairman Reince Priebus over their “tolerance of bigotry.”

“Reince Priebus, he talks a good game,” LaSalvia says, “but he doesn’t have the balls to do what it takes to actually change things.”

+ In other news, Obama nominated a black lesbian to the bench and a Latina to lead the Small Business Administration. DIVERSITY IS FUN, Y’ALL.

Model Status

Cara Delevingne, Joan Small, and Karlie Kloss – three supermodels – hung out this week and got to #forking. What does it all mean? And does anyone really care. Like, can I get a show of hands.

You Should Go: Sexy Times

Join Good Vibrations, San Francisco’s sexxxiest retailer, for Humpday Happy Hour this week to learn about sex toy technology!

Wednesday, January 29th
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
1620 Polk Street (at Sacramento Street)
San Francisco, CA 94109
FREE!

Find out what’s new in sex and tech with a show-and-tell to remember. Grab your favorite geek and see the advances in the realm of sex toy function and design, featuring local designers from Minna and Jimmyjane. All genders and sexualities are welcome. Free gift for each attendee!

F*ck This Shit

+ Over 45,000 people signed a petition protesting Ikea’s very convenient recall of an adorable lesbian love story from its catalogue when it went to Russia. LGBT activists delivered them by hand.

+ Mona Charen thinks treating LGBT youth with love, respect, and tenderness is child abuse. Believe it or not, she’s a writer – meaning she should maybe realize she is using the wrong definition for that term.

+ Virginia tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter – and LGBT folks got the short end of two sticks.

+ SURPRISE! Objectifying women does not make people want to hang out with you. Not even at comic book conventions.

+ The Shriver Report shows that women are living on the brink. What can we do to help them?

It Keeps You Warm

The third housing unit for LGBT elderly folks is wide open in Pennsylvania. Because dreams do come true.

Jerry Zeft was so excited to move into his new apartment that he slept on an air mattress for nearly a week while he waited for his bed and other belongings to catch up with him. No matter that he’s 70 years old.

Zeft had landed a coveted spot in a new affordable housing complex for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors in the heart of downtown Philadelphia. Only two other U.S. cities have similar developments.

“I wanted to get into a community that I’m more comfortable in,” Zeft said shortly after picking up the keys to his unit.

At Last, Obama Gives America Some Real Talk On Racism

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama released a restrained statement on the Trayvon Martin verdict which expressed empathy for Trayvon’s family and implored Americans to “ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities.” Gun violence was the only specific “issue” Obama addressed in his statement, suggesting Americans “ask ourselves if we we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis.” Although it was arguably bold for Obama to make a statement on the case at all, he did leave out the one issue so many Americans were hoping Obama would squarely address: race. Obama did, after all, invoke that issue last year when he noted that if he had a son, his son would look like Trayvon — a statement which was met with hysterical conservative backlash.

So the White House Press Corps weren’t the only humans surprised when Obama unexpectedly made an appearance at this morning’s White House briefing specifically to address, in more depth, the Trayvon Martin case. For the first time since March 2008, when Obama delivered a speech entitled “A More Perfect Union” in response to the controversy over his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama talked for a long time, in front of other human beings, about racism within a historical context and how that contributes to “the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.”

“A More Perfect Union” was a huge moment in the Obama campaign, but it’s one that’s easy to forget when, as cited in Fredrick C. Harris‘s 2012 article The Price Of A Black President, “Mr. Obama, in his first two years in office, talked about race less than any Democratic president had since 1961. From racial profiling to mass incarceration to affirmative action, his comments have been sparse and halting.” This is especially troublesome because The Right has used Obama’s presidency to re-ignite racial tensions in the US on a massive scale, making it more clear than ever that we’re nowhere near a “color-blind” or “post-racial” society. Research has shown that Americans expressing “explicit anti-black attitudes” leapt from 47.6% in 2008 to 50.9% in 2012 and that “Mr. Obama’s approval rating has been 2 to 3 percentage points lower in 2010 and 2012 than it would have been in the absence of anti-black attitudes.”

But today, Obama reminded the American people that he is totally aware that racism is still a Thing! His speech wasn’t perfect, and there were times when more should have or could have been said, and times when his own administration’s culpability on many race-related issues was gamely sidestepped, and I want to talk about those things. But his speech was also the best news I’ve read all week, and I’m surely not alone in being thrilled to hear he’s been talking to his staff about racism in America and that this verdict has inspired him like it’s inspired so many people to have these conversations. He finally said something, and he said it knowing that the backlash will be fierce and unfair.

Obama opened by acknowledging that the judicial system worked how the system works and that he wouldn’t be debating the legal issues in the case. Then he launched into the heart of the matter — “context.”

You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African- American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that — that doesn’t go away.

Obama noted that all or most African-American men in this country have been followed while shopping, heard locks click on the doors of cars as they walked past, seen women clutch their purses nervously while on elevators; and that these experiences “inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.” AMEN.

I was relieved and surprised (in a good way) when he acknowledged “a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws.” I was relieved and surprised (in a good way) when he acknowledged that “the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.” I was relieved and surprised (in a good way) when Obama acknowledged that “the fact that sometimes [historical context is] unacknowledged adds to the frustration.” (Also, that part was super meta.)

I was surprised in a weird way, however, by his statement that “the African-American community [isn’t] naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence.” He then continued that he’s not aiming to “make excuses for that fact” but that “black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context.”

It initially took me off-guard for a few reasons, one of them being that by singling out “black folks” (intentionally or not) as the ones who interpret those reasons in a historical context, he suggested that the evidence is such that only black people would see this happening in a historical context, when truthfully the evidence is such that anybody presented with said evidence should see it that way. It’s something all of us are capable of understanding, if we choose to, and we shouldn’t put the burden of that knowledge and understanding only on black folks. Although his choice of using “the criminal justice system” instead of “criminal activity” is crucial, the ensuing “black folks see it like this” qualifier could obscure that distinction.

The distinction is important, though, since white folks and black folks who commit the same exact crime will face very different penalties and because numerous laws have been passed to enable police to blatantly target people of color (such as Stop-and-Frisk, a policy championed by the New York City police commissioner Obama endorsed this week) and because poor people of color who are wrongly accused, excessively sentenced or who acted in self-defense often lack access to the legal representation that could get them acquitted.

via colorlines

All that being said, a lot of what rubbed me wrong in the transcript comes across far better when you watch the video. In the video, it’s clear that he’s stating how unfair it is for people to use those statistics to paint African-American boys with a broad brush, a series of statements leading to this crucial culminating point: “that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.” His emphasis of the word “statistically” when spoken out loud is also lost in the transcript.

I would’ve loved to hear specific examples of this historical context, or at least an acknowledgment that the history of African-American oppression isn’t, as most of us are taught, a two-chapter tale about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. The systematic disenfranchisement of African-Americans has many chapters, each a new example of how the wealthy white elite have persisted, through decade after decade of alleged progress, in finding new ways to suppress growth and power in African-American communities and often to prevent African-Americans from garnering that significant political capital or power in the first place.

The emphasis on historical context also leaves out the importance of a present context Obama is complicit in perpetuating: the fact that a corrupt and viscously racist criminal justice system, fueled primarily by the viscously racist and entirely misguided “War on Drugs,” is destroying poor black communities and stacking the deck against young black boys regardless of criminality. Unjust mass incarceration has a destructive ripple effect on entire communities and even a single arrest for a non-violent crime can result in multi-year sentences followed by a insurmountable set of obstacles upon release which deny formerly incarcerated individuals the chance to take the jobs and obtain the health care they need to improve their lives and the lives of their families.

Obama then suggested “a couple of specifics” on what to do now, asking “how do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction?” The first specific is that the Justice Department at the state and local levels should look at reducing “the kind of mistrust in the system” that “sometimes currently exists.” For this, Obama mentioned racial profiling legislation he passed in Illinois regarding traffic stops, which he said led even resistant police departments to see that cracking down on racial profiling-driven traffic stops helped them “do their jobs better.”

He’s referring to The Illinois Traffic Stop Statistical Study Act of 2003, which collected data on the race of citizens pulled over and searched in random traffic stops and which has been referred to by the ACLU as “arguably the best statute of its kind in the nation.” See, due to a biased and problematic extension of the Fourth Amendment enacted by the Supreme Court in the early ’90s as part of the “war on drugs,” officers are permitted to pull anybody over for any traffic violation and use these stops to conduct drug investigations or searches without probable cause. The officers must ask for consent before searching, but studies have shown 95 percent of all drivers consent to searches, usually unaware they’re not legally required to do so. The data harvested in Illinois revealed “black drivers are anywhere from 1.8 to 3.2 times more likely than white drivers to be consent-searched. Latino drivers ranged from 2.9 to 4 times more likely to be searched than their white counterparts.” But the ACLU is still pressuring the Illinois government to actually take significant action towards changing those numbers.

infographic from the portland mercury’s investigation into racial profiling at traffic stops executed by  the portland police department

Obama’s next suggestion was “for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it — if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than diffuse potential altercations.” He called everybody out by invoking the fact that America may not have looked so favorably on Trayvon Martin standing his ground, which was another triumphant moment in his speech.

This examination of state/local laws is crucial because, as Michelle Alexander writes in The New Jim Crow, Federalism (the division of power between the states and federal government), was a device employed by the Founding Fathers specifically “to protect the institution of slavery and the political power of slaveholding states.” In other words, white supremacy has enabled “Stand Your Ground” from day one, and day one was a really long time ago. Federalism itself isn’t corrupt, obviously (although I don’t really know enough about politics to comment), but all systems initially rooted in a racist agenda deserve ongoing interrogation. (Like the US government!) Furthermore, research has shown that Stand Your Ground laws have not decreased homicide rates (they’ve increased, actually), and in Florida, 73% of people who killed an African-American and invoked the Stand Your Ground laws faced absolutely no punishment.

via the society pages

The highlight of his speech was his next suggestion, a call to “spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys,” asking, “there are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?” This is the kind of top-down philosophy that our country desperately needs, and it’s meta in a way, too — because the president is in an excellent position to “give them the sense that their country cares about them.” I’ve avoided reading any reactions to this speech until I’m done writing about it, but I did follow a G-Chatted link to this article on The Prospect, where Jamelle Bouie justly declared that “no president has ever asked Americans to try to imagine the perspective of a black boy. It’s a powerful appeal, and my hope is that the public will take it seriously.”

Here’s what Obama said:

…there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that — and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed — you know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was obviously a tragic situation. And we’re going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that.

I like how Obama refrained from placing that responsibility solely on the shoulders of parents, as is so often done in these cases, and extended his call to action to all of society to help young African-American men. This will happen on a person-to-person level, but it will also be important for all of us, and our elected officials and Obama himself, to look at the bigger picture, like how mass incarceration has burgeoned in popularity as the latest incarnation of Jim Crow and how the local-taxpayer-funded public education system dramatically favors white students and gives children of color few tools for success and few chances to escape the circumstances they were born into, especially with the recent blows to affirmative action policies. We need to talk about access to healthy food and how fast food and processed food marketers target African-Americans and kids of color. We need to talk about barriers to health care, and how people of color are treated differently by doctors, and how important health care reform is to closing these gaps. We’ll also need to look at the importance of media visibility, the lack of representation of people of color in Film & TV and fair and accurate media representation. We need to acknowledge the psychological impact of racism on its targets, and what so much discrimination does to the human heart.

via fast company

Obama ended his speech with a call to all of us “to do some soul-searching,” and host our own conversation on race. He notes that politicians haven’t been “particularly productive” when organizing these conversations, but that perhaps in our “families and churches and workplaces” (he somehow forgot to mention “lesbian websites”?) there is an opportunity for greater honestly:

…there’s a possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can; am I judging people, as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

Furthermore:

…we have to be vigilant and we have to work on these issues, and those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions. But we should also have confidence that kids these days I think have more sense than we did back then, and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long, difficult journey, you know, we’re becoming a more perfect union — not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.

via 36 frames photography

This week I’ve been stunned, time and time again, by the defensiveness around the Zimmerman verdict I’ve seen on comment threads throughout the internet, especially on liberal feminist websites including this one. (The comments we’ve disapproved this week would make your head explode!) Why, exactly, are so many white feminist and liberal women seemingly so invested in proving that Zimmerman wasn’t racist or that the verdict was just? How can anybody reasonably propose that “racism goes both ways” when by definition, it does not? Some of this, I think, comes from people attempting to reconcile their beliefs with those of their family and IRL community and some comes from people around the world unfamiliar with America’s specific brand of racism.

But I think most of it comes from somewhere else: my latest theory is that this level of defensiveness must be personal. I suspect that this rampant defensiveness is rooted in a fear that if so many of us feel comfortable unequivocally stating that Trayvon’s attack was racially motivated, that means we’re comfortable identifying racism even in cases where racism was not explicitly expressed, and that means that refraining from explicitly/loudly expressing a racist thought/motivation is not enough to exempt a person from being called out for racism. Which means all white people are indicted, as are all of us who have bought into America’s white supremacy consciously or unconsciously, because all white people are racist, to some degree, whether we want to admit it or not. Maybe sometimes the callouts will be unfair, but it’s important for a lot of us to remember moving forward that focusing too much on whether or not we’re being called “racist” isn’t the point. Give up. You’re racist. I’m racist. We are part of the problem, I am part of the problem. I think a lot of us need to accept that, we need to listen, and then we need to move on to actually being helpful by attacking the issues at stake — together.

Like this issue: what do we do now?

Top Seven Great Things That Happened On Election Night

Election Night was exciting, wasn’t it? I followed Ali’s super amazing open thread on my phone while watching MSNBC and taught a toddler how to spell Obama. We elected President Obama for a second term! We won so many things! Marriage equality did awesome this election, winning all the things! Total assholes Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock are hopefully reevaluating their morals after their losses, but Michele Bachmann still emerged victorious in Minnesota, so we’ve got work to do, people.

But seriously, let’s get to the actually important stuff and talk about the lady with the flag in her hair and Donald Trump’s Twitter tantrum. Here’s my top moments of last night (not in order, so don’t get mad).

7. Todd Akin’s concession speech

I didn’t actually listen to a word of this concession speech, but just the fact that it was happening was enough to make me do a victory lap around my living room. Todd Legitimate-Rape Akin became an icon of the completely insane religious right earlier this summer with his remarks about the magical powers of female anatomy and has been hated ever since by anyone with a logical brain. To see him, and Richard Mourdock for that matter, be forced to accept that the American people won’t stand for this kind of misogyny was delightful. Is it just me or is there something about concession speeches that makes me like a candidate a little bit more than when they were running? They take off their I-Want-To-Be-A-Politician-So-Badly mask and they turn into human beings for a moment. Well, as human as Todd Akin can get.

6. Rachel Maddow’s Colorado messup

Did anyone else see this? This was a really endearing moment to me because you could tell it had been a long day, the MSNBC panelists were getting tired, the adrenaline was wearing off, and we were all waiting for Romney HQ to admit defeat in Ohio. Apparently, when Rachel went to the bathroom, the network called Colorado and announced Obama was the winner. Rachel didn’t notice this and said Colorado was still too close to call (“Too Close To Call” was a really difficult drinking game, just so you know). This wasn’t even a big deal, but when they came back from commercial break, obviously someone told Rachel Colorado had been called and she started yelling at the other panelists because no one told her. This was one of silly moments that made me feel a little less like crying/getting sick/drinking myself all the way to Blackoutville, USA.

5. Donald Trump throws a tantrum on Twitter

I’ve wondered for years why Trump is such an advocate of job creation after he has made a living by literally saying, “You’re fired” to people. Apparently, people still think Trump is relevant in 2012 and these people read his Twitter and then talk about it on the television. Here’s his tweets from last night. Warning: this man is delusional.

#richwhitemanproblems

I can’t even read these tweets without smiling. I’m not even mad, Donald. I mean, I’m a little mad that you are apparently totally unaware of how the “travesty” of the election played into Bush’s election in 200, but mostly I’m just impressed you honestly believe what you are saying. (Spoiler alert: Obama won the popular vote, too, so… awkward….)

4. Two words: Tammy Baldwin

Tammy Baldwin, you guys. Is there anything else to say? There’s a lesbian in the Senate and she’s awesome. She said in an interview with CNN last night, “I didn’t run to make history, I ran to make a difference.” Four for you, Tammy Baldwin.

3. Elizabeth Warren’s Victory Speech

I cried.

2. Historic Number of Female Congresswomen

There are at least 19 female Senators now. This is the highest it’s ever been, can you believe that? Out of 100 seats, the highest number is 19? We still have a long way to go, but this is a huge step forward in equal representation in politics. In similarly awesome news, of the 90 women serving in congress right now, 24 of them are women of color. We also have our first female Asian-American Senator, Mazie Hirono from Hawaii. Also also, New Hampshire elected the first all-woman delegation by voting in Gov. Maggie Hassan, and Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McLane Kuster, who join Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte.

1. Hair Flag Lady

Does she even need an introduction? Hair Flag Lady won the hearts of Americans last night during Obama’s victory speech by standing behind him and moving her head side to side with a flag proudly stuck into her hair. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud to be an American.

90 Days, 90 Reasons: 90 Good Reads for Obama

Cara’s Team Pick:

Back in August, when the sun was still bright and Paul Ryan’s nomination was but a twinkly data point in Mitt Romney’s cyborg-eye, publishing house McSweeneys quietly launched “90 Days, 90 Reasons,” an online compendium of short essays by “a wide range of cultural figures,” each explaining exactly why he or she is voting to re-elect President Obama. Now the voting booths are opening, the pollsters are baying, the ninety days are up, and the website is full of pocket-sized reminders of why Obama is my larger Team Pick for the day. But he was too hard for me to sum up, so I’m leaving the job to these other ninety (ninety-three, actually) smart people.

I spent a while rereading this today and was pleasantly surprised by how many of the Obama administration’s accomplishments I’d forgotten. Mary Williams, for example, reminded me that Obama increased funding for national parks by 10%. Molly Shannon let me know that he’s hired more high-ranking openly gay officials than any other president, and Colin Meloy added that he also appointed the first openly autistic person to the National Council on Disability. Some contributors also captured aspects of each candidate that I’ve felt often over the course of this campaign, but haven’t been able to put into words – Julia Alvarez makes a great case for Obama’s power as a storyteller, and Elizabeth George nails it with her diagnosis that Romney “lacks a sensitivity chip.” If I hadn’t voted already, I’d be newly fired up to pull that lever, press that button, fill that bubble, or (not) hang that chad.

DAVID LYNCH, EDWIDGE DANTICAT, ETGAR KERET, SHEPARD FAIREY, & MIRANDA JULY

If you’re still trying to sway an undecided friend or relative, or if you’re still on the fence yourself, there are Reasons that are itching to persuade. Maybe your acquaintances who don’t believe in big government will take a minute to hear Emily Barton explain the social contract, and maybe those who don’t believe in government at all will be reinspired by John Sayles’s opinion that Obama “actually believes in democracy, or at least its potential.” For those who are gravely disappointed with Obama’s failures in specific policy areas, Reza Aslan wants to commiserate with you about foreign policy, Jonathan Franzen about the environment, and Sherman Alexie about Native American issues. And for those who don’t think any of it matters, that legislation is but a straw in the wind, constantly bending back and forth with each new administration, Andrew Sean Greer has six words for you – “Supreme Court Supreme Court Supreme Court.”

McSweeney’s is a publishing house, so a large number of these ninety contributors skew literary. This is not a bad thing, as is made evident by Marilynne Robinson’s clear-eyed history of employer/employee relations, Elizabeth Gilbert’s enthusiastic endorsement of Obama’s cool, and Joshua Ferris’s moving biographical sketch of his sister, a teacher and mother of two in Florida. But there are also educators, CEOs, environmentalists, musicians, comedians, artists, and at least one Muppet. (A lot of the contributors skew pretty white and male as well – and could they really not even find one gay person to write about marriage equality, DADT, hate crimes legislation, or anything else? – but reading through them all gave me hope that four years from now there will be even more space for what rapper Dee-1 calls “the voiceless people.”)

THAO NGUYEN, PATTON OSWALT, TEA OBREHT, MAJORA CARTER, & ISHMAEL REED

Here’s hoping that by tomorrow this rhetoric will be unnecessary. Until then, it’s a well-harmonized call to arms, a veritable chocolate box of diverse political arguments, and a pretty good way to spend ninety minutes. In between refreshing your election-day apps, of course.

Army Of Hipster Celeb Ladies Wants You To Vote

Cara’s Team Pick

Morning, friends! Guess what? I’ve got lovely news. Today is one of those good days! No, not the Sunday Funday kind. The kind where approximately fifty badass and talented women have decided to lipsync to a politically relevant 1960s pop hit for you. It’s a gift! Go ahead, open it:

[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxtbAP2cyU’]

This pro-Obama Women Voter Call to Action PSA is the brainchild of cabaret artist and Citizen’s Band cofounder Sarah Sophie Flicker (she’s the one in the flower crown) and filmmaker Maximilla Lukacs, and like others we’ve seen recently, is much better than the higher-budget ones that have been put out this election cycle. For one thing, it has bypassed the ordinary Very Grave Piano Music in favor of Lesley Gore’s pioneering feminist anthem, “You Don’t Own Me.” That song is a better pump-up than coffee, which is lucky, because it’s going to be stuck in your head all day now.

WEBCAMS FULL OF WOMEN

For another, it’s a showcase of very cool people being goofy on their webcams for a good cause. I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia factor or the populist charm or what, but something about seeing celebrities eat noodles in sweatpants and play with their guinea pigs and try to outdo each others’ ferocious lip-sync faces just charms the heck out of me (even when I don’t recognize them – who are you, queer-repping polka dot girl?). They just keep popping up! Hey, Miranda July, may I borrow a book? Wait, Tavi Gevinson, can you even vote yet? Blink and you’ll miss one. (Yes, that was Carrie Brownstein in red plaid and a smile). It’s like Whack-A-Mole, but with artists/musicians/writers/fashion designers in place of the plastic moles, and rather than clobbering them, you just swoon repeatedly. I guarantee you will have two to eight new crushes by the end.

“HA! MARRY ME!”

Finally, there’s the message, which is clear, simple, and well-expressed via intertitles and cute signs: women wield a huge amount of democratic power (in 2008, 60% of voters were women!) and we should a) use it, in general, and b) preferably to support candidates who will then support us, by fighting for equal rights, equal pay, and health care that belongs in this century. As Lesley Gore puts it, “I recorded You Don’t Own Me in 1964 . . . it’s hard for me to believe, but we’re still fighting for the same things we were then.”

NATASHA LYONNE IS STILL ON THE LAM FROM TRUE DIRECTIONS

But hey, we all know this. And I know we’re all going to vote and vote and vote some more. But, first, one more time, with Instagram-tinted feeling – “DOOOOOON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”  (Vote, though.)

VIDEO: Michelle Obama Questioned About Same-Sex Marriage, Answers Correctly

In what increasingly feels like perhaps the Matrix, or some other bizarro parallel universe enabled by a collectively optimistic consciousness, yet another member of Team Obama has said another thing in favor of same-sex marriage — specifically, Obama’s partner in opposite-sex marriage, the relentlessly lovely Michelle Obama.

The White House published a video on their website last night in which Michelle answered Twitter-submitted questions, including: “Please tell us about your family discussions about marriage equality and thank President Obama for his support.”

Yes, please!

Here’s her response:

“This is an important issue for millions of Americans and for Barack and me, it really comes down to the values of fairness and equality that we want to pass down to our girls. I mean, these are basic values that kids learn at a very young age and that we encourage them to apply in all areas of their lives. And in a country where we teach our children that everyone is equal under the law, discriminating against same-sex couples just isn’t right. So it’s as simple as that. … We’re proud to have your support.”

She also talks about the importance of women in the government, getting out the vote, and the strength of military families. See for yourself:

We Got 99 Haters But Jay-Z Ain’t One

Jay-Z supports marriage equality and considers Obama’s recently completed gay marriage evolution a political plus. In fact, he thinks it was “the right thing to do.”

What a man.

Yesterday was your average Monday until Jay-Z, credited in his interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow as a “Rapper/Philanthropist,” decided to wax philosophical about politics. Like most of Jay-Z’s words, they were perfect. 

Jay-Z is a long time friend of the Obama family, a White House VIP, and a personal musical favorite of the President himself. (Obama prefers Jay-Z over Kanye.) During his CNN interview he refused to talk about Mitt Romney and confessed to not knowing much about him. He decided, instead, to praise Obama’s decision to endorse gay marriage:

“I’ve always thought it as something that was still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple…I think it’s the right thing to do, so whether it costs him votes or not – again, it’s not about votes. It’s about people. It’s the right thing to do as a human being.”

Coming from a man who describes himself as not “a huge fan” of our political system, that’s a huge compliment for Obama. But let’s focus on us. Jay-Z supports gay marriage, everyone. It is right there in print, on video, and across the Internet. Let us all rejoice by listening to The Black Album and looking at pictures of Blue Ivy Carter emotionally.

Jay-Z also talks the importance of business ethics and helping the less fortunate (a not-so-common perspective for a mogul), the current state of our economy and Obama’s stimulus, and the similarities between hip-hop and politics in his interview.

As an emerging rap starlet and former political hopeful myself, the news that Jay-Z supports progressive politics and the rights, equality, happiness, and forever humanity of gay people is second to everything in my life except Drake (let’s be real).

Let’s just hope Hov performs at the next A-Camp Talent Show.

Barack Obama Swag: 14 Fascinating and Strange Obama-Inspired Products

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s an election coming up and if you’re not already sporting an Obama/Biden bumper sticker on your binder (the Trapper Keeper kind of “binder,” not the chest-contour kind), you probably don’t like Freedom. But what if you don’t have a car or a binder? What then? Surely there must be a way you can support Barack Obama while sitting in a chair drinking beer, right? OF COURSE THERE IS.

See, Obama is a very inspirational figure, not only to young children who dream of one day getting railroaded by the Republicans in congress, but also to artists, designers, etsy crafters and People Who Just Discovered Cafèpress. The Obama store even has a whole section of weird things you can wear designed by famous people like Vera Wang, Beyoncé, Diane Von Furstengberg, Jason Wu and Sean Jean.

This is not the case for Mitt Romney, whose campaign store is a wee thing compared to Obama’s commercial multitudes:

no really, this is his entire store, these are all of the products

Get it? Moms “drive” the economy? Because they drive their husbands to work? Hm. Well, let’s look at some of the many many things available online in celebration of our present president, Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Swag: 14 Ways To Put Your Money Where Your Beer Cozy Is

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1. The Joe Biden Can Holder – $10 – (barackobama.com)

Though allegedly designed to keep your “soda” cold, everybody knows that this item exists to conceal the fact that you’re drinking Natty Light. It was this beer sleeve that inspired me to make this list to begin with (I also appreciate the “Cup of Joe” mug).

2. The Michelle Obama Tote Bag – $30 – (etsy/kraftho)

What I really like about this bag is the attention to detail.

3. Pins, Pins, Pins 

L to R, clockwise: Obama Mama (Obama Buttons 2012/Etsy), Barack Obama Obey (AtellerBagatelle/Esty) (“an hommage to the Andre the Giant sticker/stencil campaign”), Pirates for Obama (ViaDella/Etsy), Hippies for Obama (TIG INC/Amazon), Kittens For Obama (Psychadelic Tara/Etsy), Alaskan Wildlife For Obama (Tiger Eye Design/Amazon), Hookers For Obama (Psychadelic Tara/Etsy), Baruch Obama (AtellerBagatelle/Etsy)

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4. Hope on a Rope – $20 – (etsy/bubblegenius)

This soap-on-a-rope inspired item “smells like a breath of fresh air” because Obama “IS a breath of fresh air!” The thing is that I could never put Obama in my armpit.

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5. Dog Sweater ($35) + Dog T-Shirt ($30)- (barackobama.com)

The funny thing about puppies is that you can train them to support Obama and if they wanna support Romney, they have to go outside.

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6. Barack Obama Felt Finger Puppet – $12 – (etsy/mullishmuse)

“Here is Barack Obama ready to usher in his 2012 campaign with his new look ! Grey hair and darker blue tie! Get excited and order your felt buddy today.”

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7. Obama Tailgate Pack – $65 – barackobama.com

I wish this said “grill baby grill” on it.

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8. Michelle Obama Type Fragrance Oil  $10 (Green Planet Organics/Etsy)

This is so when people come into your house and you’re burning your fragrance oil and they’re like, “ooo what smells so good?” you can be like, “Oh, it’s Michelle Obama.” There’s also Barack Obama fragrance oil, which represents “leadership, history and achievement.”

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9. YO! Bama Pillow – $25 –  (Reclaim LA/Etsy)

This fantastic pillow is inspired by Barack Obama and YO! MTV Raps. Sweet dreams guaranteed.

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10. Barack Obama Dashboard Doll – $10.92 – (Amazon/KC)

If there’s anything better than Barack Obama being president, it’s Barack Obama playing the Ukelele. It’s like the new Hula Girl dashboard ornament.

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11. Barack Obama Basketball – $69.95 (amazon/photo sportballs)

“A Well-Rounded President.” Get it? A ‘well-rounded’ president? On a round basketball?

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12. Matryoshka – “a family of U.S. President Barack Obama, Michelle Robinson, Malia and Sasha. His wife and children of the president.” – $35 – (Brusesa/Etsy)

The best part about this is that the smallest wooden doll in the series represents the entire country of the United States. The second-best part is how well Sasha’s cuteness translates to all formats.

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13. Obama Monkey – $45 – etsy/AngDavidson

This makes me want to get pregnant and give birth so that I can give this to my baby and take a cute picture of a baby with a monkey doll.

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14. President Beerack Obama – $30 – honeydewstudio/etsy

“This funny little bumble bee ornament was created from polymer clay, and hand painted with acrylics. The paint has been reinforced with a glossy sealant. President Beerack Obama has wire antennas and fabric wings printed with Obama’s election logo. A loop in his back has been threaded with a yellow ribbon, so you can hang it anywhere you like. President Beerack Obama is approximately 2 inches long.”

There you have it. Alternately, you could just write “Obama” on your breasts with a Sharpie.

Obama Tells All the Nations to Stand Up For Gay and Lesbian Rights Everywhere!

Jesus Christ on a Cracker this has been a good week for my relationship with Barack Obama and it’s only Wednesday! Speaking of Wednesday, Obama gave a shout out to gay rights in his address at the United Nations today:

“No country should deny people their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere. And no country can realize its potential if half its population cannot reach theirs… this week the us signed a new declaration on women’s participation next year we should each announce the steps we are taking to break down the economic and political barriers that stand in the way of women and girls. This is what our commitment to human progress demands.”

[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6G0UF4Twi4&t=5m20s’]

As I’ve said ~45 times, to mixed results, I’ve felt all along that Obama has the right idea and would do right by us soon enough. I also believe, as it was written by a former GOP staffer who left the party after 28 years due to his disgust over how it was operating, that Obama’s intentions have been consistently and honestly quite contemptibly obstructed by a political party which seeks to destroy him for their own personal gain and the wealth of their lobbyists, rather than for the well-being of the American people. (Also, racism plays a significant role in this situation.) A brief excerpt from the essay written by that aforementioned ex-GOP staffer:

A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.

I’m thrilled that Obama put forth a debt reduction bill that aims to address the enormous wealth inequity in this country, as other countries have already started doing. I’d recommend Mother Jones‘ piece on “6 Dumb Arguments Against Taxing the Rich” if you’re having trouble making your case at the dinner table.

From day one with Obama, just as I’m beginning to wonder if it’s officially time to lose faith, he does something to reignite my seemingly unrequited love for him. Let’s hope this left-leaning run keeps plowing forward into the 2012 election season, because if Mitt Romney is our next president, I am legitimately seriously not-just-saying-it-cause-that’s-what-everyone-says moving to Canada.

Obama Supports Respect for Marriage Act to Repeal DOMA, Make Gay People Happy

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, AP Photo

Today Senators Dianne Feinstein, Patrick Leahy and Kristen Gillibrand introduced the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which aims to repeal all three sections of the Defense of Marriage Act, otherwise known as “DOMA.” As you’re aware, DOMA strictly defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Feinstein, a California democrat, was one of 14 Senators who opposed the legislation when it was first introduced in 1996.

You can read the entire Respect for Marriage Act bill here.

Guess who’s endorsing this bill? Barack F*cking Obama, that’s who. White House spokesman Shin Inouye:

“The president has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people – our families, friends and neighbors.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney:

“Obama is proud to support the Respect for Marriage Act.”

For a look at “how far we’ve come,” here’s what our BFF Slick Willie Clinton said about gay marriage in 1996:

“I remain opposed to same-sex marriage. I believe marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. This has been my long-standing position, and it is not being reviewed or reconsidered.”

Clinton has obviously since reviewed and reconsidered his position.

Many wish that Obama would take the next step and actually endorse marriage equality instead of “leaving it up to the states” — but as public opinion tips in our favor, it’s possible state-by-state legislation might be a very realistic means to our collective ends. It’s also worth noting that a bulk of Obama’s campaign funds are coming out of California this year, and more specifically The Bay Area, which is the gayest place on earth.

The Senate Committee Hearing takes place tomorrow and will include testimonies from same-sex couples. The bill has 27 co-sponsors and none of those sponsors are Republicans.

Feinstein says that if they don’t succeed this session then they’ll try again next session. For more about the Obama Administration’s relationship to DOMA, read this.

And On the Sixth Day, Obama Made News on Same-Sex Marriage

Karen Golinski (right) with her wife, Amy Cunninghis

The Obama Administration filed a brief Friday in Federal court in San Francisco in support of a lawsuit filed by a lesbian federal employee which claims the government wrongly denied her spouse the health coverage she should have been entitled to as a spouse. This “strongly worded legal brief” says DOMA was motivated by “animus” against the gays and is therefore unconstitutional.

Tobias Barrington Wolff, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told the press that “though the administration has previously said it will not defend the marriage act, the brief is the first court filing in which it urges the court to find the law unconstitutional.”

Furthermore:

“This brief represents the concrete manifestation of a complete paradigm shift in the federal government’s position on anti-gay discrimination and the constitutional rights of married same-sex couples.”

From The MetroWeekly:

Unlike in other cases where DOJ has stopped defending DOMA in accordance with President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision that Section 3 of DOMA — the federal definition of marriage — is unconstitutional, DOJ lawyers today made an expansive case in a 31-page filing that DOMA is unconstitutional. Previously, the government had attached the Feb. 23 letter from Holder to House Speaker John Boehner (R) that announced the DOJ position to filings to courts about the decision to stop defending the law, but it had not laid out any more expansive reasoning. But, for Golinski’s case, DOJ did so. In describing why heightened scrutiny applies to classifications based on sexual orientation, for example, the DOJ’s lawyers — in describing how “gays and lesbians have been subject to a history of discrimination” — write, “The federal government has played a significant and regrettable role in the history of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals.”

This comes shortly after the DOJ made a confusing move on a bankruptcy court case in California that seemed to go against its affirmation not to defend DOMA in court. To be perfectly honest, I’m not an expert in the matters of the law and I’m not going to pretend like I am. I do believe we have enlisted an expert of some kind to help explain some of this to you relatively soon, as we are wont to do, but THIS IS A BIG F*CKING DEAL, Y’ALL.

Some may call it an evolution — the DOJ went from saying they’d defend DOMA in court to saying that they wouldn’t, because it was unconstitutional, but not really going into the details, to now fully speaking out against DOMA with 31 pages on why they’re doing so. They are specifically citing “animus” towards gays and lesbians as THE ONLY REASON DOMA EXISTS — that’s a big deal.

Interesting that they did it on a Friday night, therefore keeping it relatively out of the news cycle — nobody started reporting on it until Saturday morning. I assume on the Seventh Day, there will be rest.

Obama Says Gay Couples Deserve Equal Rights But Insists It’s Not a Federal Fight

It’s a big day to be gay in New York! Pride is underway, Obama’s visiting, and something may or may not happen with gay marriage in the State Senate tonight/tomorrow.

President Barack Obama hosted a $1,250-a-plate fundraising gala at the Sheraton earlier tonight, apparently part of a larger Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender leadership gala in the city. From NY1:

… Obama said “that gay couples “deserve the same legal rights” as all couples, and that New York State is having a proper, democratic “debate” on the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Obama told a very receptive crowd of about 600 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender leadership gala at the Sheraton that while he is personally against discrimination based on sexual orientation, the final battle for marriage equality should take place in the state Legislature.

The president noted how much lawmakers accomplished during his term, including the passing of a hate crimes law and the repeal of the military’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that banned openly gay service members.

Americablog has a full transcript of the president’s remarks, upon which they commented:

The President just concluded his remarks at the big LGBT fundraiser in NYC. And, it’s confirmed, he didn’t evolve on marriage.

Here’s two videos from Think Progress. In the first, Obama discusses his opposition to DOMA:

In the second video he gets interrupted:

Outside “dozens of LGBT community supporters” gathered to encourage Obama to take a prominent stand in favor of same-sex marriage. After his gig at the Sheraton, Obama moved on to a private fundraiser at Daniel Restaurant, “where participants have paid $35,800 for a seat.” They will enjoy a special fundraising performance of the Broadway musical Sister Act and then Obama will address the audience. Seriously.

So what do you think? Is this — and all the progress the Obama administration has made in the are of gay rights — enough? Personally I’ve been unable to think negatively about President Obama since the Correspondent’s Dinner when he played The Lion King video, which was hands-down the best joke of 2011, but we could really use his full explicit support right now — and Christ, he could certainly use ours!

As AmericaBlog says:

…looks like we’ll need to keep up the pressure. Remember, we’re doing this for his own political good. The President is already behind the curve of public opinion on marriage, particularly with young voters. He looks out of touch. It’s still early. There’s still time for Obama to evolve. It will be another political calculation on his part. Hopefully, he’s beginning to understand that it’s good politics to be on fully on our side.

The Obama Adminstration’s War On Gay Teen Homelessness

As the 2012 election gets ever closer, the back-and-forth on Obama in the gay community gets more and more intense. Has he done enough? Has he done anything at all? Everyone has very different answers to those questions, but if you’re looking for something to add to your “things Obama has done for us” column, this might work. The federal government is putting pressure on the child welfare and foster system to live up to its promise to gay kids, something that could finally make a difference for thousands of children and teens who are otherwise powerless.

Anyone with any experience with foster care or the adoption system knows that there are major gaps – all kids are at risk for unsafe homes, endless bouncing around from placement to placement, and lack of adequate attention or understanding from social workers. Frequently these kids are left without any resources or support once they reach the legal age of adulthood and are no longer supported by the state – they’re suddenly homeless adults instead of orphaned kids, and have no options besides the street or a shelter. Clearly this should matter to everyone who cares about kids or other human beings, but why is this an issue for the gay community in particular? Because an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of kids in the foster system are queer or trans.

[ACF Commissioner Bryan Samuels] cited a numbing list of statistics showing just how vulnerable LGBTQ youth are in the system. Although five to 10 percent of the general population is estimated to be gay, anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of homeless youth are gay, according to the National Network of Runaway and Youth services. They are also far more likely to age out of the child welfare system without finding an adoptive family.

Horrifyingly, these numbers are made up of all the children and teens thrown out of their homes or disowned by their biological families for their sexual orientation or gender identity, or who have run away themselves to escape the abuse or anger they face. They have no other support system or family to turn to, and in an unconscionable echo of their first abandonment, their experiences in foster care are often very similar. There are countless stories of teens abused repeatedly by foster families in an attempt to punish or change their sexual orientations or gender identities, or who are given up by families who don’t want to care for a gay kid. While the statistics that show kids are coming out at a younger age than ever may be good news in terms of our culture’s increasing awareness of queer identity and its normalization among the next generation, it also means that more and younger kids are experiencing abuse and abandonment in the foster care system because of it. Shockingly, experts say that some gay kids abandoned by both biological and foster families end up at least temporarily behind bars in juvenile detention, just because there’s nowhere else for them to go.

So what is the administration doing? Well, like everything else in the government, it starts with a memo. It has some standard and unsurprising language about making the safety of LGBTQ kids a priority, and acknowledging the fact that those kids face a compounded level of crisis. But it also mentions something more unexpected: it explicitly states that LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents should be considered as placements. This is huge news, and could be instrumental in the fight to reverse situations like that in Florida, where gay and lesbian families are completely banned from adoption. But aside from being the ethical and American thing to do, it would also be the most obvious way to ensure that queer kids had at least one option where if the placement didn’t work out, they could be sure it wasn’t because of their sexual orientation. Which really doesn’t seem like that much to ask.

What’s more, the administration is putting millions into a five-year pilot program in LA County which is aimed at aiding and providing support to queer youth in the foster system. Programs that are supported by federal dollars are under great pressure from the government to provide quantifiable results; hopefully LA County will develop policies and strategies that can then be implemented across the country. And if the administration’s support for queer adoptive and foster families remains this strong, it could have repercussions for families all across the country as well.

Without overstating the issue, it may not be too much to say that this is one of the most important things the Obama administration has ever done for us. It remains to be seen how effective it will be, but the choice of issues to take up represents an understanding of the issues that the queer community really faces that previous Presidents haven’t been willing to pursue. Marriage equality will be an important milestone, but in truth it’s largely symbolic, and there are those in the queer community for whom it represents assimilation, not progress. An effective repeal of DADT will be momentous if it ever really goes through, but it affects only those and their families in the armed forces – who are courageous and admirable and who deserve our thanks and respect, but whom are also there by choice. Homelessness, especially for kids and teens who have no power or agency on their own, is a hugely pressing issue for the gay and especially trans communities. It’s not a very cool or sexy cause to get behind, but it’s an epidemic, and it hits those who are the absolute most helpless members of our society. And for decades, there’s been virtually zero interest from any previous administration in improving their lot – until now.

Under the previous administration, advocates couldn’t recall the phrase LGBTQ being uttered once. It was as if those kids just didn’t exist.
“Literally in the last administration you were not allowed to talk about this,” explained Gerald P. Mallon, a professor at New York’s Hunter College School of Social Work who began researching LGBTQ kids in the mid-’90s. “If you put ‘lesbian’ or ‘gay’ in a workshop, you were guaranteed it wasn’t going to be approved. It’s night and day.”

If Obama does manage to repeal DOMA or DADT while he’s in office, that may be what he’s remembered for in the history books. But if his initiatives to support queer teens in the child welfare system are effective, that’s what he’ll be remembered for by generations of one-time teen child welfare recipients for, as a hero.

House Passes Bill Aimed at Slowing DADT Repeal, Obama is Officially Upset

The U.S. House passed a defense bill that includes not one but THREE anti-gay amendments. Hey, at least they’re being efficient with the hate these days. Let’s tackle these one at a time, shall we? (Keep in mind that these amendments would have to pass the Senate before they would become effective.)

Amendment one aims to slow the DADT repeal by requiring all four service branch chiefs to sign off on the policy change. It seems that is a departure from the current plan, which involves a cooperative decision by the Secretary of Defense, the President, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The amendment adds in four other people who are probably less likely to give the repeal the go-ahead. It basically gives the armed services a free pass to say no thanks and keep DADT in place. Once again, let’s point out that DADT does not prevent gay soldiers from serving, it just hurts them once they sign up. There have always been and will always be gay service members, no matter what Congress does.

Amendment two restates that the Defense of Marriage Act still applies to the Department of Defense. You know, in case anyone had forgotten that there is a federal ban on recognizing same-sex couples. Just fyi guys, purely informational, you know! The government still hates the gays, write that down.

Amendment three prohibits same-sex weddings on military property. Ok, seriously? This is just mean. It looks like a backstop measure in case they can’t prevent the repeal of DADT. So instead of letting everyone be equal when that happens, America is going to throw one last “fuck you” at our own soldiers? Classy.

Obama signing the DADT repeal in December

Obama is not happy about this bill. His office released a statement a few days ago objecting to all three of these sections. On DADT:

“The Administration strongly objects to any legislative attempts (such as section 533) to directly or indirectly undermine, prevent, or delay the implementation of the repeal, as such efforts create uncertainty for servicemembers and their families.”

And on DOMA:

“The Administration strongly objects to sections 534 and 535, believes that section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is discriminatory, and supports DOMA’s repeal.”

That’s right, he said he supports DOMA’s repeal, not just that he will not defend it in the Second Circuit courts. Obama has become a stronger gay rights advocate every day of his presidency. I cannot wait to see how those issues play out during the next election. One thing we already know is that the HRC has officially backed Obama already — a move not everybody’s happy about.

For now, this bill moves to the Senate. Let’s be honest, it would have no chance there, even without Obama’s statement. I, for one, am tired of the House taking cheap shots at gay rights that have no chance of becoming law. I don’t understand why they don’t just focus on fixing the deficit or addressing the thing they complain about. At least I could respect that.