I am fully aware of the outcry from the GLBT community, but frankly, the reaction to this concert and the billing of Donnie McClurkin by the gay and lesbian lobby is completely hypocritical and plain outrageous.

This is a gospel concert, and signing up one of the greatest gospel talents in the known universe is a good thing for the cause. And the cause, in case some didn’t know it, is to reach out to the faith community in gospel song. It is not to address gay and lesbian issues. Mr. McClurkin’s views on gay and lesbians have nothing what so ever to do with his musical talent and stature.

If a company was hiring electrical engineers, and one of the most qualified applicants was gay, should they be disqualified because of that? Of course not. They should be judged on the merits as it applies to the job for which they are being sought, and this is exactly what the gay and lesbian community is constantly harping about. Yet, in this instance they are asking the Obama camp to engage in the same kind of discriminatory practice that they themselves abhor. Shame on them. Please don’t do it!

Mr. McClurkin is an extremely accomplished gospel singer, extremely popular in the faith community and very, very much so in the African American community of faith. For the Obama camp to diss this artist at the behest of the hypocritical gay and lesbian community, is to do serious damage to his constituency in the AA community and the community of faith. The gay and lesbian community DOES NOT OWN the democratic party and their interests are not the only ones that matter, especially when they require a candidate to diss other important constituents.

The Obama campaign was obviously looking for top notch performers for this concert, and I don’t think there is one single member of the GLBT community that could effectively argue against Mr. McClurkin’s credentials. Therefore, it is hypocritical of them to inject an artificial litmus test into who should or should not perform.

The GLBT community must be told to show some maturity on this issue and practice the same tolerance that they seek, instead of the self serving hypocrisy that they are currently espousing.

At the bottom of this post is the link to an article of an interview with Mr. McClurkin on this controversy. I think it shows that Donnie is a bigger person than anyone I’ve seen posting from the GLBT community on this issue.

Despite his differences with Senator Obama (and most democrats for that matter) on the subject of GLBT issues, he is willing to put that aside in order to support the much needed change that this country is in crying for. Mr. McClurkin knows what kind of draw he has in the faith community and the african american community, and I was surprised, but very glad that he is willing to lend it to the campaign.

Now if only the GBLT community would show some measure of the same maturity on this, we could move on, instead of derailing this campaign over a non issue.

Read this Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio nworld/chi-1024mcclurkinoct24,0,1934206. story

I’ve also been constantly amazed at the “liberal” blogosphere’s treatment of Obama. They endorse Edwards, a Dixiecrat whose voting record earned him the high mark of 32% from environmental defense groups to Obama’s 100%; Edwards, whose experience and legislation in domestic and foreign policy isn’t half of Obama’s, who was a civil rights/constitutional law expert and attorney and elected to the state then U.S. Senate. (Edwards: lawyer, Senator one term, no major legislation, voted for Iraq War.) Now it’s Dodd they’re calling the go-to guy??!!

The liberal blogosphere is making itself more irrelevant this campaign season instead of more influential. Many are playing the old political games, forming PACs, which Obama won’t take a dime from, and 527s, which Obama discourages all supporters from joining so there aren’t smear ads put out against opponents “on his behalf” - don’t do him any favors, says he.

Plain and simple: They don’t fund or control Obama, Obama does not seek their undying favor, they are not the center of his political universe. Believe it or not, there are millions of people still without computers and/or internet access in the U.S., and many who have access never, ever visit a “liberal” political blog or read online news from MSM beyond the sports and weather and local news.

“Liberal” bloggers don’t reach out to the elderly, or to people of color, and they still speak about the LGBT population as if it’s one monolithic population - all white! It’s not! Black, Asian, Latino LGBT folks deal with homophobes in the family every day, just as much as poor white LGBT folks do. If they’re religious they go to intolerant churches, synogogues or mosques just for the fellowship of fellow believers, despite the vitriol they are subjected to. When there are enough of them, they form their own places of worship and tolerance.

Obama’s church is one of those denominations that is open and accepting of all worshippers, gay or straight, black or white or Latino or Asian or Native American. Here in the California Bay Area, there is a church from Obama’s denomination that is led by a black lesbian pastor, and has the only transgender gospel choir in the nation!

Tolerance increases with education, which increases with money or some lucky opportunities, that’s just a fact.

Obama will address liberals’ issues better and more honestly and directly than anyone, beholden to no one. They just don’t seem to want a black man to be president - it’s beyond me. I’ve never seen primarily white liberals (who predominate in those blogs) ignore such a stellar civil rights activist and attorney, constitutional law professor [qualified for the Supreme Court], grassroots activist, black candidate with a legislative, never mind environmental record like Obama’s - not that we’ve ever had a candidate like that before.

Many of the “liberal” bloggers don’t even stick to their professed liberal values. They say they’ll vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination - as if she weren’t the #1 recipient of lobbyist/PAC/527 dollars, and as if nominations drop into anyone’s lap!

They don’t work for a candidate in any way but blogging. Going door-to-door, doing outreach, volunteering, addressing the hundreds of issues all different people care about, face-to-face, that’s really working for a candidate.

I think lots of these bloggers would freak out at walking out among different people with different values and beliefs to register voters and promote their candidate. That’s why Dean lost; they thought they could just break away from their monitors at the last minute and yell their message out to people with very different lifestyles and win!

It’s what I’m most grateful for with Obama - after reading his Audacity of Hope, I don’t compartmentalize people by physical/ideological/religious identities anymore. I don’t police what others should think, feel anymore. I’ll have a discussion with anyone now and almost always find some common ground. I’ve made more progress getting “traditional” opposition to see my side than I ever made by rejecting, ridiculing and insulting people for their beliefs, and I see them as human beings again, not as categories.

Another poster here spoke the truth; it’s like the bloggers are getting to be more and more like MSM; forment conflict with incendiary headlines to increase readership. The liberal blogosphere dumbs down readers/viewers/listeners just like MSM, it promotes rancor and shouting matches like MSM, and does nothing to get our democracy functioning to solve real problems.

There has not been a peep from the gay community on Hillary’s endorsement by anti-gay black ministers. This is a terrible double standard. Hillary never has had the guts to say the word “gay” in any speech she ever gave to a broad audience; she saves it for fundraisers to gay civil rights group. In Obama’s first speech to a national audience, when no one would have demanded that he address the point, he did anyway on his own, because that’s where his heart is. He famously said, “We have gay friends in the Red states,” trying to get everyone to see the humanity in others.
When we start judging candidates by the personal views of people who just get up on stage on sing for them, we’ve really lost our way

If the homosexual advocy group “Truth Wins Out” object to McClurkin proclaiming to being molested as a child and becoming homosexual because of that, and later renouncing homosexuality as an evil on religious grounds, the group does not tell us why McClurkins story offends the group.

why can’t we be more active about the state of our children in this country? what happened to people having their own opinion and it being allowed? since when are our lives or careers put in jeopardy because of our views or opinions on being gay? i would think it is okay for one to not believe in homosexuality, but respect a person’s right to be gay. i take offense to someone trying to teach my child tolerance of same sex relationships but attacking the faith that I am raising them in. this is a gospel tour and what I enjoy about most christians in any capacity is that we express our beliefs and we put it in practice, but we love everyone, no matter what you believe or how you live we are bound by God not to judge. No one has a life free from sin. bottom line…i am tired of gay activist attacking anyone who is not in line with their beliefs. this is a country where freedom of speech, opinions is allowed. Stop trying to make everyone accept your way of life.