... from NYT Politics Blog
October 29, 2007, 8:46 am
Obama’s Gospel Concert Tour
By Katharine Q. Seelye
Obama's Gospel Concert Tour Protesters marched silently outside the Township Auditorium, in Columbia, S.C., during a gospel concert that featured Donnie McClurkin. (Photos: Brett Flashnick/Associated Press)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — At Barack Obama’s gospel concert here last night, more than 2,000 black evangelicals were singing, waving their hands and cramming the aisles — most enthusiastically when Donnie McClurkin, the superstar black gospel singer, decried the criticism he has generated because of his views that homosexuality is a choice.
He said his past statements about homosexuality had been twisted and he had been unfairly maligned. He segued into a hymn about standing up for one’s self and thrust a defiant fist toward the ceiling. This led to a short pitch for Mr. Obama, who, he said, stands for change. “But the greatest change a person can have is not in politics,” he said. “There is only one king.”...
February 08, 2008
Obama Snubbed Newsom During S.F.'s Gay Marriage Fight
During his Senate run for Illinois, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is said to have declined to have his picture taken with San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who at the time was in the center of a national turmoil over his decision to allow same-sex marriage in the city.
Reverend Meeks, one of Obama's spiritual advisors and an Illinois
superdelegate who supports Obama, is staunchly homophobic
I quote World Net Daily:Meeks has reportedly campaigned for Obama and allowed Obama to
campaign at his church during the presidential candidate's 2004 senatorial
run.
A recent Meeks endorsement of Obama is touted on the presidential
candidate's campaign website.
In a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times,
Obama described Meeks as an adviser who he seeks out for spiritual
council.
Obama told the Sun-Times that the day after he won a 2004 senatorial
primary, he stopped by Meeks' Salem Baptist Church for Wednesday-night
Bible study.
"I know that he's a person of prayer," said Meeks of Obama. "The
night after the election, he was the hottest thing going from Galesburg to
Rockford. He did all the TV shows, and all the morning news, but his
last stop at night was for church. He came by to say thank you, and he
came by for prayer."...
Meeks is also notorious for his strong anti-homosexual platform,
which is in contrast to Obama who has been campaigning for the "gay" vote.
Meeks has routinely voted against pro-homosexual legislation and has
been quoted during sermons referring to same-sex attraction "an evil
sickness."
Obama receives endorsement from George Bush's spiritual advisor,
Kirbyjon Caldwell, whose ministry believes gays can be cured.
I quote CBS News: the same time as Obama’s Sunday speech, gay bloggers were
digging into the background of the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a spiritual
adviser to President Bush who endorsed Obama a day earlier. They turned up a
page on his Houston church Web site promoting a ministry to cure
homosexuals, sparking outrage among the same bloggers who were extolling him
only a few hours earlier.
Summary: While Obama makes public statements in support of the LGBT
community, his actions and affiliations are those of someone who is not
only homophobic but wary of the LGBT community. Obama lacks the trust
of the Advocate and other major LGBT outlets, and he admits in his
text entitled the Audacity of Hope that he personally does not approve of
gay marriage.
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