I fear that electing Romney would give a subset of people who live in a subset of environments a sense that they have the go-ahead to do the bullying and harassing they want to do anyway.

In my school district, over the last few years, nine gay kids were harassed so much they killed themselves. Dozens of others attempted to do so. A friend of mine who was the go-to guy in the district for kids in this situation was getting daily phone calls from troubled gay middle and high school students.

That is in ONE school district (admittedly, a large one and one with a lot of anti-gay people in it, overlaps with Michele Bachmann’s district, etc. etc.) But still. One district. Nine kids. The rate of suicide has been reduced by various symbolic actions. The rate was higher before because of various symbolic actions and attitudes.

Yeah, I’m worried that having a known gay-basher as the leader of the entire country can have an effect.

Consider, for instance, poor Jason. He really is a nice guy and he spends way more effort than ANYONE I’ve ever met to understand and address the issue of personal privilege and to be a good ally to everyone he can be. Go have a look at the morons harassing him on his blog (and me as well, but I’m not as nice as Jason by a long shot) and doing the absolute best they can to sever relationships rather than build them. If enough people acted like that gaggle, there really would be damage to Obama’s chances of re-election, and an increase in chances of Romney getting elected.

I made an extensive comment about that here:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/2012/05/11/annoyed-at-obama-that-can-be-fixedg/#comment-68657

There are no progressives who did not want Obama to say that he was for same sex marriage a long time ago. There are very few political operatives who would have thought that a Democrat could get elected president with that particular point of view if said Democrat was going to use the African American vote as leverage. Much of the crabby commentary I’m seeing demands that the world be different than it is. I’m not talking about demanding change, I’m talking about demanding gravity to stop working. It is annoying, immature, and counter productive.

Yes, hold Obama’s feet to the fire. No, do not cremate our chances of winning this election.

By the way, a Romney victory woudl be green light for the worst period of violence against LGBT people we’ve seen ever. Worse than when violence was more socially (yet wrongly) acceptable becuase so many more people who are LGBT are out, visible, and known. People would die if there was a Romney victory.

We’re on a tough uphill drive on a narrow slippery road. Can we avoid pushing the cart off the edge please? That is not the same as … being sternly encouraging.

The rabid jawflapping we are seeing is not “holding feet to fire” … It is the baby pelican biting off its own wings.

Why is there an assumption that people who are angry about this too-late, lukewarm response are incapable of being vocally critical AND using their vote intelligently?

The “BOTH PARTIES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME THERE’S NO POINT” rhetoric?

Why is there an assumption that people who are angry about this too-late, lukewarm response are incapable of being vocally critical AND using their vote intelligently?

If people aren’t happy with what Obama said, isn’t it better to hold his feet to the fire BEFORE he’s locked into his last term as president and has no real reason to listen to his electorate? Isn’t he more likely to reconsider his views when he NEEDS something from gays (eg, their votes and support), or when he’s safely back in office?

If people who aren’t satisfied with his comments stay quiet now, they can count on never being listened to ever.

Results? Which results were those?

Not being a Republican administration.

(And bonus points for characterizing the expressions of disappointment from people still being denied their human rights as “self righteousness”.)

Temper tantrums about how the Democrats are no better than the Republicans because they’re not perfect extend a bit beyond “expression of disappointment.”

But thanks for making my point for me.

he wanted to announce his support before the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, scheduled for the first week of September

So instead of throwing us under the bus, we were the bus! Ah, it feels good.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/2012/05/10/gIQA9DYWGU_blog.html

(And bonus points for characterizing the expressions of disappointment from people still being denied their human rights as “self righteousness”.)

Madness!