Thursday, June 4, 2009

Dumb Article of the Day: Queerty's "Barack Obama Had 5772 Words for the Middle East. None of Them About Gays"


I know I run out of things to talk about, but this is too much.

Queerty is a gay blog that usually showcase hot boys, jokes and gay stuff. But recently, they have had way too much Haterade and lost their God damned minds. They usually attack Obama with the worst articles ever written. Hell, you would think they were a part of NOM or Web Net Daily, with the mess they spit.

But today's article took the cake. It's called, Barack Obama Had 5772 Words for the Middle East. None of Them About Gays. For some reason, Queerty believed that Obama should have presented a full LGBT agenda to the Muslim world. Here's the article:

We've already placed out bet on whether Barack Obama will address gay rights during his July visit to Ghana, his first return to the continent since moving in to the White House. (Our guess: Hellz no.) But early this morning the president was a little farther north, in Cairo, Egypt, where he addressed the Muslim community in what some are calling a welcome olive branch to the Islamic community. (Others criticize him for, uh, forgetting about 9/11.) And while we won't pretend gay Americans are single-issue citizens, we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't point out that, once again, Obama had nothing to say about GLBTs.

As the tweets and Facebook blasts went out, and Obama mentioned the word "rights" more than a dozen times — the right for American Muslim girls to wear a hijab, the right for Palestinians and Israelis to live without fear and enjoy their own states, "the rights of minorities" — there were noticeable absences in Obama's speech.

Perhaps because they're assumed to be non-issues in the Middle East, but neither abortion nor rights for gays and transgender citizens were mentioned. This should be no surprise; while Sec. of State Hillary Clinton continues to call for an end to gay persecution, the White House is all but silent on the institutionalized assault on gays in Iraq, and elsewhere.

Obama urged the Muslim community to embrace democracy (and not only when it was convenient), to give permit Palestine to form its own true nation, and to treat women as equals.

But in a region of 400 million people, where gay rights aren't even an after-thought, Obama did nothing to provide a voice to the millions of GLBTs persecuted and living in hiding and shame. Yes, Obama tailored his message for the community he was speaking to. But he missed an enormous opportunity to include queer people in his call for global human rights.

And he did it on purpose.

Really? Really? Queerty, get it together. This is foolish. He is trying to truly bring peace in the Middle East and all Queerty can do is whine about him not mentioning gay rights. Obama is trying to shut down their beef with us. I'm not so sure that a speech on gay rights would help the matter at all.

But maybe I'm missing something here. If I am, just let me know.

5 comments:

J. Clarence said...

I don't know if there is anything Obama can do to make Queerty happen, besides divorcing Michele and marrying Reggie Love, the president's personal assistant.

I think it would have been great if he did, but it was not the time or place. Unwinding the centuries of (religious) persecution of women and gays in the Middle-East will take more time than the constitution gives me to be President.

I don't think he intentionally ignored gay rights issue in the speech, so much as it just wasn't on the radar. And it isn't on the radar of the gay community here either. The hardest we have gone in our attempt to address discrimination aboard in recent years is a boycott of Jamaica. So i don't see why the President should put it on the top of our list, when it is clearly at the bottom of ours.

Ray Avito said...

If they ever had a valid point in their criticisms, they've nullified it with this kind of stuff. My face is frozen in "Are You Kidding Me?" mode. I can only imagine the comments section.

Joy said...

This wasn't a campaign or policy speech. It wasn't the time, place, or audience for that.

Prince Todd said...

Queerty is a shitty site...bottom line. I used to like it until it became Obama ALL the damn time. Now this just takes the proverbial cake.
Listen up you bitchy Queens...Obama is not the President of Gay America. He is the President of AMERICA. That means EVERYBODY. Get over yourselves.

Al In The County said...

I'm okay when people push him to repeal DADT and move from civil unions to marriage (although that's tougher for a first term prez). But really - gay rights in Egypt? Lets prioritize a bit, people.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.