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Sunday, 17 February 2008 01:00
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 The National Gay News
Endorses Barack Obama
Publisher’s Editorial
For the past year, the goal of www.nationalgaynews.com has been to present the cross section of our lives which gives dimension and breadth to our existence.
The 21st century has brought to America a gay community that is very much a part of Main Street.
Gay men and women openly get elected to public office, serve in the judiciary, and host television shows. We are appointed as ambassadors, win teacher of the year awards, and serve in law enforcement. There is no walk of life where we do not participate. Whether it is openly on a basketball court or secretly in the Army, gay men and women are a part of our nation’s fabric, not apart from it.
The gay community may be homosexual but it is hardly homogeneous. There is diversity and difference within the soul of the gay community. There is no one voice which represents all of us. There are conservatives and liberals, those on the right and many on the left. Some go for leather, and others lace. It is the diversity of the human race.
The election of a President is more about our nation’s vision then one group’s rights. Hopefully, the dreams we aspire to will be captured by a voice in the White House, and and given dignity and respect by the words and deeds of the Oval Office.
Every candidate is for change, everyone is against Washington, and everyone wants to do more for the average American. But time after time that dream gets deferred, that hope denied, that vision defeated.
For gay Americans, these have been good times. From our rights being ratified in state legislatures and city councils, to our relationships being protected by the Supreme Court, we have been fortunate. Still, there has been a price. There is still discrimination in the workplace, ridiculing in our communities, and anti gay violence in our neighborhoods. For all we have done, there is still much more we can do.
How does that happen? Not easily, not tomorrow, and not without work.
It seems that after the election banners come down and the balloons are cleaned up, everyone goes home and everything remains the same.
It seems whenever a candidate runs for president, we hear again and again how this era is different and this time is special.
We have candidates that endlessly give rise to tomorrow’s dream but then wind up settling for today’s daily special.
Not this time around.
This time around a candidate comes before us not only with an inspiring vision, but a youthful voice to energize our passions, ignite our spirits, and galvanize our aspirations. This time a candidate is daring and different.
Many of us thought that candidate would be the first female candidate for President, the seasoned and respected Hillary Clinton. Early on, reporters talked of her drive to the nomination being a coronation, as if all she had to do was walk down the runway and wave.
Something happened, though, and what happened was Barack Obama.
We first heard Mr. Obama as a compelling speaker four years ago during a Democratic convention.
New to the American platform, he published words that were momentous and have become memorable: “We are not red states; we are not blue states. We are the United States.”
Where others redundantly talk about what they have done, Mr. Obama speaks of what we can all do.
Where others prey on fear, Mr. Obama generates hope.
Where others opine about the dangers facing us, Mr. Obama speaks of opportunities challenging us.
Where other politicians talk about change, Mr. Obama generates a transcendent vision.
We are beginning to see what it means to be alive in the 21st century. It is a world of communication, satellites, and space travel. A new industrial revolution is being born, and we see it unfolding with the speed of touching a keyboard on your laptop, or texting a message on your I pod.
It dawns upon us what we like about Barack Obama. It is that his youth represents this new century.
It is that he is not saddled down with links to the muddled past but open to the prospects of a bright future. It is that he is not part of a monarchy or dynasty but that he is opening up the door of democracy to millions of new citizens. And that matters.
It is that he is fresh, unique and all about tomorrow. It is that he senses our country can be so much more than it has always been. It is that he is not black or white, or gay or straight, or rich or poor. It is that he talks to and reaches all of us about what we can be, what we can achieve, and who we are, whether we work in factories or in the schools; whether we are living on the streets or cleaning them up.
Mr. Obama is calling upon us to do better, and he is convincing us that we really can.
Mr. Obama emboldens us, challenges us, indeed calls upon us to ask not what America can do for us, but what we can do for America.
Nearly half a century after one President told the world that a torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, it has.
Barack Obama is the 21st century candidate for the 21st century America.
The National Gay News is proud to be part of his team.
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