CBS News: "Gay Community Still Wary Of Obama" [View All]

[Bluebear]

For the "nobody knows about any of this non-story outside of DU so lighten up and get over it" crowd:


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Candidate's Assocations With Proponents Of "Ex-Gay" Movement Draw Questions
January 24, 2008

.....At 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.

The twin developments appeared to encapsulate the tension inherent in Obama’s embrace of what he calls a new style of politics, his belief in forging alliances even with those who hold fundamentally different views. In this case, he has spoken out against homophobia in front of black audiences while embracing some black religious leaders who are resistant to gay rights.

“People are confused,” said Wayne Besen, a gay activist and founder of Truth Wins Out, a New York organization aimed at countering the “ex-gay” movement. “We see one report of him saying powerful words. Then he is hanging out with some shady characters. People don’t know what to make of that.”

By Monday, Caldwell’s church, Windsor Village United Methodist in Houston, scrubbed its Web site of any reference to the gay conversion program, Metanoia Ministry....

“It matters who you are endorsed by because these are the people who are going to be calling in favors,” Besen said. “The gay and lesbian community has the right to be disturbed when such individuals are standing up beside Obama.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/23/politics/politico/main3743835.shtml