Obama praises gay lobby’s strategy for winning over pro-marriage Americans
President Obama told 500 young leaders in London on Saturday
that gay activists have been so successful at convincing Americans to accept
the redefinition of marriage by saying that same-sex “marriage” promoted
"family values" and "stability and commitment and
partnership."
At a town hall event, the president described the gay
"marriage" movement as "the fastest set of changes in terms of
the social movement" he has ever seen. He chalked this success up to the
way LGBT activists framed the issue so as to win the minds and hearts of
Americans.
“I thought there was a lot of smarts in reaching out and
building and framing the issue in a way that could bring in people who
initially didn’t agree with them,” Obama remarked.
The leader of the free world added that his two daughters,
Malia, 17, and Sasha, 14, "had an impact on me" in changing from
supporting civil unions to overt support for gay “marriage.”
"My notion was initially that labeling those partnerships
as marriage wasn’t necessary as long as people were getting the same
rights," the president said,
"and it would disentangle them from some of the religious connotations
that marriage had in the minds of a lot of Americans."
But then gay activists helped him see that only the full
acceptance of gay "marriage" would be enough. "It was not
simply about legal rights but about a sense of stigma," Obama said.
"If you’re calling it something different it means that somehow it means
less in the eyes of society."
The speed of societal shift toward gay "marriage" took
many pro-family conservatives by surprise. Americans for Truth president
Peter LaBarbera told LifeSiteNews that a factor in the way pro-marriage forces
lost the battle was their refusal to condemn homosexuality itself.
"The Christian and pro-family movement continually backed
up and became afraid to state basic truths about homosexuality and right versus
wrong," LaBarbera told LifeSiteNews. "That only emboldened the
'gay' activist movement -- and now our retreats embolden the transgender
movement."
Instead of mentioning the physical and mental consequences
attendant with homosexuality, many marriage activists simply promoted the
positive aspects of traditional marriage.
"Imagine if we declared: 'We will not talk about
adultery.' People might logically conclude that there's nothing wrong
with adultery,” LaBarbera said. “The same applies to the pro-LGBTQ Left's
crusade to normalize homosexuality and gender rebellion."
Refusing to address homosexuality backfired, allowing people who
supported the redefinition of marriage to ask why anyone would want to withhold
the benefits of such a wonderful institution from anyone.
"I think what is necessary is that the entire pro-family
conservative movement stop cutting corners and get back to the core
truth," LaBarbera said, "that God created men and women as
complementary, and that they unite together in marriage to produce beautiful
children and families."
"Any sex outside of that beautiful plan is sinful,”
LaBarbera continued. “Thus, homosexual acts and same-sex relationships
are wrong and not part of God's plan for mankind."
Homosexuality inflicts a deadly toll on too many
Americans. Gays are 44-times (4,400 percent) more likely to have AIDS
than heterosexuals, according to the CDC. Gay teens are five times
more likely to attempt suicide. A 2007 study in the
Journal of Urban Health showed 32 percent of homosexuals have been abused by at
least one partner.
Children of gays and lesbians were more than four times as
likely to report having been raped and up to 12 times
as likely to have
been sexually touched by a family member than those from intact heterosexual
households.
Homosexuals have much higher depression, suicide, and STD rates, increased
childhood sexual abuse, and significantly lower children's educational
attainment.
"The way back is to boldly and aggressively, yet
compassionately, defend the truth, male and female relationships and marriage,
and not engage in unprincipled retreats that seem to suggest there's something
wrong with speaking out against unnatural and wrong homosexual behavior,"
LaBarbera advised.
"We must recover our courage and stop capitulating to
political correctness as we defend God's timeless truths," LaBarbera
concluded. "Young people will respond to a principled defense of
sexual fidelity within the bounds of marriage."
Excerpt of Obama’s remarks on same-sex “marriage”
Q. And given you've been talking about the value of social
movements, I was wondering which campaigns have made you change your mind while
you've been in office and inspired you to do things, and where you think we
need more external pressure from campaigns to create meaningful change.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, that's an interesting question.
And are you talking about climate change, in particular? Or are you
talking about just generally, on a whole spectrum of issues? That's
interesting. It’s interesting because I started as a community organizer
trying to pressure politicians into getting things done. And then -- now
I’m on the other side, and so what has worked and what hasn’t.
Well, in the United States what’s been remarkable is the
rapidity with which the marriage equality movement changed the political
landscape and hearts and minds, and resulted in actual changes in law.
(Applause.) It’s probably been the fastest set of changes in terms
of a social movement that I’ve seen.
On issues of LGBT rights generally, I didn't need a lot of
pressure. I came in working on ending a policy called “don’t ask, don't
tell,” that was preventing LGBT citizens from serving in our military openly.
We did that very systematically. Policies in terms of those who had
HIV-AIDS being able to emigrate to our country, hospital visitations -- there
were a whole host of things that we were already doing.
But on marriage equality, I was in favor of what’s called civil
unions. My notion was initially that labeling those partnerships as
marriage wasn’t necessary as long as people were getting the same rights, and
it would disentangle them from some of the religious connotations that marriage
had in the minds of a lot of Americans. And that's where I think -- I
have to confess my children generally had an impact on me. People I loved
who were in monogamous same-sex relationships explained to me what I should
have understood earlier, which is it was not simply about legal rights but
about a sense of stigma, that if you're calling it something different it means
that somehow it means less in the eyes of society.
I believe that the manner in which the LGBT community described
marriage equality as not some radical thing, but actually reached out to people
who said they care about family values, and said, if you care about everything
that families provide -- stability and commitment and partnership -- then this
is actually a pretty conservative position to take, that you should be in favor
of it. I thought there was a lot of smarts in reaching out and building
and framing the issue in a way that could bring in people who initially didn’t
agree with them.
