Obama takes on the black community's homophobia

While the media concentrates on the verbal slaps between the Obama and Clinton camps, there hasn't been much traction on what Barack Obama said to a black church in Atlanta on Sunday.

Via The Politico:

"If we are honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community," Obama told 2,000 worshippers Sunday at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King once preached.

"We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them."

That's a pretty strong stand to take in a community, and in a church no less, where homophobia is considered rampant.

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While the bipartisan love fest Obama has been talking about may grate the ears of hardcore Democrats, no one can accuse him of triangulation on this issue of tolerance and equity.

POSTSCRIPT: After his speech, the same Politico article reported gay bloggers peered more closely into the background of the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, who endorsed Obama on Saturday. To their consternation, it appears Caldwell's Houston church promotes a ministry that proclaims it can cure homosexuals. While Caldwell says he had no idea the church had such a ministry, this shouldn't be a cause for concern among homosexuals concerning Obama's allegiance to gay rights. After all, making a statement such as he did after Caldwell's endorsement would appear more antagonistic than opportunistic. Every political coalition cannot agree on everything. And having the Caldwells in the fold leaves them more receptive to persuasion on issues they don't initially agree with progressives on, in this instance gay rights. To want allegiance to orthodoxy in all your political allies is folly, because there won't be many allies left when you take that track.