LGBT news, comment and opinion sites and newspapers have been filled for weeks with commentary about the selection of Rick Warren to provide the invocation at President-elect Obama’s swearing in this month. Many have asked how a leader presumed to be pro-gay (despite his stance on marriage) could pick an evangelical preacher who has compared gay relationships to incest and pedophilia. Others have wondered why the selection even matters when it’s just the invocation that Warren is delivering and not a pronouncement on government policy.
This decision reminds me of the line often paraphrased from the movie "Cool Hand Luke:" what we have here is a failure to communicate.
The fact that a largely pro-gay politician (and his presumably pro-gay staff) made this selection and don’t now understand why the selection was so bad speaks volumes about the power and peril of gay and lesbian communications today.
In a year in which gay and lesbian people earned the right to equal marriage in two states (California and Connecticut), more gay and lesbian actors and other public influencers came out (and fewer people cared) and companies large and small did even more to reach gay and lesbian consumers, its tempting to think it strange that political leaders might be so off in their calculus.
But maybe it isn’t. Society often leads politics. Corporate America is often ahead of the American government in recognizing the value and worth of citizens and consumers (witness the high numbers of companies now scoring 100 on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, for example). Community leaders and community organizers on the ground are often much more aware of the realities of our lives than the political leaders that purport to serve us.
How ironic then that the first “community organizer” in generations to win the presidency could be so out of touch on such a fundamental community issue even before he gets to the White House.
Why does all of this matter? Because what we say, how it is said and who among us says it has the power to influence millions of people. By conferring legitimacy on incorrect, hateful comments about LGBT people, the Obama team has highlighted the fact that there is still much work to be done on both communications and education.
What’s the answer? How do we get past the “failure” communicate? In short, keep going.
The LGBT community must continue to talk about these topics, explain what they mean, and demonstrate by the power of our lives, what the difference is between a “difference of opinion” and an opinion that makes a damaging difference.
The business community and other influencers already engaged with the LGBT community must continue to be engaged and to leverage the power of their actions as an example for others to follow.
The elected officials, community organizers and public at large must continue to listen and be open to learning more about who we are and why equality is more than just an abstract concept subject to “differences of opinion.”
To me, this is the next great gay and lesbian communications challenge. Let’s hope this is the year that events, actions and opportunities conspire to bring us together to talk, listen and learn. Then, perhaps we will begin to address it.
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