Thread: How 25 Years of Gay Activism in Hollywood Has Paid Off

I don't think gay characters make tv any less family friendly, it is the entire content of the show that matters. Accepting people for who they are and teaching my children tolerance is a good thing IMO. Just because you are accepting of people doesn't necessarily mean you condone their behavior either. And I am talking about being tolerant of all groups gays and Christians included.

Tolerance means exactly that. You can tolerate gay couples, blacks, whites whichever, having the same rights as you....to get marrried to who they love, to have TV shows that represent them etc. You don't have to do it yourself or even condone it.

You don't have to believe IN everything someone else believes, just be tolerant of it.

5/9/2012
Why Team Obama dodges gay rights issues

The right has had a lot of fun watching Pres. Obama, his administration, and his campaign contorting over the issue of same sex marriage. But there is a serious message beneath the laughter. The most powerful man in the world does not knowingly make a fool of himself (esp. against his presumed ideological leaning on the issue) without reason. He does not pass up big campaign donations by refusing to sign an executive order barring same sex discrimination by federal contractors without reason. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...sl8T_blog.html

Yesterday, I opined in passing that Obama was backing off in hopes of keeping North Carolina in the mix of battleground states where the GOP has to spend money. http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives...-events-in-nc/ Others have suggested Obama’s concerns are bigger than that. The Hotline’s Josh Kraushaar suggested Obama’s gay rights kabuki is more about the Rust Belt than North Carolina and Virginia, asserting that Obama has a much better shot at winning white votes in the former region than the latter. https://twitter.com/#!/HotlineJosh/s...08255043043329 Kraushaar tweeted this shows Obama is still playing for Ohio and Pennsylvania, casting doubt on the VA/NC model. https://twitter.com/#!/HotlineJosh/s...08639157403648 He believes it shows that Obama’s path to reelection remains challenging, because it relies on getting votes from working-class whites who oppose same sex marriage. https://twitter.com/#!/HotlineJosh/s...08864622198786

If Kraushaar is correct, he was understating Obama’s plight. That is the lesson of the otherwise funny candidacy of federal inmate Keith Judd, who racked up an impressive 41 percent of the vote against Obama in the West Virginia Democratic primary. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...wtCU_blog.html The sort of Jacksonian, bitter clingers voting ABO in that state are also found in southwest Virginia, Western Pennsylvania and southern Ohio.

Moreover, Sean Trende suspects Obama’s reluctance to back SSM relates to the African-American vote and the importance of black churches in getting to his 2008 turnout numbers. https://twitter.com/#!/SeanTrende/st...78297365118977 Trende suggests that if Blacks voted in composition and number at pre-2008 levels, Obama has little room for error. https://twitter.com/#!/SeanTrende/st...78494870708224 Given that Black voters overwhelmingly backed the SSM ban on the ballot in North Carolina, despite Obama’s token opposition and a vigorous campaign against it by the NAACP, Trende is likely on target here. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...s-approve.html Obama likely needs very strong Black turnout in the urban centers of states like Pennsylvania and Ohio (and perhaps Virginia and North Carolina) to balance projected losses among rural and working-class white voters in these states.

In one sense, this is not news. http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/2...working-class/ But it gives needed perspective to the propaganda establishment outlets like TIME churn out about the confidence of Team Obama supposedly has in facing Mitt Romney. http://swampland.time.com/2012/05/07...-so-confident/ The media can write for months about how many paths to victory Obama has, and how few Romney has. But Team Obama is not campaigning that way. They are projecting confidence, while campaigning as though November will be a nail-biter. Team Romney would do well to follow that example.

http://patterico.com/2012/05/09/why-...rights-issues/

comments

1.Of COURSE, Obama is for SSM. His supporters know this.

That means that he gains nothing, and risks losing a lot, by actually SAYING he is for SSM.

I suppose he can be justly taken to task for not demonstrating the courage of his convictions. But Karl is right — he is playing this for the campaign.

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3.Obamanable is amoral, what, he worry? The blacks in general and Black Muslims in particular are dead against ‘gay marriage’, Trende is correct.

Why blow your base for 1.5%? Donks are wilier than Repugnants.

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I know many African-Americans as well as “liberal Christians”, all of whom are pro-life, who voted for Obama in spite of his being “pro-infanticide” (with at least some of them knowing he was “pro-infanticide”). I don’t know if people’s opinions on SSM would be a stronger or weaker determinant on voting for President Obama. I agree that he basically wants to pander to two different constituencies at the same time, but most politicians would like to do that and for Obama it’s his MO (eg., “bipartisan not Washington as usual” and “we won, elections have consequences, get over it” at the same time).

I imagine some people are tired of me bringing this up; and I’m tired of bringing it up to typically be ignored (this time, if you think it is a non-issue or you’re just bored over it, please say so).

Freedom of religion makes it possible for some people to believe that Jesus was/is God Incarnate and for others to reject that. The official government position is that the government will not affirm one view over another or otherwise support one view over another. (For some, this is interpreted as meaning the govt should not make any references to religion at all, others believe to never include any reference to theistic religion at all is to in effect support the non-belief view).

I think many people, especially those who are for SSM, think of the issue in the same way; one is free to either support SSM or one can not support it, there is no specific “right or wrong”/”yes or no” that can be demonstrated with evidence. I think many people who themselves are “not interested personally” in the issue nonetheless are happy to “live and let live”, and give legal sanction to SSM to those that want it.

The main question that I (and I believe many who are not in favor of making “SSM” legal) is how similar or dissimilar these examples are in their consequences. As I said before, most people (I think) agree with the idea that a student could write an essay on why they believed or did not believe Jesus was/is God Incarnate and the essay would be judged on the merits of how well it was written, how rational was the flow of thought, etc. If examples of each view were presented for an assignment to “write an essay about some strongly held belief that you live by”, the view itself taken would not be an issue.

What would it mean if two people of the same sex could “get married just like two people of opposite sexes”? How is/would that be different from approving “civil unions” (or whatever you want to call them) for a same sex couple that is identical to the legal rights and obligations of “marriage” as now defined? If use of different terminology is objected to, what are the ramifications of using identical terminology? It makes no sense in any other legal example I can think of to say that “I approve of X for heterosexuals but not for homosexuals” (or vice-versa). One can’t rationally say “Burglary is allright for heterosexuals but not homosexuals” because the law, and societal opinion, both recognize that “burglary is burglary”, and is wrong no matter the identity of who performed the act.

Will students (when asked to write on, say, an issue in the news) be able to write both for or against SSM and be judged on a “topic-neutral” basis as in the religious belief example, or would it be treated like pro-con is it OK to discriminate against someone on account of race?

I primarily want truth in advertising. Do people who are championing SSM want the law and societal opinion to ostracize people who disagree with the moral/societal equivalency of SSM and HetM? It is fair if they want to. I am sure there are people who believe that someone who “disbelieves” in SSM is just as misguided or evil as someone who is an overt racist, and it I believe that is a reasonable and logical view. But I don’t think that view is what many who approve of SSM are thinking; I think many believe, as the argument goes, “what difference does it make to me if two people of the SS want to get married”. Well, if law demands that you agree not only that two people of the SS can get married if they want to but that you are required to think that SSM is “no different than, in every way equivalent to” hetM, then two people of the SS getting married does make a difference to others in society.

The other concern is, “OK, SSM today, polygamy tomorrow”; if not, why not? Because the definition of “marriage” can be whatever we want it to be, but right now there are not enough people who want to define polygamy as marriage to do so? In other words, “No, it’s not ‘SSM today, polygamy tomorrow’, it will be at least 10 years before polygamy will be seriously considered”. I think historically polygamy has been far more common and accepted by society than the idea of “SSM”. Functionally there is more reason for polygamy, societies after a major war often have a shortage of men (Germany post WW II). (China is developing a shortage of women, though polygamy of the form of several men with one woman is not at all normally thought of when people speak of polygamy.)

http://patterico.com/2012/05/09/why-...rights-issues/

comments

Again, I just want truth in advertising. If you think there is a guiding principle that allows marriage to be changed from the union of 2 people of opposite sex to the union of any two people but prevents marriage to be changed to any 3 people please describe the principle and explain why it does not work the same for the proposed endorsement of SSM. If you think there is no guiding principle other than “words mean what society wants them to mean”, and that currently few people want a polygamous relationship to be defined as marriage, but if 10 years from now it’s ok if they do, then let’s just be clear about it.




May 09, 2012


Obama's Latest Gutsy Call



Presumably muttering "'Effing Joe Biden" off-mike, Pres. Obama ended the suspense and finally evolved on gay marriage. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-in-interview/

Jacob Sullum has more background. http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/09/ob...s-gay-marriage

And by way of Bill Jacobson we see that, having declared his personal view, Obama has exhausted his gutsiness; this is from ABC News: http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/05...ge-gutsy-call/

The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own. But he said he’s confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married, citing his own daughters’ comfort with the concept.

Bold. That puts the President spectating on the sidelines with me. Of course, I am not running for President... http://justoneminute.typepad.com/mai...wt-mostly.html

WORD RETRIEVAL ISSUES: From Obama's interview:

...when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf...

Oh, please - the greatest speaker in the history of speech meant "at my behest". Or maybe he really beleives these guys enlisted to fight for him and not the USA.

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/mai...utsy-call.html

Obama declares support for gay marriage
By Rick Klein ABC OTUS News – 5 hrs ago

Video of THE interview : http://news.yahoo.com/obama-announce...-marriage.html

President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president.

In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this place, based on conversations with his own staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and conversations with his wife and own daughters. "I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told Roberts, in an interview to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday. Excerpts of the interview will air tonight on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer.”

The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own. But he said he’s confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married, citing his own daughters’ comfort with the concept. “It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” the president continued. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know, believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

Roberts asked the president if First Lady Michelle Obama was involved in this decision. Obama said she was, and he talked specifically about his own faith in responding. “This is something that, you know, we’ve talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and hopefully the better I’ll be as president.”

Previously, Obama has moved in the direction of supporting same-sex marriage but has consistently stopped short of outright backing it. Instead, he’s voiced support for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples that provide the rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples, though not defined as “marriage.” At the same time, the president has opposed efforts to ban gay marriage at the state level, saying that he did not favor attempts to strip rights away from gay and lesbian couples.

The president’s position became a flashpoint this week, when Vice President Joe Biden pronounced himself “absolutely comfortable” with allowing same-sex couples to wed.

Obama aides insisted there was no daylight between the positions held by the president and his vice president when it comes to legal rights, but as other prominent Democrats also weighed in in favor of gay marriage, the disconnect became difficult for the White House to explain away.

The announcement completes a turnabout for the president, who has opposed gay marriage throughout his career in national politics. In 1996, as a state Senate candidate, he indicated support for gay marriage in a questionnaire, but Obama aides later disavowed it and said it did not reflect the candidate’s position.

In 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he cited his own religion in framing his views: “I'm a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”

He maintained that position through his 2008 presidential campaign, and through his term as president, until today.

As president in 2010, Obama told ABC’s Jake Tapper that his feelings about gay marriage were “constantly evolving. I struggle with this.” A year later, the president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “I’m still working on it.”

“I probably won't make news right now, George,” Obama said in October 2011. “But I think that there's no doubt that as I see friends, families, children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues.”

Obama’s decision has political connotations for the fall.

The issue divides elements of the Democratic base, with liberals and gay-rights groups eager to see the president go farther, but with gay marriage far less popular among African-American voters.

Just yesterday, in North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage. President Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, and its status as a 2012 battleground was guaranteed by Democrats’ decision to hold their convention in Charlotte this summer.

Obama’s likely Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, opposes gay marriage, and fought his state’s highest court when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004, when Romney was governor. Romney said on the campaign trail Monday that he continues to oppose gay marriage. “My view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “That’s the position I’ve had for some time, and I don’t intend to make any adjustments at this point. … Or ever, by the way.”

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-announce...-marriage.html

North Carolina voters approve gay marriage ban; liberals say: ‘go kill yourselves, you redneck ****tards’
Posted at 10:24 pm on May 8, 2012 by Twitchy Staff

North Carolina’s Amendment 1 has passed 60-40. Apparently the massive majority of people in North Carolina who voted to define marriage as between a man and a woman are hateful bigots. That’s why the righteous tolerant liberals had to remind them all via Twitter that they’re backward rednecks with a stupid religion who should kill themselves!

RAPE PEOPLE FROM NORTH CAROLINA IN THEIR BUTTS!

8 May 12

Well done North Carolina, you bunch of idiotic ****tards!

9 May 12

Can I just kill everyone in North Carolina? #angry #gaymarriage

9 May 12

**** the bigoted mother****ers voting for Amendment 1. I hope you all get your d**ks locked between two Legos.

8 May 12

Oh yeah and North Carolina can go suck my c**k. Even if they would hate that. ESPECIALLY if they would hate that.

9 May 12

why is everyone surprised that amendment 1 passed? these hicks must have prayed to jesus and asked him to pass the bill.

8 May 12

Oh, **** you, *******s in NC who voted for Amendment 1.

8 May 12

Are we really that shocked by North Carolina? Pretty sure they only abolished slavery in 2008. #bigots

8 May 12

****ing North Carolina.. backwards *** redneck hicks live here.. I would kill to get the **** outta this **** hole place!

9 May 12

Congratulations to the people of North Carolina - you've proven your rednecks credentials.

8 May 12

People who voted for amendment 1<<<< ignorants . go kill yourselfs .

8 May 12

http://twitchy.com/2012/05/08/north-...als-freak-out/


There's more ... but you get the idea ... sorry for all the vulgar language... for some this represents "tolerance"

As usual from the left...respect and tolerance....when they don't get their way.

/sarcasm

Same-sex civil unions bill fails in Colorado
By Keith Coffman | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado bill that would have allowed same-sex civil unions failed to advance to a full vote on the last day of the legislative session on Wednesday, setting up a potential stand-off with the state's Democratic governor.

Governor John Hickenlooper, who supported the bill, said he planned to call for a special session of the legislature to take up civil unions and other measures not dealt with by lawmakers.

Had the bill passed, Colorado would have become only the second state in the largely conservative, libertarian-minded Rocky Mountain region to endorse civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples after Nevada did so in 2009.

A vote in the state House of Representatives, where Republicans have a one-vote majority, had been expected to be close, with supporters of the bill saying they expected several Republicans to vote for it. A similar bill failed to win passage last year.

The bill's failure came as President Barack Obama gave a major boost to gay rights advocates when he told ABC News on Wednesday that he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, reversing an earlier stance from the 2008 campaign.

Under Colorado House rules, a bill must have a preliminary vote before a formal one, and those two steps cannot occur on the same day. The bill did not get a preliminary vote late on Tuesday, after it passed a key committee earlier in the day by a 7-6 vote.

When Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty announced late on Tuesday the bills that would not be heard, the civil unions bill among them, gay rights advocates in the gallery chanted, "Shame on you, shame on you."

The House sponsor of the bill, Democratic Representative Mark Ferrandino, who is gay and the House minority leader, told reporters the bill had advanced farther than any previous Colorado civil unions bill. "We'll continue to fight," he said.

Representative Mark Waller, a Republican and the assistant majority leader, blamed Democrats for trying to force a vote on the issue ahead of other bills. "They (Democrats) sat on this bill for 108 days," he said.

Nine states already allow civil unions or domestic partnerships, while another eight plus the District of Columbia have gone further and allow gay marriage or are awaiting enactment of laws legalizing gay nuptials.

On Tuesday, voters in North Carolina approved a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and civil unions, dealing a blow to efforts across the country to expand gay marriage rights.

The Colorado bill would have allowed domestic partners to make medical decisions for each other and become eligible for certain insurance and retirement benefits.

Brad Clark, executive director of gay rights group One Colorado, said in a statement that House leaders had decided to "play politics" by not voting on the bill.

"We will now take our fight to the election, and come November, we will win a pro-equality majority that will vote to protect all loving couples," he said.

Hickenlooper told reporters, "This is a circumstance where we are depriving people of their civil rights."

But it was unclear how soon a special session of the legislature would be convened, and it would still be up to members of the House whether to bring the civil unions bill to a vote.

Lawmakers were expected to work through Wednesday on the current session.

http://news.yahoo.com/same-sex-civil...001822206.html

4 reasons Obama's gay-marriage support is pure symbolism
By The Week's Editorial Staff – 5 hrs ago

Obama made history by bestowing the gay-marriage movement with presidential support, but it's not likely to change much on the ground
President Obama made history this week by supporting same-sex marriage "from the tallest and most important bully pulpit in the world," says Frank Bruni at The New York Times. With a few words, Obama was able to offer gay couples "a new, heightened degree of respect," and his announcement was a "poignant and compelling marker" of America's progress on civil rights. That said, it's not guaranteed that Obama's evolved views on gay marriage will have any impact on gay rights or the November election. Here, four reasons why his endorsement is mere words:

1. It won't change the dynamic in November : "People who care deeply about same-sex marriage are primarily clustered on the ideological left and right of their respective parties," say Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake at The Washington Post. They would be voting for or against Obama "no matter what he did" about same-sex marriage; and "for everybody else, it's a back-burner issue — at best." For most voters, it's just a "temporary distraction" from the economy.

2. Neither Obama nor Romney wants to talk about it : While both sides will use the issue "to energize their bases," Republicans and Democrats both know that "there is danger in inflaming passions and raising expectations about one of the most volatile social and cultural issues of the day," says Karen Tumulty at The Washington Post. Obama still wants to win over states where voters have banned same-sex marriages, while Romney is making a push for independents who might support them. So both would rather talk about something else.

3. Obama's support stops at the states : Obama said he personally supported same-sex marriage, but conceded that states should be able to determine their own marriage laws. "That is a half-assed, cowardly cop-out," says John Cook at Gawker. It means that states can continue to pass gay-marriage bans (as North Carolina did earlier this week), and that Obama doesn't believe that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.

4. He's just mirroring his administration's views : Obama is merely playing catch up with his administration's legal position… "without going beyond it," says Emily Bazelon at Slate. In February 2011, the Justice Department began to refrain from defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. With that move, the Justice Department essentially said that the federal government should recognize the legal rights of same-sex couples in states where gay marriage is legal. Obama is just officially supporting that idea.

http://news.yahoo.com/4-reasons-obam...145000328.html

comments

Gay marriage is an issue that the states have a right to decide. The Pres, by stating an view on the issue, is doing nothing to effect any laws. So yes it is symbolism, it shows what he believes in.

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He has stated repeatedly that he does NOT believe in "gay" marriage, but now, that election time is nearing, he flip plopped once again. He has no standards or shame.

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So what. Obama and Biden have finally shown that they will say and do anything to be reelected. What else is new?

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Memo: Henceforth, the term "Flip-Flop", when referring to a liberal/socialist, will now be changed to, "Evolve".

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Democrats can see a landslide coming. This is damage control. Whether the voters reject the Commie leaning Democrats for Eisenhower, or the rejection of Humphrey by the voters, the Democrats try to cloud the issue. Now when President Obama loses, it won't be incompetence.

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I guess 'symbolism' is the new word for 'pandering'

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Obama calls pastors to explain gay marriage support; black churches ‘conflicted' by president's decision
By Dylan Stableford | ABC OTUS News – 3 hrs ago.

After making his historic remarks on same-sex unions last week, President Barack Obama led a conference call with black church pastors to explain his support for gay marriage, the New York Times reports. The call, which was held with "eight or so African-American ministers," occurred about two hours after the president's interview with ABC's Robin Roberts.

Obama explained to them that he struggled with the decision, pastors on the call told the paper, but several voiced their disapproval.

"They were wrestling with their ability to get over his theological position," the Rev. Delman Coates, a Maryland pastor who was on the call, told the Times.

The conference call was part of a quiet effort by the president to control potential political damage caused by his support of same-sex marriage.

According to the Times, Obama phoned "at least one [the Rev. Joel C. Hunter] of the five spiritual leaders he calls regularly for religious guidance, and his aides contacted other religious figures who have been supportive in the past."

Hunter, the pastor of a conservative megachurch, said he wasn't surprised Obama didn't ask him advice before the ABC interview because "I would have tried to talk him out of it."

At services on Sunday, black churches were conflicted about President Obama's support of gay marriage, according to the USA Today:

Some churches were silent on the issue. At others, pastors spoke against the president's decision Wednesday--but kindly of the man himself. A few blasted the president and his decision. A minority spoke in favor of the decision and expressed understanding of the president's change of heart.

Bishop Timothy Clark, head of the First Church of God, a large African-American church with a television ministry in Columbus, Ohio, was perhaps most typical. He felt compelled to address the president's comments at a Wednesday evening service and again Sunday morning. He was responding to an outpouring of calls, e-mails and text messages from members of his congregation after the president's remarks.

What did he hear from churchgoers? "No church or group is monolithic. Some were powerfully agitated and disappointed. Others were curious. 'Why now? To what end?' Others were hurt. And others, to be honest, told me it's not an issue and they don't have a problem with it."

What did the bishop tell his congregation? He opposes gay marriage. It is not just a social issue, he said, but a religious one for those who follow the Bible. "The spiritual issue is ground in the word of God." That said, "I believe the statement the president made and his decision was made in good faith. I am sure because the president is a good man. I know his decision was made after much thought and consideration and, I'm sure, even prayer."

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-pa...151738220.html

comments

I wonder how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would react of Obama's statement?

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Why only black pastors? I wonder how the white, hispanic and asian pastors feel about that.

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If Bush was holding conference calls with groups of pastors to discuss policy positions, the ACLU and liberals would be crying to high heaven (pun intended) about separation of church and state.

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1st he tells the Catholics to change thier views ,now he wants to micro manage the black church, LOL.

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How come he did not call any "white " pastors, "Hispanic" pastors, Catholic priests, rabbis, Mormon priests,etc.? Isn't he supposed to be concerned and represent ALL AMERICANS? I would love to see the outrage if a republican president of any color called only "Whie evangelical" pastors!

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It is not up to the state to tell the church how it feels about what should remain a private matter.