Gay holiness made the cover of Newsweek magazine today for a story on “The First Gay President.” Obama has a rainbow halo in the cover photo that some say looks like black gay Jesus.
The point is that Obama is being worshiped like a saint by the LGBT community now that he endorsed same-sex marriage last week
The queer-spirit cover image illustrates an article by gay political writer Andrew Sullivan
about Obama’s bold stand for marriage equality -- and how his life as a biracial man mirrors LGBT experience. Thus Newsweek
declares him to be the “first gay president” in the same sense that Bill Clinton was heralded as the “first black president” for his support of and identification with black people.Blogs are buzzing with conservatives who make fun of Obama being shown as a “gay Jesus.”
I wouldn’t go so far as to give Obama a halo, but I’m happy to see an image of gay holiness in the mainstream media. Love that rainbow halo!
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The Obama cover uses religious iconography to make a political point. For truly spiritual visions of the gay Jesus, check out my Queer Christ series series. It gathers together reflections on the queer Christ artists, writers, theologians and others.
Needless to say, I'm more than a little ambivalent about the excitement surrounding Obama's somewhat belated and equivocal "endorsement" of marriage equality, and the expected media hoopla it has produced. I found Hilary Clinton's speech in Geneva much more effective and much less a political throw of the dice.
ReplyDeleteIt is profoundly to be hoped that this move continues forward momentum and does not generate the nasty backlash that so many previous gains for the LGBTQ community have produced, resulting in a GOP victory and a return to the disastrous policies of the neocons.
I share your ambivalence about Obama’s announcement and enthusiasm for Hillary, Trudie. It was a shock to see him crowned “the first gay president” and wearing a rainbow halo like a saint because I also thought his endorsement was belated and lukewarm. I was surprised to hear a newscaster on CNN breathlessly asking LGBT people, “How did you FEEL when you heard the president say those words endorsing same-sex marriage?!” I personally didn’t feel much.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in the days since then I have heard from a few friends who were honestly rejoicing, and it warmed my heart. The president’s words do have a big impact on a lot of people.