Every time any gay person confronts the Obamas, all gay people will be called racists.

[yardwork]

Count on it. This will happen every single time a gay person - any gay person - ever confronts the Obama administration asking for equal rights. Instead of recognizing our right to protest, the Obama administration will counter by getting supporters to call us racists.

We have seen this over and over again. There is only one way to deal with this. Accept it and work around it. Don't take it personally. Don't allow it to divide us. Get out in the community and build bridges between gay communities and black communities. Recognize that this tactic is a convenient way for the Obama administration to silence a minority group within the Democratic Party that is asking for inconvenient rights.

Don't allow yourself to dwell on it.

[Drale]

1. Um were did someone call that lady racist other than stupid people?

People were speaking against her because she interrupted a talk about the plight to inner city kids to get a LGBT message. It wasn't the message it was the context. LGBT is not the only issue and nor should it be, violence against and under education of poor children is just as important a cause as Gay rights.

[yardwork]

3. I agree that it is stupid to call the protester a racist. That's my point.

There were a number of posts on DU and throughout the internet yesterday calling LGBT people racists because "we" supposedly attacked the First Lady. The truth is that most gay people didn't express an opinion about the protester who interrupted the First Lady. In my case, I thought it was rude and not a very effective way to protest. But my opinion and the opinion of most other gay people was swept away in a rush to judge us all. Not all gay people think alike.

[JoeyT]

6. Here's a whole thread of it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022950046

The OP: "All I can wonder about is whether or not these people would be so bold if they didn't have the first Black First Family currently occupying the White House to scream at."

Then it goes downhill from there. There's quite a bit of barely concealed homophobia in that thread. Some of it isn't concealed at all. Lots of "Uppity gays annoying their betters!" kind of shit from the usual suspects.

Some other choice quotes: "Let me get this straight - the venue was a private home, implying that this was a relatively intimate presentation; Ms. Sturz starts shouting to interrupt Mrs. Obama's speech, and Mrs. Obama got into her face? Sounds like code for "uppity angry black woman " to me! "

"In other words, she's saying Mrs. Obama was "uppity." n/t"

There's also a hilarious attempt to turn a fundraising attempt for the DNC into a benefit for inner city children that gets squashed, but that doesn't stop people lying about it.

[yardwork]

10. Note the tell-tale use of "these people."

[JoeyT]

2. Yeah, but there's a gay guy on the front page that supports Michelle!

So clearly they can't be homophobes.

Someone might ought to mention to him that several of the people cheering for him the loudest were active and gleeful participants in the great gay purge and only show up in any thread about LGBT issues to gripe about Republicans and point out that this is why LGBT people should only support Democrats, or to just tell LGBT people to shut it full stop.

If someone had told any other minority group they were selfish for wanting the only right they (allegedly) don't have, especially when there's a whole pile of rights they lack, they'd have been summarily nuked.

[yardwork]

4. It all plays out in a depressingly familiar pattern.

A lot of otherwise kind and decent DUers jump on the bandwagon. There's a pecking order and gay people are currently on the bottom tier. Those above us think that we should be grateful to be included at all.

[JoeyT]

11. Yep.

The same people for whom Choi was the blackest of villains for daring to protest at the White House.

One would almost think they only "support" LGBT rights because the party does, and if the party did an about face they'd be the first ones lining up to throw rocks.

[hedgehog]

5. I think it's possible that the particular woman involved is racist,

but that doesn't mean I think all LGBT people are racists.

By the way, who thinks all LGBT people are white?

[yardwork]

7. Why do you think that the protester is a racist?

I'm asking a serious question. I don't know much about her at all, so I'm curious as to why you think she's racist.

Most homophobes think that all LGBT people are white.

[hedgehog]

8. She used phrases such as "she got into my face";

I'm not certain she would have said that if, say, she'd been confronted by Mrs. Biden in the same manner.

[yardwork]

9. Really?

I didn't realize that "she got into my face" was code for "I'm a racist."

Learn something new everyday.

[frylock]

13. do you have anything to back up your assertion that the phrase is inherently racist?

or is this just a gut feeling?

[mitchtv]

14. Ridiculous

That;s how people talk

[Kurovski]

16. You might be thinking of " She got all up in my business", which is not what she said.

What she said is a common phrase for people in our age group. Does "Get outta my face" ring a bell as a way to say "back off"?

[hedgehog]

17. To explain myself - my impression is that Mrs. Obama

addressed her remarks to Ms. Sturtz from a normal distance for personal interaction between equals. To suggest "she got into my face" implies that Mrs. Obama transgressed into Ms. Sturtz' personal space. For Ms. Sturtz to use this expression in this case implies to me that
Ms. Sturtz thought Mrs.Obama stood too close to her.

[William769]

18. And what if Mrs. Obama did? Is it still racist?

Your impression is not the same as mine. I realize the meme on DU by some is to make all LGBT people racist at a pathetic attempt to divide & conquer. Guess what? It ain't working.

[yardwork]

21. Here's a video of the exchange posted on CNN.com

http://earlystart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/06/first-lady-confronts-heckler-one-of-the-things-i-dont-do-well-is-this-cnns-erin-mcpike-has-more/?iref=allsearch

Note that a reporter, toward the end of the video, uses the phrase "got in her face." Is the reporter also being racist? She seems to be in favor of Ms. Obama's actions. I don't detect anything negative in the reporter's portrayal of Ms. Obama's actions.

What I see in the video is that Ms. Obama stops her speech and steps down from the podium, confronting the woman who interrupted her. I think that is what the protester meant by "she got in my face."

I'm not seeing anything remotely racist in this.

Also, note that the hosts of this event, according to the CNN reporter, are a lesbian couple. They step in and roundly criticize the protester. I read in other accounts that the protester was evicted from the event. The entire crowd - presumably other gay people as well as straight people attending the fundraiser - loudly support Ms. Obama and criticize the protester.

I just don't see anything here that is racist. I see a protester who interrupted a talk by the First Lady. I see a First Lady who didn't put up with the interruption and "got in the protester's face." I see the hosts and other attendees of the event loudly support Ms. Obama.

Where's the racism?

[MNBrewer]

35. Just watched the video.

Mrs. Obama was within feet of the protester. That counts as "in her face" to me. FLOTUS came across as a big bully.

[LonePirate]

12. Also, do not draw parallels between former civil rights struggles and current LGBT struggles

The criticisms you will face may be unbearable. Evidently LGBT Americans should only lobby politicians for their rights and they should not resort to any activities that could resemble actions Americans took in the 50s and 60s to obtain civil rights.

[mitchtv]

15. Nope

doesn't rise to the level of a "real civil rights movement" and don't claim it does

[FreeState]

25. There are no black children of gays and no black gays

It was rude to interrupt the First Lady giving a speech on black youth poverty, because you know, things like not being fired for being gay doesn't effect those children, cause this is Iran and no blacks are gay!

It's right from the hate group NOMs play book.

[QC]

19. Do you remember how Dan Choi get trashed to hell and back

on this site when he had the temerity to criticize You Know Who?

Funny how the same people vilifying him now are all over Ellen Sturtz. Same names, same insults, same emotional overkill, same barely-hidden agenda.

[William769]

20. Do I ever.

Seems to be rinse, repeat.

[FreeState]

22. "Same names, same insults, same emotional overkill"

Yep and they are and will be here until the owners of DU decide they don't want those statements attached to their names in the history books. Believe me, 50 years from now they will be ashamed to read what they allowed, it's not just the hate mongers that will be embarrassed.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. And don't forget...

...when we claim it has happened, we will be called "liars" until we link to it, to which they will promptly say "that is not what they really mean."

[William769]

24. Hey wait a minute, I thought that only happened to me!

I guess we are all in good company.

[Skittles]

26. I would not like being tagged as RACIST

just because I'm somewhat combative

[yardwork]

27. Exactly.

I have no idea if the person who interrupted Ms. Obama is racist or not. I've watched the video and I don't see any evidence of it, but I'm willing to listen to any evidence folks would like to bring forward. However, whether the protester is racist or not, that does not make every other LGBT person in the world a racist.

Some people on DU (LGBT people and straight people) have defended the protester's right to protest. That does not make them racists. Nor does it make the rest of us LGBT folks racists.

Some people have come into this forum and accused us all of being racists, or said that unless we publicly repudiate the protester, then we are de facto supporting racism. That made me so mad I came back to DU.

Apparently the hosts of the event were a lesbian couple, and they kicked the protester out on her ear. Are they racists?

[Skittles]

28. I hear you yardwork

very disconcerting to see that kind of nonsense on a Democratic board - keep up the good fight!

[yardwork]

29. Thank you! I always enjoy your posts.

For the record, I don't agree with heckling. I think it is rude and counter-productive. I would die before posting this in GD. I strongly believe that most of the other people "defending" the protester probably feel the same way. It got our hackles up to be accused of racism.

In other words, probably close to 100% of DU disagrees with the protester's behavior and has no problem at all with Ms. Obama's reaction to it. Unfortunately, that fact doesn't match the homophobic script.

[Skittles]

30. you echo me completely, yardwork

I'm not a big fan of heckling, but I am very aware you don't see much heckling under dictators..........also falls into my theory of how boring this world would be if everyone toed the line. If they could just leave the homophobia out if it that would be great!!!

[yardwork]

31. Good point about freedom of speech.

It seems to me that the U.S. system worked well in this instance. Somebody exercised their right to free speech. The First Lady exercised hers. The owners of the private residence decided who they wanted to remain as a guest in their home, and who they wanted to leave.

None of this would have been a big deal on DU except a few people decided to use it as an opportunity to smear the queers, and some of us didn't roll over quietly for that.

[Skittles]

32. I do think Michelle could take lessons from Obama (re: hecklers)

Obama seems to take them much more in stride

[yardwork]

33. Well, he gets paid to do so.

Edited to add - as I've posted elsewhere in this group, I believe that the First Lady's public relations team worried that she might be criticized for her response to the protester/heckler, so they got ahead of the issue by blaming gay people and injecting the idea of racism into the issue. I resent that.

[MNBrewer]

34. "People NEVER protested Laura Bush"

except when they did.

http://archive.org/details/SexEd101LauraBushProtest

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/sep/17/nation/na-laura17

Protesting at speeches given by First Ladies is NOTHING NEW and didn't magically pop into existence when the Obamas moved into the White House.

[FreeState]

36. And Nancy Reagan, Pat Nixon

I dont have time to search each one - but all have been protested at some point (many by foreign students, Carter, etc.)

Nancy Reagan
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19870610&id=w4ZOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7_oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4061,1952489

Pat Nixon
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19700304&id=sAwqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4955,2683967

[uriel1972]

37. This whole racist thing was getting ridiculous...

It seemed people were claiming it was racist solely on the fact that Ms Sturtz was white and Mrs Obama was balck. What if Ms Sturtz had been black, asian, hispanic etc... Does the message change?

I would like to think DU was tearing itself apart, but it's not, it's just jettisoning a small minority.

[yardwork]

38. As long as the protester was gay, there would be some kind of smear against her.

Uppity queers have no right to ask for rights. We don't need any more rights anyway, as I read on DU repeatedly over the past few days. And we're all racists too.

[FreeState]

39. Shes "privileged"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2959015

because nothing says privilege like telling gay people when its okay to protest and whats an acceptable way for them to act is...

[nomorenomore08]

40. Goes along with the unreasonable, unthinking hero worship of the Obamas by some folks.

Like I've said, I don't find the First Couple personally unlikeable at all, I just don't bow to them as demigods.

[ruggerson]

41. A one dimensional, homophobic response

And it happens like clockwork.