WOW, Newsweek Cover: "The First Gay President"

[kpete]

UPDATE: Newsweek forwards the following preview for Sullivan's piece:

It’s easy to write off President Obama’s announcement of his support for gay marriage as a political ploy during an election year. But don’t believe the cynics. Andrew Sullivan argues that this announcement has been in the making for years. “When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights, you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work.” And President Obama has much in common with the gay community. “He had to discover his black identity and then reconcile it with his white family, just as gays discover their homosexual identity and then have to reconcile it with their heterosexual family,” Sullivan writes.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/05/newsweek-cover-the-first-gay-president-123283.html

[monmouth]

1. Since the President himself is not gay, "Pro-Gay President" would be more exact..n/t

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

25. No kidding.

Not sure why they titled their cover such.

[demosincebirth]

34. I second it.

[Alcibiades]

44. BEcause it will sell more copies

Also, if some bigoted low-information voters get the impression that Obama is gay, that's just a bonus for the corporate shills who run Newsweek.

They are pretty irresponsible with regard to their covers, regularly issuing distortions that are the modern version of yellow journalism. For one cover, they age-progressed princess Diana to mark her death, for another, they asked "Is your baby racist?", etc. Then there's this:



But they one I think they are actually referencing is the Sarah Palin "Saint Sarah" cover, in which they give her a halo. I guess they can figure if they can gin up sales by putting a halo on Palin, why not Obama?

Sure, the Atlantic sometimes does these things, too, but they don't have Newsweek's circulation. And, while their editors can credibly claim that the readers get it, that's not true of Newsweek: a lot of conservatives loved the "Saint Sarah" pic, even though it was obviously intended to be ironic.

[xtraxritical]

58. Newsweek is pap for the low info. voters. It's a glossy Enquierer. A yellow tabloid.

[tru]

112. thanks not for that image of Newt barf n/t

[nxylas]

75. I suspect it's an echo of Toni Morrison describing Bill Clinton as "America's first black President"

In other words, not meant to be taken literally.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

80. Agreed

However most people won't get it.

[Luminous Animal]

102. Morrison did not mean what most people think she meant.

Even figuratively.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002687543

[Bake]

51. It's a parallel to calling the Big Dog the first black President.

Duh.

Bake

[Harry Monroe]

90. I believe the implication is the first "Gay" President....

....as Clinton was the first "black" President. It's not literal, and even if it were, who cares!!

[targetpractice]

2. Not that there's anything wrong with that. n/t

[PCIntern]

3. WTF???

I know..I'm dreaming...a well-meaning fourth grade student was allowed to write the copy for the cover of an internationally distributed magazine...or...DC Comics has a new Bizarro World mag disguised for April Fools...

Jesus...no, i'm awake. Did someone tell Michelle about this, or like Rudy Giuliani's wife, who apparrently didn't know she was getting a divorce, did she have to hear this stuff from the media?

[tridim]

4. And many more "firsts" to come!

The next 4 years are going to be amazing.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

8. I believe so :)

[Rosa Luxemburg]

31. Yes!

[Poll_Blind]

5. IMO, this appears to be a riff on Bill Clinton being "The First Black President"

I'm not entirely sure most people will "get it".

PB

[PCIntern]

7. Out of tune riff , if you ask me... n/t

[Poll_Blind]

10. Yeah, I kind of agree. Beltway folks and politicos will get it almost certainly...

...but it's going to cause the same sort of "Whaaa?" reaction from people that that goddamned awful New Yorker cover did, with Obama and his wife dressed up like terrorists, fist-bumping in the Oval Office did.

PB

[loyalsister]

33. I hate to see the conspiracy nuts get more material

I know what I am going to have to confront next time I visit some family members.
I predict we will see the study about homophobes being in the closet expounded upon, and a long lost lover emerge.

[tridim]

9. It's pretty clever

Especially since he is the actual first black President.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. Ahh. Now I get it.

I should have "got it". Perhaps I saw red when I saw that bloviating pop-in-jay Andrew Sullivan's name.

[alphafemale]

32. That was my take on it. And the rainbo halow. lol.

GO! Bama!

[gateley]

37. Ah -- I didn't get it! NOW it makes sense! nt

[G_j]

52. if people here didn't get it at first, I don't imagine

the general public will. I suppose the idea is that people buy the mag to read further.

[wingzeroday]

53. ya

I thought that was pretty obvious.

[malthaussen]

6. Wonder what Michelle will think of that.

n/t

[CakeGrrl]

24. Why should she think anything of it?

Unless you're implying that she'd be worried about people speculating about her husband's sexuality now that Newsweek has put the words "First Gay President" under her husband's picture...in which case, I myself wouldn't give a rip if I were her.

[malthaussen]

26. No, not "worried"

Rather, I wonder if she'll be more amused or outraged at the presumption.

-- Mal

[CakeGrrl]

29. I imagine she'll not think much either way.

My point is that there's nothing to something printed in the media unless something is made of it.

I think she'll shrug it off as the MSM, at best, taking another opportunity to try to provoke speculation and reaction.

[ruggerson]

30. Or maybe she will feel honored and proud

That Newsweek, albeit in a satirical way, is floating the idea that her husband may possibly go down in history as a leader who helped push the envelope on marriage equality for LGBT Americans.

[stevenleser]

56. [phone]

[Vanje]

70. +++++++++++++++++++++++!!!! nt

[ruggerson]

11. I would hazard a guess that this won't go over well with some people

while most everyone was fine with the media pronouncing Clinton "the first black President."

[JohnnyLib2]

12. The reactions will probably be painful in many ways, but this sure will keep the discussion going.

Good for Newsweek.

[MH1]

110. As long as we also continue to discuss Romney's bullying of another student, and his failure to show

the least bit of remorse about the incident.

[spanone]

13. so President Obama, in spite of Michelle & the girls, is gay? who knew?

fuck newsweek....the wingers will only see the headline....and believe it.

[jenmito]

14. Bill Clinton isn't Black, yet HE was called our first BLACK president. n/t

[RZM]

22. I thought of the same thing

The first black president was white and now the first gay president is straight.

So here are my predictions for the future:

The first female president will be male. The first Jewish president will be Catholic. The first Muslim president will be an atheist. And the first atheist president will be Jewish.

[BlueDemKev]

71. Being Called "Black" vs. Being Called "Gay"--The DIFFERENCE

You are smart enough to make the connection. Unfortunately, many people who are so blinded by either their frustration over the slow economic recovery or simply their uncontrollable hatred for President Obama aren't going to see it that way.

The difference is that you can tell a person's race simply by looking at them. You CANNOT tell a person's sexual orientation just by looking at them. This makes a person's sexual orientation a dangerous weapon in the world of slander.

Being gay in and of itself is not a bad thing, but there IS a problem if a gay man marries a woman and they have had children together! This means that the man selfishly used the unsuspecting woman to try and appear as if he was something he's not. Remember Jim McGreevey in New Jersey?

I just got off the phone with Newsweek and expressed my profound disappointment with their slanderous and misleading cover. If anybody else wants to do the same, the number is 1-800-631-1040.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. By some.

Toni Morrison and Chris Rock are two that come mind.

[JI7]

41. yeah, but it became a common saying that many black people agreed with

the same can happen with Obama and it's a good thing.

[deaniac21]

78. Those were Bill's words

to describe himself.

[Luminous Animal]

103. But not for reasons that you suppose...

She was expressing disgust over Clinton being consistently slammed as being uppity. Not for any pro-African American community policies.

Do you regret referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President? --Justin Dews, Cambridge, Mass.

--People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race. (Emphasis mine).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/08/toni-morrison-on-calling_n_100761.html

Shedding light on Toni Morrison's characterization of Clinton as "our first black President."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002687543

[gateley]

38. It doesn't matter -- they're anti-O no matter what. Let them say what they will. nt

[Bok_Tukalo]

15. That's not James Buchanon.

<OPE>

[Bruce Wayne]

83. It wasn't called "gay" then.

[UTUSN]

16. Anything from Andy SULLIVAN is dross. (He liked Shrub, is a "traditionalist" like O'LOOFAH.) n/t

[MotherPetrie]

19. President Obama reads Andrew's Blog the Daily Dish.

[UTUSN]

23. Why? & I'm not being flip in asking. I would ask the same about

Ruben NAVARRETTE, whom I also regard as a traitor to his own home group (Hispanics), doesn't speak for his group, is always running after Rethugs adoringly, always ragging on Dems, always lecturing Dems on what they should do and who Dem candidates should be.


And, if anybody brings up how SULLIVAN later had an awakening about Shrub, I say, why would his poor judgment to begin with make him somebody to look to, since just about everybody here knew the correct answer about Shrub from before the beginning?!1


So, who does SULLIVAN speak for and why would this or any Dem president pick him as somebody to crowd out his reading time?

[MotherPetrie]

39. Yet Sullivan doesn't think Bush Administration war criminals should get a pass - Obama does.

Go figure.

If you think Sullivan is always running after Ruthugs adoringly, you must not read him regularly. He doesn't hide his contempt for them.

[Alcibiades]

45. He was late to the party

Sometimes I think his mistake was coming over here and assuming the GOP was an American version of the Tories. At least he admitted his mistake on Iraq, though, something a real American conservative never would.

[UTUSN]

63. Yip, it's easy to be an OBAMA supporter. When Libs needed uniting he was for Shrub.

If I can conduct a decades long vendetta for Tweety over his RAYGUN-Shrub-Mc5planes love, I can certainly do forever/NEVER for SULLIVAN.

My point is, when all of us here KNEW what Shrub was, didn't even dream how much WORSE he would be, from the beginning, how come such an oh-so-smart SULLIVAN thought otherwise WHEN IT COUNTED?!1

[Alcibiades]

101. It's a simple error

1. I'm a conservative
2. I'm a thoughtful person
3. other conservatives are thoughtful people

It's projection. I know he's a green card holder now, but someone like Sullivan cannot really understand American conservatism. He may believe that there is some relationship between conservative political theory as it's practiced at American colleges and universities and how these gentlemen actually govern. He is capable of understanding someone like Bush Sr., but never W.

[JI7]

43. Sullivan is an Obama supporter

[tblue37]

17. Wait for it--all the Teabaggers will now be ranting that

not only is he a Marxist/Leninist/Kenyan/Muslim terrorist, but he is also--OMG!!--gay. They will know it's true, because it ison the cover of freakin' Newseek Magazine!

They are not going to get the point.

Unfortunately, some bigots who might otherwise vote for Obama will also be turned against him because of this. I absoutely wish that our society were mature enough and decent enough to elect a gay president--or a woman president, for that matter--but I do not think it is.

Of course, I also wish I could trust the American people in general to udnerstand what is meant by this cover.

[Harry Monroe]

92. People this stupid shouldn't vote

Unfortunately for all of us, they do.

[BlueDemKev]

96. +1,000

[Yavin4]

18. It Could Have Been Worse.

They could have had him suckling the nipple of another man on the cover.

[rucky]

21. Between this and the Time magazine cover...

It's amazing that news weeklies have lasted this long.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. Whatever you do, don't read the comments.

There are some really disturbed people out there...

[Laughing Mirror]

105. Yes there are some really disturbed people right here on this thread too

Disturbed at seeing the word "gay" next to the word "president," one must suppose.

[SunSeeker]

106. No kidding. It really brought out the haters. nt

[demosincebirth]

35. Wingnuts will run with this. nt

[Rex]

36. Newsweek...makes decent toilet paper

much more effective then those glossy Weekly Standard pages.

[JI7]

40. i'm ok with "the first gay president" title, but i don't like the halo and the look on his face

i would have preferred something like Obama with a smile and maybe some rainbow flag background . or even something like Obama and a Gay Couple getting married.

[greyl]

42. That "artwork" is horrendous. nt

[Jamaal510]

46. I can see it now...if Obama goes on to do something like

legalize or even decriminalize weed, next Newsweek will be calling him something like "the first Dope Fiend president". With a cover like this one about "the first gay president", the possibilities are endless.

[Beacool]

47. Disturbing cover.

Neither is he a saint, nor is he gay. Newsweek is no longer a reliable news magazine.

Besides, Obama hedged his bet. He endorsed gay marriage, but left it up to the states to legalize it. Does he plan to do anything at the federal level?

[WI_DEM]

49. I don't agree with the cover either, but he certainly has done more than any other president

in history for Gay Rights--certainly more than Bill Clinton!!

[BlueDemKev]

61. That doesn't make him GAY himself

And that is what this magazine cover portrays. I am pro-women's rights, but that doesn't make me a woman, per se.

This cover is just the garbage the social conservatives need to rally their closed-minded bigots to get out and vote this year. You can expect to see this photo on countless mailfliers sent out by the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, and The 700 Club.

[Beacool]

67. Different times.

I think that it was a good thing that Obama came out for gay marriage, but for all practical purposes little will change.

[emulatorloo]

113. He is pushing to repeal DOMA

[WI_DEM]

48. NEWSWEEK=DUMB ASSES.

[DainBramaged]

50. Just trying to top Time magazine

twits

[Beacool]

69. Well, Time magazine is not far behind.

This week's issue where a kid is breastfeeding, who is tall enough to be standing while he's suckling, caused enough of a stir.

[AlbertCat]

54. So....

...ARE you ready to eat jellyfish?









Huh?





Huh?

[wingzeroday]

55. lawl

[Rex]

82. BAWHAHAHA!!!

EGGXACTLY!

[BlueDemKev]

57. This is fucking SLANDER

Any uneducated moron who sees this magazine while standing in line at Wal-Mart will believe "Oh, the president's gay", just like the birthers took that erroneous headline in a Kenyan newspaper which read, "Kenyan-born Obama All Set for U.S. Senate", at face value.

This is grounds for a lawsuit.

[Marrah_G]

59. okay couple of things

1) being gay is not a bad thing.

2) this was a play off of Bill Clinton being called the first black president.

It' not slander.

[BlueDemKev]

60. It's SLANDER

Falsely saying a man is a homosexual when he is married to a woman and has had minor-aged children with her is 100% slander.

Right-wingers will have a field day with this magazine cover just as birther lunatics had with that Kenyan newspaper's erroneous headline in 2004 which said "Kenyan-Born Obama All Set for U.S. Senate."

[Marrah_G]

73. It's not slander

[BlueDemKev]

95. Well, I'm sorry you can't see it for what it is.

But this magazine cover is suggesting that a married man with kids is a homosexual. It does NOT give good vibes, especially to the not-so-well-educated portion of swing voters.

[Marrah_G]

115. I'm sorry that you are freaking out as if he was labeled a murderer

Everyone knows he is not gay. Everyone knew Clinton wasn't black. Your meltdown is saying far more about you then anything.

[BlueDemKev]

117. Let me tell you what's freaking me out....

THE IDEA OF A REPUBLICAN TAKEOVER OF THE FEDERAL GOV'T THIS NOVEMBER.

[GreenStormCloud]

118. You have slander and libel mixed up.

Oral is slander. Print is libel. Since Newsweek is print then the term you want is libel.

It still isn't grounds for a lawsuit. As a person rises in public prominence the bar for libel also rises. Once you are President then folks can say or print anything they want about you.

[stevenleser]

62. OK everybody, calm down and think about this.

#1 - It is a riff on Bill Clinton being the first black President. Obviously, Clinton was not black, but it was his empathy with the Black community to the point that many African Americans believed he really got how they felt and what their needs were that earned him the title "First black President".

#2 - Being gay is not a bad thing and that was part of the whole point of the President announcing he is for equality in marriage. This is not an attempt at slander or to harm the President. If anything, Newsweek is signaling support for the President's stance on marriage equality. I get called gay and slurs against gays a lot for articles and videos supporting equal rights and when I do comment on such things, that is exactly how I respond. "I dont consider being gay a bad thing so what you said doesn't make me feel attacked at all". Boom. The end.

[BlueDemKev]

66. Think about THIS...

1) You can tell a person's race simply by looking at them. You CANNOT tell a person's sexual orientation just by looking at them. This makes a person's sexual orientation a dangerous weapon in the world of slander.

2) Being gay may not be a bad thing in and of itself, but there IS a problem if a gay man is married to a woman and they have had children together! This means that the man selfishly used the woman to try and appear as if he was something he's not.


I just got off the phone with Newsweek and expressed my profound disappointment with their slanderous and misleading cover. If anybody else wants to do the same, the number is 1-800-631-1040.

[TriMera]

76. And views like yours simply perpetuate the problem. n/t

[BlueDemKev]

97. WTF are you talking about???

You think there's nothing wrong with a homosexual man marrying an unsuspecting straight woman and using her as a "cover" for his sexual orientation (even having children with her) and then afterwards saying, "Sorry honey, I'm gay and you've been married to a homosexual all these years."

Homosexuality isn't the problem here, it's self-centeredness and insecurity. And Newsweek's cover, whether or not they meant to do so, portrays the president as being one of those self-centered and insecure individuals.

[Daemonaquila]

79. I have to disagree - the way they did the picture also is meant to incite teabaggers, etc.

This is Newsweek looking for big sales at the President's expense. If they just used the headline, then I don't think there's really a problem (except that the teabaggers will start spouting "OMG!!!! He's Muslim AND he's not a natural born citizen AND he's gay!!!!). But a halo? Really? When you put the halo and the headline all together, it comes across as mocking Obama with a really over-the-top image. I'm bi, and *I* would be offended if someone made an image like that of me.

The headline gives a nod to Clinton being called the first Black president (which was also weird and inaccurate, though not offensive). It could be kind of clever, but only to people who actually remember that reference. On anyone else it's lost, and the headline gets read literally. But WTF is up with the halo, rainbow or otherwise? It's like they're setting the cover up to go viral across every right-wing email blast for the next 6 months.

[Bruce Wayne]

85. So it's like saying George Washington was our first Jewish president.

James K. Polk was our first Mexican president.

[stevenleser]

86. If either showed a particular empathy with those groups, sure. nt

[Cleita]

64. I think he should own it, just like Clinton owned being the first African American President

Last edited Mon May 14, 2012, 02:47 PM - Edit history (1)

when the media tried to smear him with it.

[Luminous Animal]

104. Then he would "own" being a victim of elite politics. Because that was Morrison's point.

Politicos took 3 words out of context and turned them in to an advertising campaign.

Shedding light on Toni Morrison's characterization of Clinton as "our first black President."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002687543

Her own explanation in 2008:

Do you regret referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President? --Justin Dews, Cambridge, Mass.

--People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race. (Emphasis mine).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/08/toni-morrison-on-calling_n_100761.html

[Proles]

65. So now Obama is a

gay socialist, Kenyan Muslim terrorist, and Antichrist who eats dogs?

[BlueDemKev]

68. Yep....

The birthers, conspiracy-theorist nutjobs, and every other right-wing retard in America are dancing on Cloud Nine over this.

[donquijoterocket]

72. all that

And black, and a Democrat, all cardinal sins in the wingers catechism.Anyone who will not vote for the president as a result of this cover was not going to vote for him anyway.Wish this had been an unqualified endorsement but it at least moves the debate in the proper direction.

[emulatorloo]

114. Plus look at his halo, he has a messiah complex and thinks he is "THE ONE"

They've gotten about all the wingnut talking points in to one image.

Great for Michelle Bachmann to fundraise off of, maybe it is a peace offering to make up for the crazy eyes cover.

[bluedigger]

74. So now Time and Newsweek are both hidden behind the counter?

There's going to be nothing left to read at the checkout but holiday food issues and home decorating tips at this rate...

[TriMera]

77. Many of the replies in this thread are highly

disappointing to this LGBT American.

[Brigid]

81. OK, so most of us get the point here.

But I live in a state full of knuckle-dragging, mouth breathing, slack-jawed morons. Irony and subtlety are lost on them. They not only believe there is something wrong with being gay, but they'll believe Obama is gay himself, despite the wife and two kids. They're going to have a field day with this.

[Bruce Wayne]

84. Well, at least he isn't suckling a three year old

Now, wait... that was TIME.

[LiberalLovinLug]

87. Disturbing

As has been mentioned, not only is he being called gay, but also is crowned with a halo.

I can't think of a more flame-bait cover for freepers and baggers everywhere. It feeds into the "morans" out there who believe any hetro man that stands up for his gay brothers by supporting gay marriage must be "faggot" himself. (That's speaking from their mindset, not mine, if I have to say)

And then the icing on the cake is the halo. Just one more element to send them over the moon. They'll infer that the "librul media" is sainthooding him, with the Whitehouse's blessing of course.

[cr8tvlde]

98. Absolutely. Which rag was it that had the cover with him almost in blackface

...photo edited to look extremely, extremely black...and sinister. Now as a hallowed gay guy? Calculated and disgusting. I am temporarily in a very red state, after decades in a blue state. This above post is absolutely correct.

I think they are getting back at him for a joke at the WHCD...What is black and white and red all over? Nothing much, anymore.

[closeupready]

88. Tina Brown has turned Newsweek into a tabloid.

Or she's on her way to doing it, like she did with many of the other publications she ran.

[tclambert]

89. Newsweek had to compete with Time's shocking cover.

http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20120521,00.html

[Patiod]

91. That was my initial response as well, TC

My 88 yo dad took it literally: "the President is gay???!!!"

I told him it was probably the same thing as Clinton being "the first black president".

Here's my take: those who see it as a slur weren't going to vote for him anyway.

[Harry Monroe]

93. Exactly!!

Those who take this literally are probably too stupid and too Republican anyway (same thing, isn't it?). They were never going to vote for Obama to begin with. I cannot see why people are making a big deal over this.

[bhikkhu]

94. I think I went to school with the guy who wrote that headline

When I wore a shirt to school my mom bought for me it was "gay". When another kid got his hair with bangs that was "gay". When an friend of mine had to go home early because his grandma was in town, that was "gay". When I drew pictures of animals on my folders (instead of rock band logos) that was "gay"...and so on.

[LiberalLovinLug]

99. And what does supporting equal marriage rights have to do with being gay anyways?

I thought it was about Obama's evolution to realizing that all Americans should be equal when it comes to marriage. Gays and Lesbians just happen to be the ones left out.

Totally inflammatory in order to stir up the Christian Taliban and the insecure bigots.

[Matariki]

100. clever.

[ecstatic]

107. One of the problems with that metaphor

is that blacks really like(d) Clinton. From reading DU, I'm under the impression that the LGBT community isn't very fond of President Obama.

[Skrewdriver]

108. Blacks stopped liking Clinton after the 08 primaries when he and his wife used the race card

to further her political career. I was glad to see that love affair end, because the Clinton's have never done anything for blacks. Furthermore, I don't recall any major magazines with an image of Clinton as a black president. I agree with those who say this is slander for newsweek to sell mags at the expense of the president. There is nothing wrong with being gay, but there is something wrong with calling a straight man gay on the cover of a magazine. This could potentially be used against Obama with those who support him, but don't agree with his gay marriage stance. I hate Andrew Sullivan, he's nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing, he is not an Obama supporter.

[NCTraveler]

111. "Blacks stopped liking Clinton"

Now that's funny. Complete bullshit, but funny.

[Beacool]

116. I beg to differ.

If anything, the race card was used against the Clintons and very effectively I might add.

As for the Clintons having done nothing for blacks, are you for real?????????? During the Clinton presidency 22 million jobs were created and more AA were lifted out of poverty than in previous decades. What has Obama done for AA? Other than mostly ignore them, except when he needs their votes. Remember the complaints from the Congressional Black Caucus?

Furthermore, who do you think benefits the most from the Clinton foundation? There are thousands of people in Africa who are alive today thanks to Bill's foundation.

[L. Coyote]

109. This has all the appearances of anti-gay and anti-Obama politics

It seems intended to polarize rather than unite people, the old divide and conquer tactic.

Not to mention, there may have been a few gay Presidents!