(Jimmy Carter) America Is Ready for a Gay President

[kpete]

Source: big think

Question: Is the country ready for a gay President?

Jimmy Carter: Well I think the entire population of America has come tremendous strides forward in dealing with the issue of gays. And I would say that the answer is yes. I don’t know about the next election, but I think in the near future. Because step-by-step we have realized that this issue of homosexuality has the same adverse and progressive elements as when we dealt with the race issue 50 years ago... or 40 years ago. So I would say that the country is getting acclimated to a President who might be female, who might obviously, now be black and who might be as well, a gay person. Yes, I would say the answer is, yes.

Read more: http://bigthink.com/ideas/25348

[33Greeper]

1. Rachel Maddow

would make a most excellent president.

[me b zola]

16. I really think that should would, too

She is an admitted policy wonk and one of the brightest & most eloquent people that I have heard discussing politics. I would support her candidacy.

[Dappleganger]

20. Rachel is too damn nice.

We need a fucking bulldog who will FIGHT for the working class and the poor!!

[Still a Democrat]

65. She might surprise you

I sense she could be plenty mean if needed.

[bushisanidiot]

2. The country, meaning the electorate, isn't.

A gay president would be most awesome, but we don't even have gay marriage legal in all 50 states yet. Hell, it took us this long to elect a black president and it will take much longer to elect a female president. We won't have a gay president for at least another 50 years.

I think we have a shot of naming an out supreme court justice though. And that would be a HUGE step!

[AlbertCat]

21. We won't have a gay president for at least another 50 years.

All the people in and around my generation (I was born in '56) have to die first. I mean it. Lots of people born between my parents and my generation still care about the "gay". And, though less, some in my and my older sister's generation still actively are concerned about homosexuality. But my niece (in her 20's) really doesn't give a hoot. Neither do her friends and even her cousins, who's mother is evangelical and very authoritarian. When the 20-somethings of today are 50-somethings (and in power... if you know what I mean) then it might be possible.

But that gay Prez better not be an ATHEIST!!!!!

[No Elephants]

48. Too pessimistic, IMO. An out gay may not get your mom's vote, or even your sister's, but

a President does not need every single vote to elected. I know 80 year old heteros who are pro equal rights advocates and no one I know who is 45 or under gives a rap. It's a neo theo issue, for the most part.

[WillParkinson]

3. Oh please...

Mr. Carter I respect you for saying this, however the United States isn't even ready for Bob and Steve down the street to be a happily married gay couple.

[CurtEastPoint]

4. ...or serve openly in the military (fingers crossed!) n/t

[CLANG]

17. And all the ruckus over BHO tells me we really weren't ready

for a Black president either. The U.S. is one of the most backward Taliban-like country in the civilized world.

[pitohui]

27. ready or not, he's here

we may be backward, we may not be ready, but where there's a will sometimes there's a way

who would have believed in 2007 that our next president would be black?

[No Elephants]

43. I did. In fact, I believed it in 2004, after his speech at the Convention.

[karynnj]

60. By 2007, a very large percent of the people on DU

We all knew that it would be a Democratic year. In the beginning of 2007, most of us, no matter who we preferred if given truth serum would have said that it would likely be Clinton. After her complete overreaction to the criticism of an answer at the Philadelphia primary, I know I was certain that Obama would win. (Hillary playing the gender card and Bill yelling it was swiftboating showed they were too brittle - meaning if someone could unite the ABC* vote, he would win. Edwards did not seem capable of capturing more than a highly dedicated base. Obama was the only viable alternative to Clinton.

ABC = Anybody but Clinton. This term is valid ONLY in the primaries and this was an example of it. As Obama became increasing competitive with Clinton, I know Edwards supporters who independently switched to Obama specifically to block Hillary.

[No Elephants]

56. Some of the ruckus is about race. The rest is about his policies and behaviors.

Bush was perhaps the least respected President in my lifetime, counting both sides of the aisle and the general public, Carter being almost a tie. Both are noticeably white male Southerners--and supposedly very religious Christians, too. (I believe only Jimmeh on that one.)

The meme that the only reason for disagreeing with Obama is racism is laughable.

[24601]

30. Is he that naive or was he just being provocative? n/t

[No Elephants]

51. Neither.

[No Elephants]

49. IMO, you and Jimmeh are both correct. Please see Reply 46.

[Botany]

5. We already had a gay or bi President

Abe Lincoln

He slept w/ other men when his wife was out of town and wrote a love poem to another
man's thighs.

[shawn703]

10. I heard about Buchanan likely being gay

But didn't hear about Lincoln. I'll have to look that up!

[pitohui]

26. we've had several gay presidents as far as i know

if by gay you mean a man who has or prefers sex w. another man

lincoln's letters to his male friend and sleeping partner seem to have been semi-suppressed although they've been around for a long time, they mostly aren't acknowledged although they are known to be his letters, there is always some excuse made about how an obviously erotic letter to a guy he's sleeping with somehow isn't what you think ( i assume by the same crowd that never figured out walt whitman was gay)

the powers that be are happy to acknowledge those gay presidents that are incompetent -- buchanan being the name one always hears, dumbya in my view is quite likely another but it's past time that we acknowledged that a gay man can be a leader and make difficult decisions

say what you like about lincoln, he was a leader and he made difficult decisions and nobody can crap on his brain power

if by "gay" we only mean people who are "out" well that's a different matter and is probably what carter refers to...

[No Elephants]

52. While you're at it, look up Log Cabin Republicans.

[PfcHammer]

6. Prolly had several that were on the DL

[DonCoquixote]

7. The GOP knows this

Which is why they will groom Liz Cheney.

[Harry Monroe]

8. Oh please, this country wasn't really ready for a black president!!

Look at all the bile and hatred just because a black man is in charge. Multiply that by 10. This country is not ready for anything remotely gay until it gets it collective head out of its bigoted ass!!

[No Elephants]

59. Please see Replies 46 and 56.

[NobodyHere]

67. Right

The media is so much nicer to John Kerry, the Clintons, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi...

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[area51]

23. Yeah, that was my thought,

we've already had a gay president of GW Hoover. I believe he had to send his lover away to Poland when the speculation got too intense.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. lol. an american president not allowed to marry his husband or serve in the army

not gonna happen

[obxhead]

12. There is not an issue with gays to deal with.

There is an issue with bigotry to be dealt with!

[Playinghardball]

13. Bernie Sanders for President!!!

He'd have my vote over Obama...

[KamaAina]

14. PLEASE tell me you're not insinuating anything about Sen. Sanders' sexual preference.

Pleeeeeeeze?

[Playinghardball]

18. Not at all...

[No Elephants]

61. What in your mind was the connection between Sanders and this thread?

[xxqqqzme]

19. Did you mean Congressman Barney Frank?

[Playinghardball]

22. No!

I want Bearnie to run!!!!

[Behind the Aegis]

32. Because being "gay" would be an insult?

Do you think less of Sander's if his sexual orientation were not what you thought it to be?

[KamaAina]

34. Of course not.

But many, many others, even here at progressive (?) DU, seem to. So I get a little trigger-happy when I see stuff like that.

[Behind the Aegis]

37. Awesome.

I figured that was what it was. I have seen way too many of your posts, so I was surprised and hoped I was misreading. Thanks for explaining!

[No Elephants]

55. How about because being gay would be irrelevant to who should be Presdent?

[HughBeaumont]

15. I'm just wondering when the hell we're going to elect a PROGRESSIVE president.

I may be a waiting sumbitch on that one.

[Matilda]

28. John F. Kennedy was a progressive,

particularly for the Cold War standards of his time.

And look what they did to him.

[HughBeaumont]

47. 11-22-63 = Message Sent from the Oligarchs to the "People", IMO.

"Cross us, and you'll be taking a dirt nap in Arlington. This is OUR country . . . and don't you FORGET it." Kennedy had to rein in a lot of evil during his presidency; from obstinate Steel and assorted industry bosses to generals that seriously wanted to start a without-just-cause nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

[No Elephants]

62. No, he was a liberal. So were Bobby and Teddy.

[Matilda]

73. I did add the disclaimer that it was by the standards of his time.

There were those in the intelligence, military and industrial worlds to
whom he was a dangerous radical who had to be stopped at any cost.

[qb]

24. Does he mean in 2012?

:eyes:

[No Elephants]

63. The answer to your question is in the OP.

[goddess40]

25. I believe we've been there done that

although it's sad we are still talking about it and pretending that all our past leaders MUST have been heterosexual and that it's any kind of a deal if someone is gay or not.

[No Elephants]

66. Don't you think Maddow and Jimmeh meant "openly gay?"

America's always been ready for well-closeted gays.

For that matter, many say Obama is not really our first African American President, only our first visibly African American President. No idea if that is so or not.

[Alamuti Lotus]

29. I would settle for a halfway decent president, don't really care who they fuck on the side

Basic decency being a key general character trait I look for, and that hasn't ever been tried yet...and certainly not in my lifetime.

[Bluenorthwest]

50. Um, this is not about a 'fuck on the side' this is about relationships

A gay President would have a gay partner, not a fuck on the side. Would you refer to any First Lady as a 'fuck on the side'? No.
This is about the idea of an openly gay President, not about a person with stuff 'on the side'.

[sofa king]

31. My money is still on James Buchanan as the first.

Someone's sitting on those letters from Rufus. They'll come out.

[Behind the Aegis]

33. Yeah, right.

:eyes:

[AlphaCentauri]

35. of course

America can't even rethink it's economic and social future

[Divine Discontent]

36. God bless President Carter! It's important for people of his stature to say things such as this.n/t

:bounce:

[No Elephants]

68. Kudos to the first poster on this thread to get it.

[eridani]

38. I'm sure that the PTB can find one that's a corporate whore

Worked fine for women and minorities, no?

[No Elephants]

69. Liz Cheney for one.

[Fumesucker]

39. But not an atheist one..

:(

[FLPanhandle]

44. Nope. We couldn't be elected to city dogcatcher.

One day...one day.

[Bluenorthwest]

53. Pete Stark is House Member from CA 13th since 1973

Open about his atheism I think.

[FLPanhandle]

64. Cool.

I'm so used to life here in the bible belt, it's hard to imagine other places being more open minded.

[No Elephants]

70. Maybe the two are related. Being anti-gay is very much tied to the Bible, supposedly, anyway.

I think fewer younger Americans are neo theo and that is why fewer younger Americans are not consumed with homophobia.

And, as with gays, I'd be surprised if we've never had closeted atheists in the Oval Office. Indeed, I'd nominate Dummya as the most recent, if not the current occupant.

[democracy1st]

40. He needs to go rest,we can't even get a liberal elected!

[No Elephants]

58. Please see Reply 46. Hell, Im even optimistic the pendulum will swing in favor of liberals.

[old mark]

41. OK, so long as she is not a republican....nt

[Norrin Radd]

42. When will we have the first android President?

Married to a Roomba.

[Stevenmarc]

45. You mean Lincoln doesn't count

[No Elephants]

46. A President's putting it out there is very important. Saying "no" would have been awful.

Give Jimmeh a little credit, y'all. He's rocket scientist, ya know (for real).

[Bluenorthwest]

54. Jimmy is a smart man

This a a master redefining the parameters of the discussion. Jimmy refolds the envelope.

[madokie]

57. Smart man

that Jimmy Carter

I agree with him

[dbt]

71. The entire South will have to be sedated

for this to happen. Being born and raised and still choosing to live in Arkansas (GASP!), I can tell you that the only thing Goodle Boys hate worse than N****rs is Q****s.

[RugbyGod]

72. I don't think so

I am ready but the question was is America. Based on what I see, the answer is Moops.