Gay Rights = Civil Rights

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” – President Barack Obama

What does this quote mean to you? When I watched the inauguration and heard the President of the United States saying those words, I was in a state of shock. It is one thing for Obama to come out in favor of gay marriage, but it is something completely different for Obama to not only mention gay people in his inauguration speech, but also to make the case in that same speech that gay rights is a civil rights issue. I loved that his speech was inclusive and I loved that he took a few steps forward in his support of the gay community. There was a little backlash, but the country seemed more concerned with Beyonce-gate than with the content of the president’s speech. I’m not sure what that says about our country. Are we ignoring things that we don’t want to talk about or do we really think that a pop star allegedly lip-syncing at the inauguration is more important than the president joining the ever increasing chorus of people who argue that gay rights is a civil rights issue?