AKA William

Share

The New York Times, Ana Marie Cox, and MSNBC’s Gene Robinson and the rest of us are fed up. And now even the other Gene Robinson –Bishop Gene Robinson — has had it.

Bishop Robinson who gave an invocation at one of Obama’s inaugural events, has given an interview to Jennifer Skalka of On Call:

JS: Let me ask you about Pres. Obama. There’s much consternation bubbling up in the gay community that he’s not visible on issues of interest to the community. Many say, for example, they’d like him to do more in trying to retract the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. And yet he’s been awfully quiet since taking office on this and other issues. Do you feel like he’s losing some goodwill among gays and lesbians?

GR: I think that a number of us are beginning to be impatient with him. The argument that he’s got other things on his plate really doesn’t hold water since he has certainly demonstrated an ability to multitask and to tackle very, very important issues at the same time.

GR: Also, I just saw a poll — I think it was yesterday or the day before — showing enormous support for an end to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ even amongst the military, even amongst conservatives, amongst Republicans, not to mention the general public. I still believe that he is going to move forward on that and on the Defense of Marriage Act and so on, but I do think patience is wearing thin, and I think it’s time for him to begin to give this some of his time and energy.

I know that he’s put together a study committee around ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and I don’t think he would have done that if he hadn’t been assured of what the verdict would be. I don’t know when they are due to report, but certainly when they do would be an opportune time for him to act. I think he did that so as not to fall within the same danger zone that Bill Clinton did when he tried to do it by fiat.

JS: But politically, what’s holding him back at this point. He has such an enormous mandate for his agenda and the Democrats so dominate Washington. Why do you think he’s holding back?

GR: I have no idea. I don’t think there is anything politically to be lost here. And I think it would only solidify his base of support in the gay and lesbian community. … We’re not asking him at this point to be open in his support of gay marriage. We’re talking about a couple policies whose time really has come to be over.

Read the entire lengthy article, where Bishop Robinson discussed gay marriage in New Hampshire and his own upcoming marriage, over on On Call.