Textbooks will have to be re-written as history has most definitely been made.
On 20th January 2009, Barack Obama will be the first African-American to be sworn in as President of the United States of America. Winning California and Washington states in the early hours of the 4th November gave Obama the required 271 electoral college votes to win the election and take the White House by storm.
With the first man of colour to be democratically voted in as President, it would seem that the future is looking much brighter for America - a country endlessly at war and sliding into an unforgiveable recession. Minorities are now beginning to vehemently raise their heads, turning to Obama to lead them out of the societal oppression they have experienced for the past 8 years of Bush’s reign. And America’s 25 million-strong gay population are at the head of the campaign.
In the run-up to the election, Obama and Republican rival McCain were placed in the spotlight answering controversial questions regarding gay marriage and rights available (or not) for America’s LGBT community. Whilst countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, New Zealand and Britain have already passed legislation to legally allow same-sex couples to marry, America has not followed suit and remained sternly anti-gay civil unions.
All, however, does not seem lost as a glimmer of hope shines faintly in the distance.
Barack Obama, it seems, is America’s gay population’s key to a fairer, brighter future. In an interview with CBN News, Obama clearly reported his support of gay civil unions, stating that “everyone has the right to be treated fairly.”
Although he believes that marriage, in its most traditional sense, is a religious ceremony between a man and a woman, he also believes that the rights associated with marriage should be extended to all US citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or preference.
What Obama actually does in regards to gay marriage and civil rights are yet to be seen. His term as President commences on 20th January 2009 so we shall have to wait until then; let’s simply hope that the first African American President-elect sticks to his previous rhetoric and paves a more equal path for America and the world’s LGBT community.
Written by James McCormick
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