Barack Obama: Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters

Photo credit Getty Images/Win McNamee

Raise your hand if you thought there was a chance in hell Barack Obama was going to discuss same-sex marriage during his speech tonight accepting the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America. Anyone? Anyone?

I sure as hell wasn't.

Face it, no matter how much progress we've made on gay rights, it's still an issue that that many in the Republican party have hammered the Democrats with over the years and that many Democrats prefer to discuss behind closed doors and off-camera. And as Dennis noted in the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! this convention hasn't been terribly lavender-hued (or at least what we've seen on television hasn't).

So I was pretty much stunned that while giving the speech that could very well make or break his run for the presidency, Barack actually brought up the issue. Said Barack:

I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.

Notice he didn't say he supports same-sex marriage. In fact, Barack doesn't (though he does support granting same-sex couples virtually all of the rights that come with marriage). Nonetheless, the fact that he acknowledged our existence, the fact that we are discriminated against and suffer grave injustice, not to mention the fact the he used the word "love" took me by complete surprise. And while I disagree with him on same-sex issue, clearly we are going to gain far more protection under an Obama presidency than a McCain one. In fact, I suspect the only way we're going to hear about gay issues during the Republican convention next week in Minneapolis is when they are cited as proof of the moral decline of America and the threat we pose to America.

So what does the AE crowd have to say about the speech?