Star Tribune Letter
Posted January 17th, 2009 at 7:23 pm by TomStar Tribune Letter of the Day
by Randi Reitan
1/17/09
I am looking at this inauguration through a mother’s eyes. Barack Obama’s campaign filled this mother with hope, and our whole family cheered his victory on election night. The news media have shared the Obama family story in detail. Both Michelle and Barack have talked about their joy in being parents. I am also a parent who has great hopes and dreams for my four children. On the day each one was born, I held them with a heart overflowing with thanksgiving and pure joy. Jacob, our youngest son, happens to be gay. I had to educate myself when he told us. I was ignorant about homosexuality. It became a journey of listening and learning. I learned very quickly after Jacob shared he was gay that the gay community is treated as lesser children of God by many in the faith communities. I was devastated when I was told by a pastor that Jacob must change his sexual orientation or live a dark, sad life of sin. This tragic scene is played out in churches across this country. It has torn families apart and destroyed lives. It is with the memory of those dark days, I wept at the news that Barack Obama had asked the Rev. Rick Warren, a minister who treats gay people as lesser children of God, to lead our nation in prayer on this historic inauguration. As a mother who dearly loves her children, I ask Barack Obama: Would you want your own children treated as Jacob and all those in the gay community are treated by Rick Warren? As a wife who has found such joy in marriage, I ask Obama: Would you want your own children denied the right to marry the person they love? There should be no place for oppression in this country. Right now a whole segment of society lives with discrimination every day of their lives. You don’t build bridges of understanding and move this country forward by oppressing a group of people. My prayer on the day of the inauguration will come from a mother’s heart. I will pray that Barack Obama sees the discrimination the gay community faces not as differences we simply disagree on but as a horrible oppression that must end.
