Australian applause for Obama
Along with the many other cheer squads across the globe, Australian gay rights groups have warmly welcomed Barack Obama’s victory as US President-elect.
The Australian Coalition for Equality (ACE) -œapplauded Obama for referring to gay Americans in his acceptance speech.
In that speech Obama said America had spoken for a future of change and for a more united nation.
-œYoung and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled … we are, and always will be, the United States of America, he said.
ACE spokesman Rodney Croome said Obama had shown a -œwillingness to embrace the broader gay community that Australian PM Kevin Rudd has been unable to.
He said although the two have a similar same-sex policy agenda, Obama has set a -œnew standard in acknowledging that the broader gay community has a -œvalued place in society.
-œKevin Rudd has never explicitly included us in his vision of Australia’s future in the way Barack Obama has included LGBT people in his vision of a new America, Croome said.
He described the outcome of Proposition 8, which will effectively ban same-sex marriage in California, as -œdisappointing but not surprising given the hateful and well-resourced campaign run by opponents of marriage equality.