Here's my problem with the Newsweek cover: It throws us back three decades in a moment where you have to dance...

Here's my problem with the Newsweek cover: It throws us back three decades in a moment where you have to dance really fast just to keep up with the lingo regarding this particular civil rights issue. When I first came out as a straight person who was vocal in support of gay rights, we didn't have the "straight ally" terminology to help people understand what we were. I was at college, and when I came home for holidays and called people on their homophobia, I got a lot of "Lookit, boy turned gay in the big city." I shrugged and blew it off, but it was unhelpful to the battle. I get that this ("lookit, preznit turned gay") is not the message the Newsweek writers and editors thought they were sending, but it's sure's hell the message I received.
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ht_newsweek_cover_barack_obama_jt_120513_wg.jpg