Whitlock: Barack Obama’s letter to librarians is yet another ‘Obamination’

Newsweek gave Barack Obama the title of “First Gay President” on its May 21, 2012 cover.

Andrew Sullivan, a gay writer, wrote the accompanying story. Filled with glee over Obama’s public support of gay marriage, Sullivan gushed over the then-president as he politicked for a second term:

“When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights,” Sullivan wrote, “you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work.”

Yes, in hindsight, Obama’s path to becoming the LGBTQIA+ community’s best friend was all but inevitable. Perhaps it was his mission from the outset.

Tying the journey of black people to the cause of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders is Obama’s most enduring and impactful legacy. It’s a legacy he guards with vigilance and tremendous courage.

Monday, Obama quadrupled down on the alliance he forged between blacks and gays, penning a letter to American librarians encouraging them to stand against the forces trying to eliminate books deemed too sexually mature for children.

“Today, some of the books that shaped my life — and the lives of so many others — are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives,” the former president wrote. “It’s no coincidence that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Obama did not name the books that shaped his life and that are under attack. The book motivating many parents to object across the country is "Gender Queer: A Memoir." It’s written by Maia Kobabe, a 34-year-old San Francisco-raised cartoonist and author who claims he is non-binary. According to a glowing New York Times profile in 2022, "Gender Queer," published in 2019, is the most polarizing and “challenged” book inside American libraries.

Written for elementary and junior high students, the book depicts, describes, and illustrates numerous gay sex acts. The American Library Association awarded the book a 2020 Alex Award, an honor given to books written by adults that have special appeal to 12- to 18-year-olds.

In his letter to librarians, Obama referenced authors Mark Twain, Toni Morrison, Walt Whitman, and James Baldwin.

Maybe Obama is mad that some critics ripped "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" for its crudeness in 1885 and, in more recent years, for its repeated use of the N-word. Maybe that’s driving Obama, but I doubt it.

Referencing Twain is a distraction. Morrison, Whitman, and Baldwin underscore Obama’s real point. Morrison is a black woman and Whitman and Baldwin are two of the most famous gay writers in American history.

Obama’s letter is a reminder to black people in general and black women in particular that our freedom is directly tied to the freedom and support of the LGBTQ community.

Black women and gays are the peanut butter and jelly of the Democratic Party. White suburban feminists are the Wonder Bread. Spread gays and blacks across liberal white women and you have the perfect political sandwich. It’s a coalition of voters who have been programmed to hate masculinity, the patriarchy, and life-giving heterosexuality.

Cucked men — white and black — are the glass of milk used to wash down the sandwich.

This political alliance is how you get a large group of people to believe children need pornographic library books in order to be well-rounded.

Obama knows this entire book-banning controversy centers around hyper-sexualized material. He’s seen the viral social-media videos of outraged parents reading the books aloud at school board meetings. He knows that his political party is being blamed for stealing the innocence of children.

His letter to librarians is a cleverly played race card.

Will it work? Are black women so lost in racial idolatry and the spoils of perceived power that they will sacrifice their children to sexual perversion? Are white feminists so filled with bitterness and lust for power that they will sacrifice other people’s children to sexual perversion?

I can’t answer these questions. We live in a time where people think nothing of grown men gyrating their genitals in front of kids at Pride parades. We live in a time when Obama’s skin color provides him the cover to justify and promote blatant immorality and dishonesty.

We live in a public square filled with whataboutism. We can’t complain about Obama’s hypocrisy and lack of morality because George W. Bush and Dick Cheney pretended Osama bin Laden, from a cave 5,000 miles away, collapsed Building 7 without an airplane. And what about January 6? And Brett Favre?

We expect and accept that our politicians lie to us. The acceptance of those lies doesn’t mean we should ignore the people sexualizing and grooming children.

Some sins are sins, and others are an "Obamination."

The first gay president is a master of deception, confusion, and hiding in the closet.