Obama and My Gay Cat

Paulie was fresh off one of his Chubs & Chasers events, in a good mood, so it seemed like the right time for The Talk. (By the way, don't bother asking whether he is chaser or chub. He says they hate being boxed in like that.)

I tell him it's about Obama, and he says, sweet Jesus, no more of the epic race speech, please. Enough with the human hangups. He says his sister is Abby Tabby--part Abyssinian, like Obama--and it's never been an issue in their relationship. I cringe of course, and he laughs. Typical human.

I try to explain that we don't say "Abyssinian" anymore and that even if we did, it would suggest Ethiopian, not Kenyan, but he tires of this. Cut to the chase.

So, okay. I really do think Obama is a staunch advocate for gay rights, Walnuts, I really do. But gay marriage isn't on his platform. Civil unions. Not marriage.

His eyes narrow. You could have told me this before I started my Log Cabin Obamican Kitties page on Facebook. (He has a lot of friends there; you'd be surprised.)

I say, I mean, you know why. He says it doesn't make his disappointment in his leader any less keen to know that his cowardly position is rooted in political expediencies that are in turn rooted in the very prejudice that singes his fur on a daily basis. This, he says, is the civil rights struggle of our time.

He has a point, but I soldier on and read him Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish post on why Obama is the "urgent, clear choice for gay voters." He's purring again. If there's one thing Paulie loves more than tooney fish, it's Andrew Sullivan's big, bald head.

But he still wishes everyone could love him as much as he loves himself.

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