Editorial note: The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart reports that Valerie Jarrett apologized yesterday, 10.14.10. See: “Update” at end of this post.
Valerie Jarrett is one of three Senior Advisors to President Obama. She, more than almost any other adviser, has his ear. They have been personal friends since they met, through the president’s then-fiance, now First Lady Michelle Obama, in 1991. The issue is, is President Obama’s inner-circle tone-deaf, or worse, totally clueless when it comes to who the LGBTQ community is? Do they think “gay” is a “lifestyle choice?”
Jarrett has an amazing background. Take a look:
Jarrett was born in Shiraz, Iran to American parents James E. Bowman and Barbara Taylor Bowman. Her father, a pathologist and geneticist, ran a hospital for children in Shiraz, as part of a program where American doctors and agricultural experts sought to help jump-start developing countries’ health and farming efforts. When she was five, the family moved to London for one year, returning to Chicago in 1963.
In 1966 her mother, Barbara T. Bowman, was one of four child advocates that created the Erikson Institute. The Institute was established to provide advanced knowledge in child development for teachers and other professionals working with young children.
As a child she spoke Persian and French.
Jarrett graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon, a New England boarding school, in 1974. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.
Until joining the Obama Administration, Jarrett was the CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company which she joined in 1995.
Jarrett was a member of the board of Chicago Stock Exchange (2000–2007, as Chairman, 2004–2007).
She is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago Medical Center, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and a Trustee of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Jarrett serves on the board of directors of USG Corporation, a Chicago based building materials corporation.
Of course, there’s a great deal more, but you get the idea.
Now, here’s the critical issue.
The Wall Street Journal in 2008 wrote, “Unlike Bert Lance, who arrived from Georgia with President [Jimmy] Carter and became his budget director, or Karen Hughes, who was President [George W.] Bush’s communications manager, Ms. Jarrett isn’t a confidante with a particular portfolio. What she does share with these counterparts is a fierce sense of loyalty and a refusal to publicly say anything that may reflect poorly on the candidate — or steal his thunder.”
In other words, she is one of three senior advisors who has the president’s ear and advises him on anything and everything.
President Obama, unlike last year, chose this year to not attend the annual HRC Dinner, which was held last week. Instead, he sent Jarrett, who gave a very nice speech.
Jarrett then sat down with the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capeheart and, among other issues, discussed the recent anti-gay bullying teen suicides. And called being gay a “lifestyle choice.”
Move forward to about the 4:20 mark:
http://specials.washingtonpost.com/mv/embed/?title=Valerie%20Jarrett%3A%20Obama%20’isn’t%20going%20to%20give%20up’&stillURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Fphoto%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2FPH2010101203100.jpg&flvURL=%2Fmedia%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2F10122010-31v.m4v&width=540&height=328&autoStart=false&clickThru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Fvideo%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2FVI2010101203062.html
Now, we all make mistakes. We all have said something we regretted, or found ourselves locked in an out-dated mode of thinking.
Watch the video. I have no doubt that Ms. Jarrett thought she was being as sensitive and caring and supportive as possible.
Sadly, that’s not good enough.
We don’t have any openly-gay officials high-enough up in the Obama administration as it is. When something “gay” comes up, the administration used to throw out Brad Kiley, the director of the Office of Management and Administration. But he does not have the ear of the president to the degree Valerie Jarrett does.
Bottom line, President Obama needs to do a few things.
First, make sure that his administration does not see being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender as a “lifestyle choice.”
Second, be the “fierce advocate” he promised us he would be.
Third, explain to the LGBTQ community WHY he does what he does. For example, WHY is he appealing the recent federal court decisions on DOMA and DADT?
Mr. President, it’s time. Be our fierce advocate on our issues, like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and DOMA. To quote Rachel Maddow, “You can either end it, or you can stop saying you will.”
***UPDATE 10.15.2010***
The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, to whom Valerie Jarret suggested being gay is a “lifestyle choice,” reports in “Valerie Jarrett is no Tony Perkins” that yesterday Jarrett apologized. The point, as I made above, is not whether or not she used the wrong words. The point is that those words are indicative, in my opinion, of where the president and his administration stand on LGBTQ issues. They are, sadly, in the past, and dangerously close to being on, as some say, “the wrong side of history.”
(H/T to Michael Petrellis for the video.)