President Obama Talks About The First Influential Gay Person In His Life

President Obama Talks About The First Influential Gay Person In His Life

“I’m not sure who the first openly gay person I met was, but Dr. Lawrence Goldyn, one of my college professors, is a man who stands out to me. I took his class freshman year at Occidental. I was probably 18 years old — Lawrence was one of the younger professors — and we became good friends. He went out of his way to advise lesbian, gay, and transgender students at Occidental, and keep in mind, this was 1978. That took a lot of courage, a lot of confidence in who you are and what you stand for. I got to recognize Lawrence last year at our Pride Month reception at the White House, and thank him for influencing the way I think about so many of these issues.”

— President Obama in an interview with Out magazine, in which he’s named “Ally of the Year”Barack Obama 05

Previous RANTINGS OF A RANDOM (Gay) NIGERIAN (Entry 31)
Next Facebook Post Of The Day III

About author

You might also like

Profiles 49 Comments

“If You Want Change, You Have To Challenge The Status Quo.” – Interview with Bisi Alimi

The following is the English version of Bisi Alimi’s recent interview with Huffpost Germany, which is part of his TEDx Berlin talk tomorrow, Saturday, a talk about HIV among gay

Profiles 11 Comments

“I Was Like A Fish Out Of Water.” Kenny Brandmuse Gives Tell-All Interview

So Kenny Brandmuse, the man who broke the internet in 2015 with his coming out, recently sat to an interview with a few media outlets to give a very illuminating

Our Stories 33 Comments

‘I died several times, but I didn’t die.’ Brand Expert, Kenny Badmus, shares his story of living with HIV in the last 15 years

To mark World AIDS Day which was yesterday, December 1st, Nigerian brand expert and founder of Orange Academy, Kenny Badmus, took to his Facebook page to share his inspiring story

14 Comments

  1. Henrie
    November 12, 06:26 Reply

    That’s my dream president speaking.

  2. Max
    November 12, 06:50 Reply

    #DreamPresident

  3. Mandy
    November 12, 07:03 Reply

    Where’s DM and his cynicism? Does he still think Obama is a scheming dubious ally of the LGBT?

  4. Khaleesi
    November 12, 07:47 Reply

    Makes me wonder if there’ll ever be any public acknowledgement of gays in Nigeria in any official capacity, maybe in the year 2515 … When the present generation’s great-great grandchildren’s great-great grandchildren’ grandchildren will hold office ***rolls eyes longingly towards Washington DC***

  5. Lothario
    November 12, 10:13 Reply

    I swear, when you think about how far Nigeria has to go in LGBT issues, you just wonder what you’re doing. No matter how hard you try to live your life so you don’t blip any radars, a day will come when you will have to make a choice….. Freedom to be you or society’s expectations. At what point will we get here?

  6. Tobby
    November 12, 16:42 Reply

    We should all be like Obama

  7. ken
    November 12, 18:13 Reply

    How I wish PP will be the first gay person Buhari will meet….hehehe

  8. Shag
    December 12, 20:54 Reply

    Even tho we have some parliamentarians who would want to support LGBT policies. Fear of the unknown won’t allow them.its gonna take a big break like some sorta revolution for LGBT to gain stand in dis sicko country. Pifffffff

  9. Vin
    February 16, 01:39 Reply

    pink panther, pls how do I send something to you for review and possible publication

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.