Prop 8 advocate to deliver Obama invocation

Gay right groups are voicing their opposition to the choice of Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barrack Obama’s inauguration.

Warren is the outspoken evangelical pastor of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. - one of the state’s largest megachurches.

He was a major supporter of Proposition 8, the measure that amended the California constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the state.

“There is no need to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population,” he said during the Prop 8 campaign “This is not a political issue - it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.”

When LGBT activists demonstrated at Saddleback following the passage of Prop 8, Warren accused gays of attempting to take away his constitutional right to practice religion.

During the presidential election campaign, Warren hosted a presidential forum with Obama and Sen. John McCain. Warren did not endorse either presidential candidate.

People For the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert said Warren should never have been selected to deliver Obama’s invocation because of his support for Prop 8.

“[T]his decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans,” said Kolbert in a statement.

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese, in a letter to Obama, called for the invitation to Warren be rescinded.

“We have been moved by your calls to religious leaders to own up to the homophobia and racism that has stood in the way of combating HIV and AIDS in this country. And that you have publicly called on religious leaders to open their hearts to their LGBT family members, neighbors and friends,” Solmonese said in the letter to the President-elect.

“But in this case, we feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination. Only when Rev. Warren and others support basic legislative protections for LGBT Americans can we believe their claim that they are not four-square against our rights and dignity. In that light, we urge you to reconsider this announcement.”

During the election campaign, Obama drew the ire of gay groups for choosing gospel singer Donnie McClurkin to appear at rallies targeting evangelical Christians.

McClurkin is an ardent supporter of the so-called ex-gay movement and has called homosexuality a choice that can be cured.

When opposition to McClurkin surfaced, Obama distanced himself from the singer’s views, but did not remove him from campaign appearances.

Obama has appointed one openly gay person to his administration. He selected Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles, to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

On the issues, Obama supports repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on gays serving openly in the military; passage of the Mathew Shepard hate crime bill; and an inclusionary ENDA. He opposes same-sex marriage, but believes gay and lesbian couples should have many of the rights of marriage and supports repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.