You can't vote in your closet

Barack Obama and homosexuality being two of my favorite political causes, you can probably guess that I was pleased to see this story pop up on my blog feed, announcing that Melissa Etheridge will be one of the co-chairs of the Obama campaign's national voter registration drive. The Times article goes on to list a few of the other co-chairs and attribute it to identity politics:

Also on the list: the R&B star Usher; the rocker Dave Matthews; Kerry Washington, an actress known recently from the “Fantastic Four” movies; Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts; and Representative Linda T. Sanchez of California.

The co-chairmen were obviously selected to appeal to the various groups the Democrats are trying to bring on board — young people, blacks, Hispanics.

But wait. Melissa Etheridge is in whatever the RSS feed equivalent of a lede is for this post, and you don't mention the gays? Come on. We know the Democrats more or less take us for granted, and we know that you can't pick out a queer from a voter list the same way you might be able to predict someone's ethnicity or age, but let's be queer - oops, I mean, clear - about something. MELISSA ETHERIDGE IS GAY. She is exactly as gay as Usher is black, which is exactly as much as Dave Matthews is supposed to appeal to young people, at least according to the New York Times. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to chalk this up to overt bias (or even some vague gay-related discomfort), but in case anyone missed that about Melissa, you should know that she's one of us.

Which gives me a great excuse to reprise the most awkward gay moment of the 2008 campaign.

Melissa Etheridge: Do you think homosexuality is a choice, or is it biological?
Bill Richardson: It's a choice. It's... it's...
Melissa Etheridge: I don't know if you understand the question. Do you think I - a homosexual is born that way, or do you think that around seventh grade, we go, 'Ooh, I wanna be gay?'
Bill Richardson: You know, I'm not a scientist.

WORST ANSWER EVER. Maybe the beard will restore his wisdom.