History so large

                            

This evening, there will be an op-

portunity to listen to the first

President of the United States, ev-

er to seek election on the basis

of securing actual rights which did

not exist until he fought for them

and won them. There had never been

a right to health care in this na-

tion until he secured it as a mat-

ter of law. There had never been a

right to serve in the armed services

until he secured it as Commander in

Chief and with permanent legislation, 

irrespective of gender preference.

There is still not now a universal 

right to marry in the United States,

and he is the first President ever to

call for it and to campaign for it.

At the same time, it is striking, that

he is implacably opposed by one Party

which vows to destroy each of these

rights, and that their policies still

draw mesmerised attention. Who is anim-

ated in this land, every day on get-

ting out of bed, by the prospect of

destroying someone's life as a matter

of political satisfaction? 

There is, indeed, a candidate for the

Presidency who is willing to wear our

shame and to promulgate it, zealously.

I am thankful there is Barack Obama to

defeat him, and I cannot conceive of

a more worthy human act.

iii    Francisco Lachowski

iv     Andrew Cooper

v      André Boleyn

viii  Hedi Slimane, photography

x      Stonewall Inn, 1969

xiii  Clément Chabernaud

xv    Anderson Weisheimer