# if Obama were gay as alleged, what would he have to lose confessing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756 "2011-10-06T04:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/21 "2011-10-06T08:06:02Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > So we’ve had the rumour he is not American, we’ve had the rumour that he is Muslim, now we have the rumour he is gay. Can we just get on with the rumours he’s a drug addict and pedophile already? I’d hate to think there anything that’s been missed. You do realize that in the very same story that started the rumour that Obama is gay he’s also doing drugs? No kidding. > [@appleciders](#): > > It was his father’s middle name and (I believe) his paternal grandfather’s middle name, too. It’s a family tradition. Barack Obama, Sr., was raised a Muslim but was an atheist or agnostic by the time the President was born. President Obama converted to Christianity as an adult and for most of his adult life has attended the United Church of Christ, which falls somewhere between Presbyterianism and Congregationalism theologically. Does that mean he’s an apostate (according to Muslim standards)? ETA: hasnt Obama been quoted as saying that his favorite “The Wire” character is Omar? Strange, isnt it? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/22 "2011-10-06T08:15:00Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > You do realize that in the very same story that started the rumour that Obama is gay he’s also doing drugs? No kidding. I thought he had admitted doing drugs in the past; cocaine, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/23 "2011-10-06T08:19:10Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > He’d be cheating on Michelle, wouldn’t he? Or would that not count? Not that I believe the rumor. By Spanish standards, only if he hadn’t told her about being bi (mind you, his enemies would start questioning the girls’ paternity as well, I imagine) and if he had been roaming around without her knowledge and consent. It ain’t cheatin’ if you ain’t lyin’. By the standards of the yellow press, he would have been cheating even on the gay lovers… ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/24 "2011-10-06T08:21:32Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > You do realize that in the very same story that started the rumour that Obama is gay he’s also doing drugs? No kidding. I posted what I posted before I read the article. I then read the article and was amused to see the drug reference. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/25 "2011-10-06T08:29:27Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I posted what I posted before I read the article. I then read the article and was amused to see the drug reference. Didnt have your courage, I dropped after a dozen of lines, especially when I realized how long that piece was. But we had another thread some months ago, and one Doper posted the original story about Obama as community organizer doing drugs and hard gay sex. If I have the time I’ll try to find it and post it here, it is really hilarious. Nothing similar to the article posted by Code Grey. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/26 "2011-10-06T08:30:09Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I assume you are not joking, although you may be. Hussein is just an extremely common male given name in many parts of the world. You could as easily ask why I have numerous friends called Peter, Mark, Matthew and John even though they are atheist. not joking at all. I could imagine it being a popular name in other countries/cultures, but until Saddam, I had never heard the name myself. Barack is only the second Hussein I’ve ever “known”. Thanks all for the quick responses! Now, let’s rejoin your thread, already in progress. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/27 "2011-10-06T08:32:30Z")
Capitaine Zombie writes: \> Does that mean he’s an apostate (according to Muslim standards)? No, Obama wasn’t raised as a Muslim, so he can’t be an apostate. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/28 "2011-10-06T08:38:02Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No, Obama wasn’t raised as a Muslim, so he can’t be an apostate. That’s what I had always thought, that he wasnt raised Muslim. But **appleciders** was saying that he was. On the other hand, it’s possible that he had Muslim teachings in Indonesia, like Muslim Sunday school (well, Friday I guess). Even that wouldnt necessarily qualfiy as being raised Muslim. Was just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/29 "2011-10-06T08:43:04Z")
This is the first I’ve heard of the gay reference, but I can see how people can think that. He does fit some of the stereotypes, so if you are into Obama-bashing, I guess you could point to a few things. Like Seinfeld, he’s certainly thin and neat (he’s not single, though. Still 2 out of 3 isn’t bad!) Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If I were to single out something that could make me question his sexuality, I’d show the video clip of him throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game. Our President is definitely a girly-man when it comes to throwing a ball! 😃 I do give him credit for having the guts to get out there and throw the ball, though. I’m sure he knew his limitations in that particular athletic activity, and still he got out there and bounced one right to the catcher. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/30 "2011-10-06T08:46:43Z")
No, appleciders did not say that Obama was raised as a Muslim. Reread his post carefully. appleciders said that Obama’s father was raised as a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/31 "2011-10-06T08:54:55Z")
No, as far as anyone knows, Obama never attended any sort of Muslim educational activities in Indonesia. His stepfather was, as I previously said, only nominally Muslim and didn’t make any attempt to raise Obama as a Muslim. Obama went to a secular public school and a Catholic school while he lived in Indonesia: > **[Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama)** > > Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ (listen) bə-RAHK hoo-SAYN oh-BAH-mə; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and worked as a civil rights lawyer and university lecturer. > Obama was ... ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/32 "2011-10-06T08:54:57Z")
Barack Obama, **Sr.** may have technically been an “apostate”, though since he didn’t actually convert to another religion (atheism being the absence of religion), who knows how a particular imam or Islamic authority would regard the matter. At any rate, it’s kind of academic at this point, since he’s been dead for going on thirty years now. Also, Muslims are not as monolithic as some people think–I’m sure there’s a difference in how Muslims in Kenya perceive “apostasy” as opposed to Muslims in, say, Saudi Arabia. President Barack Obama has never been a Muslim, and thus cannot be called an “apostate” from Islam in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/33 "2011-10-06T09:02:21Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No, appleciders did not say that Obama was raised as a Muslim. Reread his post carefully. appleciders said that Obama’s father was raised as a Muslim. You’re right. I had skipped the Sr part. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No, as far as anyone knows, Obama never attended any sort of Muslim educational activities in Indonesia. His stepfather was, as I previously said, only nominally Muslim and didn’t make any attempt to raise Obama as a Muslim. Obama went to a secular public school and a Catholic school while he lived in Indonesia: > > [Barack Obama - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama) I thought that that famous photo of Obama in traditional Indonesian clothes was at a Muslim schook (\*I know \*that it has been seriously hijacked by Obama haters) . > [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Didnt have your courage, I dropped after a dozen of lines, especially when I realized how long that piece was. > But we had another thread some months ago, and one Doper posted the original story about Obama as community organizer doing drugs and hard gay sex. > If I have the time I’ll try to find it and post it here, it is really hilarious. Nothing similar to the article posted by Code Grey. And. Here. You. Go: > **[newsflavor.com - newsflavor Resources and Information.](http://newsflavor.com/politics/us-politics/the-ulsterman-report-sex-and-murder-in-the-land-of-obama/)** > > newsflavor.com is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, newsflavor.com has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for! Really fun to read. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/34 "2011-10-06T09:23:31Z")
What photograph are you talking about? I know that Obama’s mother like batik, the cloth that traditional Indonesian clothes were made of, and often wore clothes made of them herself: > **[First Family Fabrics: Batiks From Obama's Mother](https://www.npr.org/2009/08/17/111892135/first-family-fabrics-batiks-from-obamas-mother)** > > Ann Dunham was an avid collector of intricately patterned, hand-dyed textiles when she lived in Indonesia in the 1960s. Fabrics from her collection are currently on display at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/35 "2011-10-06T11:14:26Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Capitaine Zombie writes: > > \> Does that mean he’s an apostate (according to Muslim standards)? > > No, Obama wasn’t raised as a Muslim, so he can’t be an apostate. if he attended religious classes in Indonesia, did he not recite the Muslim symbol of faith that are used during the conversion ceremony? Or is the prevailing opinion among Muslims that for legit conversion you need some particular age and a special place/ceremony for it to count? ETA: oh, so there are doubts about whether he had religious instruction in the first place. Interesting. Well, at least this article [The Obama Muslim Shell Game: Catholic School Docs Show Obama Registered As Muslim | Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian](http://bsimmons.wordpress.com/2007/01/31/the-obama-muslim-shell-game-catholic-school-docs-show-obama-registered-as-muslim/) claims that he had he did attend a “Muslim school” at some point. Did they have religious instruction in Muslim schools back then in Indonesia? ETA2: hard to parse quote from above article: > [@](#): > > Obama’s spokesman Robert Gibbs says he isn’t sure why the Catholic school document had Obama listed as a Muslim. Gibbs told AP, “Senator Obama has never been a Muslim.” While the spokesman is denying that Obama was never a Muslim, Obama, himself, has not publicly said he was never and is not now a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/36 "2011-10-06T11:24:28Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > If I were to single out something that could make me question his sexuality, I’d show the video clip of him throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game. Our President is definitely a girly-man when it comes to throwing a ball! 😃 Your assumption that all real manly-men (straight) know how to throw a baseball the ‘right’ way is wrong, and insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/37 "2011-10-06T11:55:42Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > so you guys think that Democrats would be _homophobic_ enough to turn against a politico because he is gay? Many of them would, sure. Not all Democrats are pro-gay rights. It’s not even close to all of them. I don’t know if this is the same rumor because I can’t get your link to open, but there was a guy in 2007 or 2008 who tried to convince the press he’d done crack and had sex with Obama. The guy was obviously nuts and the story didn’t go anywhere. Can I ask what google searches you did that returned this story? Was it something like ‘stupidest political rumors on the internet?’ When you say “if Obama were gay as alleged,” you should probably add that he’s alleged to be gay by a small number of lunatics. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/38 "2011-10-06T12:32:25Z")
Essentially there are a lot of people out there who for some reason find it’s not enough to argue he’s unfit for the job of the presidency or that his policies are ruinous when put in effect at a national level, but who deeply NEED to feel that he was NOT elected fair-and-square due to false representations about his character as a person. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Just for clarification, how does he explain his middle name if he isn’t muslim? ISTM that for a lot of the people who bought into the “secret muslim” BS, that may be one of the things that was taken advantage of by the slanderers - plant the seed among some in the public that if African-Americans adopt names in Arabic deliberately to convey Muslim or black-nationalist identity then the inverse process must also be true. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/39 "2011-10-06T12:49:43Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > There is, of course, a perfectly straightforward explanation for how a guy who is a member of the United Church of Christ came by “Hussein” as a middle name, which explanation does not involve crypto-Muslim conspiracies to take over the world and impose Socialist Sharia on America. So what you are saying is that I wasted my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/40 "2011-10-06T13:03:10Z")
> [@hazynlazy](#): > > He’d almost certainly lose his bid for re-election, as unfortunate as that is. I’m not so sure. I don’t have a cite handy, but I don’t really think more than 50% of this country gives a damn about a person’s bedroom activities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756.md?page=3)