# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/41 "2011-10-06T13:22:24Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > 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. Yeah, but it would be the classic ‘not the crime, but the coverup’ scenario. Clinton was a well-known/rumored horndog, so he got (more or less) a pass. Obama is more-or-less a ‘family values’ guy - so coming out at this point (even if he’s been faithful to Michelle), would sink him. ---
**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, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/42 "2011-10-06T13:30:48Z")
code\_grey writes: \> 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 \> [http://bsimmons.wordpress.com/2007/0...red-as-muslim/](http://bsimmons.wordpress.com/2007/0...red-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? The article claims that he attended a Muslim school and a Catholic school. It claims that it says on his registration form for the Catholic school that he was a Muslim. It could be that his stepfather was there registering hm. The registrar might have asked his stepfather for his religion, so the stepfather told the registar that he was Muslim and the registrar just assumed that his son should be considered a Muslim. Other sources say that he didn’t attend a Muslim school at all, just a public school. Perhaps all public schools in Indonesia are nominally Muslim. In any case, Obama says that he never had any instruction in Islam. Look, maybe as a child Obama was secretly instructed in Shintoism by a Shinto priest in Hawaii. Maybe in college he secretly traveled to Tibet to be instructed in Buddhism. Maybe he became a Scientologist. Maybe he’s really a neo-pagan. It’s easy to make up a lot of hypotheticals. You can do the same for every other politician or political candidate. Why aren’t you asking these same questions about every other person who’s running for political office? All we can know about a politician or a political candidate’s religious beliefs is what they say they are. To a lesser extent we can reconstruct their background. What we know of Obama’s background is that he was mostly brought up by people with at most fairly vague beliefs. We know that he’s now a member of the United Church of Christ. Anything else somone tries to claim is just guessing or making things up. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/43 "2011-10-06T14:38:38Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > 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. Maybe, but enough probably do combined with the people who don’t like him for other reasons that it would add up to more than 50%. I mean, straight Obama’s going to have a hard enough time getting reelected as it is. Gay Obama wouldn’t have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/44 "2011-10-06T15:13:20Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > 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. Well it would just have to be a big chunk of Obama supporters that give a damn, not 50% of the total voters. Remember Prop 8 in California and the big kerfuffle about the Mormons getting the blacks to vote for it? It would really throw a wrench in the works if Obama lost the black vote. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/45 "2011-10-06T17:02:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. Seriously. While I can take the OP at face value, it also reads kind of like those “Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Girl in 1990?” trolls that were popular a little while ago. I was almost expecting to see “So why doesn’t Obama just admit he’s gay? I think the nation is tolerant enough for that now.” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/46 "2011-10-06T17:32:08Z")
Yeah it’s an attempt to give a negative rumor some legs. It didn’t work with being Kenyan, or a secret Muslim, so not it’s that he is gay. The trap is that the troll can say things like, “but there’s noting wrong with being gay, why doesn’t he just admit it?” ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/47 "2011-10-06T17:46:11Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Seriously. While I can take the OP at face value, it also reads kind of like those “Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Girl in 1990?” trolls that were popular a little while ago. > > I was almost expecting to see “So why doesn’t Obama just admit he’s gay? I think the nation is tolerant enough for that now.” That’s my take on it too. It’s identical to those transparent attempts at meme spreading - couch the accusation in some non-committal question. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/48 "2011-10-06T17:52:49Z")
I’ll chime in and fourth the impression of the OP, or the rumor, being a Concern Trap. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/49 "2011-10-06T18:16:30Z")
Never mind the “Hussein” thing. His mother was a man named Stanley! ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/50 "2011-10-06T18:53:40Z")
He can’t get a “job bill” passed; why would anyone think he could impose Sharia law in the USA? ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/51 "2011-10-06T23:16:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. for this particular one, don’t remember. Similar results can be obtained from (Obama secret homosexual) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/52 "2011-10-06T23:27:56Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Just for clarification, how does he explain his middle name if he isn’t muslim? Was his father a muslim and exposed him to that religion as a child, or does he claim no affiliation at all with the muslim religion? Hussein isn’t a Muslim name, it’s an Arabic name. If a man’s name is Patrick, that doesn’t make him Catholic, does it? ---
**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, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/53 "2011-10-06T23:45:27Z")
Google: Obama secret alien = 169,000,000 hits Obama secret homosexual = 83,000,000 hits Obama secret Muslim = 28,000,000 hits Obama secret republican = 40,000,000 hits Obama secret communist =7,600,000 hits Obama secret empire = 2,700,000 hits I’m bored now, but it’s clear that he is really an alien. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/55 "2011-10-07T00:18:46Z")
> [@Stonebreaker](#): > > First, GLBT are no longer subject to blackmail. Laws and public opinion have ended that problem. Most may not be but closeted gays who have to obtain votes from a very wide range of public, including the prejudiced if possible, have a lot to lose in this respect. > [@](#): > > You rightys can not even cheat at dirty politics and win. You do not even understand the simple tools of your own computers. :smack: :smack: :smack: This makes no sense. What you are saying is like saying because the way you cheat at cards is cheating it won’t cause you to win. It will, if you don’t get caught. And there are plenty of people who won’t realise they are being cheated. Just because you understand doesn’t mean there aren’t swathes of people who can be hoodwinked. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/57 "2011-10-07T01:37:04Z")
I don’t think you are getting it. Reality is not perception. I doubt this rumour will fly, but stupider rumours have, and with good effect. I will never forget how after that major report came out saying Saddam didn’t have WMD, not only did a massive chunk of the population still believe he did, but an incredible percentage believed _that’s what the report said_. Never underestimate the stupid. ---
**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 7, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/58 "2011-10-07T02:19:45Z")
> [@Stonebreaker](#): > > First, GLBT are no longer subject to blackmail. Laws and public opinion have ended that problem. > … > Second, If President Obama were bisexual, (remember he has a wife and two children), he would be the **fourth** U. S. President to enjoy that lifestyle. > … > Third, Ever heard of J. P. Morgan? He ran the financial world in the early 20th century. GLBT have power, and they continue to have influence because they are educated, affluent, and organized. Every president since the late 1960s has had to deal with GLBT issues. It is a political relationship no president can avoid. > … > You rightys can not even cheat at dirty politics and win. You do not even understand the simple tools of your own computers. :smack: :smack: :smack: so what’s your disagreement with my OP? :rolleyes: I said that I am surprised at the notion that in this day and age a Democrat politico would need to hide his homosexual involvement. You seem to believe likewise, based on laws, prior precedent and _J. P. Morgan_. Yay for SDMB bipartisanship, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/59 "2011-10-07T02:56:17Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > I said that I am surprised at the notion that in this day and age a Democrat politico would need to hide his homosexual involvement. Which politico is that? Do you sleep well at night? ---
**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 7, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/60 "2011-10-07T03:02:29Z")
> [@Stonebreaker](#): > > Second, If President Obama were bisexual, (remember he has a wife and two children), he would be the **fourth** U. S. President to enjoy that lifestyle. Could you out those dead Presidents for me? I fantasize on dead Prezs. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/61 "2011-10-07T04:28:33Z")
Wait, what? As far as I know, J. P. Morgan wasn’t gay, and if he was, he certainly wasn’t publicly so. As for gay US Presidents, the only two Presidents that homosexuality has seriously been suggested of were James Buchanan (with some evidence) and Abraham Lincoln (without very good evidence, IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756/62 "2011-10-07T18:50:00Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > As for gay US Presidents, the only two Presidents that homosexuality has seriously been suggested of were James Buchanan (with some evidence) and Abraham Lincoln (without very good evidence, IMHO). What about Hoover? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-obama-were-gay-as-alleged-what-would-he-have-to-lose-confessing/598756.md?page=4)