Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the one of only a few openly gay member of Congress, strongly criticized President-elect Obama’s choice to invite pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation during the presidential nomination.
“I am very disappointed by President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to honor Reverend Rick Warren with a prominent role in his inauguration,” Frank said, adding that it was irrelevant that Warren had invited Obama to a forum earlier this year at his Saddleback Church, since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had also been invited.
“Religious leaders obviously have every right to speak out in opposition to anti-discrimination measures, even in the degrading terms that Rev. Warren has used with regard to same-sex marriage,” Frank continued. “But that does not confer upon them the right to a place of honor in the inauguration ceremony of a president whose stated commitment to LGBT rights won him the strong support of the great majority of those who support that cause.”
Obama’s selection has come under fire from liberal groups and gay and lesbian rights groups, who have argued that Warren’s evangelical values clash with the Democratic president-elect’s. In particular, they have pointed to the California pastor’s support of a constitutional amendment passed by ballot initiative outlawing gay marriage.