POTUS Town Hall

New Orleans GLBT

Thanks to the Forum For Equality’s alliance with the Equality Federation Equality Federation, I was able to attend President Obama’s Town Hall on Thursday at UNO with a VIP ticket. Our seats were only seven rows back from the stage. It is always good to see Obama in person, as he is incredibly charismatic and a dynamic speaker.

There were approximately 1,300 people in the audience for the event. The White House reported that 70 percent of the tickets were general admission, distributed randomly among people who signed up online and over the phone. The other 30 percent were distributed to elected officials and community leaders.

Things got off to a rocking start. I was totally blown away by the national anthem played on trumpet by Shamarr Allen. I shivered at the high notes and cheered for the fun he had with the finale. What a beautiful way to celebrate the land of the free and the home of the brave.

This was President Obama’s first trip to New Orleans since he became president. He was only in town for four hours from touchdown to takeoff.  Local leaders from both parties accompanied him, including Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and by Republican U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise and Anh "Joseph" Cao and Governor Bobby Jindal, who was booed by the crowd when his name was mentioned.

Obama drew laughs when he responded to the crowds reaction by saying, "Bobby, if it makes you feel any better, I get that all the time.”

He spoke for about thirty minutes and then took a few questions from the audience. Unfortunately, even though I waved wildly, I wasn’t one of the ones selected.

It was good to hear that his administration had not forgotten about New Orleans and that so many members of his cabinet have been down here working on our recovery.

"We've got a long way to go but we've made progress," Obama told us. "We're working as hard as we can and as quickly as we can."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was credited for her Department’s work in helping to resolve some of the 120 or so reconstruction projects and $1.4 million in funds stuck since before Obama took office.

It was a little disappointing that LGBT issues didn’t get a single mention but I can’t say I’m that surprised on a visit as short as this one. However, one point he made rang quite true:

“You know, I listen to these reporters on the news, 'Well, why haven't you solved world hunger yet?'  It's been nine months…”

President Obama came into office facing a number of challenges not the least of which is the economy. I understand that change is hard. Good thing we have more than just hope, though. As he said to a youngster in the audience, “But, you know, I'm a pretty tough guy... And you've just got to keep on going even when folks are criticizing you.”

Here is a link to his remarks

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