Gay Leaders Upset with Obama Over Evangelical Minister Pick

Billed by some as "Obama’s first big mistake," gay activists are livid with President-elect Barack Obama over choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration in January. Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, is a conservative evangelical minister who backed prop 8, the same-sex marriage ban. (Warren defended himself in a recent interview, saying, "I have many gay friends. I’ve eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Saddleback Church.") Noted gay rights leaders like Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solomonese and Courage Campaign chair Rick Jacobs have voiced their extreme disappointment in Obama. The choice, however, is also being called "a conciliatory gesture toward social conservatives who opposed [Obama] in November."