Barack Obama has emphasised the importance of young men having LGBTQ+ friends and role models.
On 16 July, the former U.S. President finally joined his wife, Michelle Obama, and brother-in-law Craig Robinson on their IMO podcast.
In the episode, the trio took a question from a new mom to a one-year-old boy, who asked: “What can we do to change the fact that we raise our girls and we love our boys? There is so much dialogue on raising strong, independent women, but how can we raise emotionally intelligent, competent men?”
With their topic in hand, Michelle, Craig, and Barack shared their candid opinions on how to raise young men to recognise and resist troubling and sometimes violent ideologies promoted on the internet.
One tip the former commander-in-chief offered was to encourage young men to have diverse male figures in their lives.
“I had a gay professor in college, at a time when openly gay folks still weren’t out a lot, who became one of my favourite professors and was a great guy and would call me out when I started saying stuff that was ignorant. You need that to show empathy and kindness,” Barack explained.
The 63-year-old politician went on to express the importance of young men having diverse and LGBTQIA+ inclusive friendships.
“And by the way, you need that person in your friend group, so that if you then have a boy who is gay or non-binary, they have somebody that they can go, ‘Okay, I’m not alone in this,” he continued. “So, that I think is… creating that community. I know it’s corny, but that’s what they need.”
Michelle echoed similar sentiments, revealing that she and Craig grew up with a “huge community of extended aunts and uncles and cousins and all types of male role models” that helped broaden out and fill in where their parents couldn’t.
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Throughout his extensive political career, Barack has been lauded as a staunch ally of the LGBTQIA+ community.
While he was president, he worked with Congress to pass and sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed the bipartisan legislation to repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ military policy, supported better LGBTQIA+ health initiatives and backed policies that protected LGBTQIA+ people from workplace discrimination.
His allyship has continued even after leaving office, with him slamming Republican lawmakers in 2021 for introducing a number of anti-trans legislation.
“For many years now, we’ve seen some Republicans seek political advantage by pitting us against one another, often by going after certain groups of people who just want equal treatment,” Barack told The Advocate.
“These bills are doing real harm — especially to young people — whether they end up passing or not. Growing up is hard enough, and at some point we all struggle to find our place in the world. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for young people to know that some leaders — including people who are supposed to be representing you — don’t think they deserve equal rights.
“It breaks my heart. This is not who we are. America has always been at its best when we open our arms wider and help more people feel like they belong — not treat them like second-class citizens because they’re different.”
Check out the full episode of the IMO podcast here or below.
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