Barack Obama says young men need queer friends and role models

Former US president Barack Obama has voiced his belief that all young men would benefit from have a circle of friends that includes gay and non-binary people. Speaking on the IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast, he expressed his belief that society should be offering a wider range of role models.

The podcast episode was billed as covering What It Takes to Raise Boys and How Michelle Made Parenting Better. Over the course of 80 minutes, Barack Obama responded to a listener question about raising emotionally intelligent boys. Sharing a story about his time in college, he said that a gay professor was an important role model for him.

While there was no direct reference to the prevalence of straight, white, right-wing influencers and celebrities sharing thoughts and ideologies with impressionable youngsters, what Obama suggests is an antidote to that.

The long-time supporter of and ally to the LGBTQ+ community talks about his professor as being someone who “was out during a time when openly gay folks still weren’t out in life”. He went on to explain that he “became one of my favorite professors and was a great guy, and would call me out when I started saying stuff that was ignorant. Adding: “You need that! To show empathy and kindness”.

Obama said:

By the way, you need that person in your friend group so that if you then have a boy who is gay or nonbinary, or what have you, they have somebody that they can go, ‘Okay, I’m not alone in this’. That, I think, is creating community. I know it’s corny, but it’s what they need.

Diversity is the name of the game for Obama – and, having a proven track record as an ally, it feels genuine. He believes that a societal-level change is needed:

I do think as a society, we have to create more structures for boys and men to … be able to meet a wide range of role models so that whatever their inclinations, they can see a path to success that isn’t just sports or money, making a lot of money.

That’s one of the things that I think a lot of times boys need, is not just exposure to one guy, one dad. No matter how good the dad is, he can’t be everything. And then that boy may need somebody to give the boy some perspective on the dad.

You can check out the full video for the episode here:

How does this land with you? Do these words sit well? Why are gay and non-binary people chosen over other members of the queer community?