Barack Obama Explains Why Every Man Needs LGBTQ+ Friends

Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Vice President Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Former President Barack Obama wants young boys to know: One role model isn’t enough.On Wednesday, while speaking on his wife Michelle Obama’s podcast IMO, which she co-hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson, Barack opened up about the importance of raising “emotionally intelligent, competent men.” “Well, first of all, the most important strategy, whether it were boy or girl, was having the right partner,” Barack said about the foundation of raising sons. The couple reflected on how their parents had raised them with the tools they had, even if those tools were limited. From there, the conversation shifted to the unique challenges of raising boys versus raising girls. “There are some particular issues with boys that as a society we are not addressing,” Barack said.Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama appear on stage in between their addresses on the second night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.He emphasised the need for boys to have a wide-ranging “community” of men to look up to — a variety he first noticed in the early years of dating Michelle.He recalled how much he “loved” seeing a “bunch of different kinds of men” in her life. To this day, that exposure remains essential in his eyes. “That’s one of the things I think a lot of the times boys need,” he said.Michelle and Barack agreed that having a good father figure is important — but it’s not everything. As Michelle put it, “he can’t be everything.”Barack took it a step further, sharing a personal story that helped shape his own sense of identity and empathy.Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Vice President Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. “One of the most valuable things I learned as a guy was I had a gay professor in college at a time when openly gay folks still weren’t out in life,” he recalled. That professor became one of his “favorites,” and wasn’t afraid to “call him out” when he said something “ignorant.” For Barack, those moments were essential in building compassion and understanding. He then stressed how a diverse community also helps LGBTQ+ youth feel seen and supported. “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, ‘OK, I’m not alone in this,’” he said. “That, I think, is creating community. I know it’s corny, but it’s what they need.”Related...Obama Says US Moving 'Dangerously Close' To Autocracy Under Trump'Always A Tweet': Trump’s Old Post Mocking Obama On Iran Comes Back To Haunt HimMichelle Obama Just Named A Grief Too Many Parents Carry Alone

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