Obama Makes A Pledge
President Barack Obama, under fire from the gay-rights community over slow action on its priorities, promised to deliver by the time he leaves office. The president gave no new details about how he would advance these issues, but he made passionate remarks saluting the pioneers of the gay-rights movement and expressed solidarity with those working for equal rights.
"Welcome to your White House," the president said at a reception Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern gay-rights movement. His remarks were greeted warmly by a cheering crowd of some 250 gay and lesbian activists and supporters.
As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama vowed to overturn the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving, and to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to ignore same-sex marriages performed in other states and bars the federal government from granting marriage benefits to people in same-sex unions.
The Obama administration has said it will take congressional action to address both issues. But, aware of both the complex politics involved and its full agenda, the White House has done little so far to prod lawmakers along.
Many in the gay-rights community were also angered by the tone of an administration legal brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
Earlier this month, Mr. Obama offered a small step, promising to extend certain benefits available to same-sex partners of federal workers. But critics dismissed the move as amounting to little in practice.
The president appeared mindful of these criticisms when he stepped to the front of the East Room on Monday.
"It's not for me to tell you to be patient," he said, comparing the gay activists' struggle to that of African-Americans in the civil rights movement. "I expect and hope to be judged not by words...but by the promises that my administration keeps."
He added that by the time his presidency is over, "I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration."
Mr. Obama said he had asked the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He reiterated his pledge to try to reverse the Defense of Marriage Act and said he would work for legislation aimed at preventing workplace discrimination, extending the federal hate-crime law to acts against gays and lesbians, and giving domestic partners of federal workers health and other benefits.
And he said he was committed to repealing rules that prohibit people with HIV from traveling into the U.S.
Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights group, was at the event and said afterward that he appreciated the president's strong words. But he added: "It is the actions to advance equality -- not simply the words -- that will be the true marker by which this White House will be judged."Share on Tumblr
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Matthew Conaster
Matt Conaster
I'm the Associate Webmaster for this website. I currently at Northwestern working on my post grad work. Formerly I live in Atlanta, Georgia but my hometown is Charlotte, North Carolina View all posts by Matthew Conaster
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Don’t Ask Don’t Tell prohibits military superiors from asking service members about their sexual orientation and recommends service mebers do not tell. Try and imagine before that law made it possible for gay members to serve. Gays had to lie to serve.
Older laws make homosexuality incompatible with military service.
Mr. O will do as much for gay rights as some rioters in New York did forty years ago, nothing. Both are a lot of talk and hype.
Personally I don’t think who you love should make any difference to anybody else. If someone chooses to serve in the mlitary who they are having sex with should really not be a issue unless they are under age.
Once the issue of someones sexual identity is no longer a issue in the military it will no longer be a issue to society.
So to me don’t ask don’t tell was a decent stop gap but it is also just another method to discriminate against gays.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell would be a discriminatory policy if military superiors were only prohibited from asking a particular class of individuals about their sexual orientation. For example: “Supervisors shall not ask Gays about their sexual orientation.”
That however is not the case. Military superiors are prohibited from asking ANYBODY about their sexual orientation. It does not discriminate. It applies to everybody.
As Yves said, “If someone chooses to serve in the mlitary who they are having sex with should really not be a issue unless they are under age.” That is exactly what this law does.
There are laws that discrimante against homosexuals in the military for a number of reasons that need to be considered seriously. This is not the forum for that.
I get bemused and sometimes very frustrated by the use of the bumper sticker mentality that in this case targets the one good law in the situation. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is simply a recognition of a right to privacy military members do not usually have. Take that away and you make it so much worse.
I was commissioned an Air Force Officer in 1979 and served 16 years active duty. Jimmy the lib was President at the time. You cannot imagine the expense and effort he went to to get rid of gays. I am still a Reserve Officer to this day, not retired.
Frankly, it should not matter what one’s gender preference is. What should matter more is whether a service man or woman is performing his or her sworn duty for his or her service branch, rank, and rating within the allowable knowledge, skills, and abilities parameters.
Albert is a decent guy and decent citizen who worked to keep this country safe. Who cares with whom he spends his nights as long as he consistently performs his sworn duty to this nation?