Skeptical gay rights activists aren't satisfied with the forthcoming presidential memorandum ordering federal agencies to provide same-sex partners of government employees with some of the benefits previously reserved for heterosexuals. There is plenty of debate about whether Obama is actually expanding rules that agencies already enforce and have been enforcing since the early Clinton administration. Advocates for gay rights are passing around a link (http://www.obamasplanforgayrights.com/) to an Obama-esque website that purports to unveil his plan for gay rights. Clicking on the website leads you a page with one word: "Nothing."
A senior White House official, asked to respond to the site and its
implications, said it was "unfair." The official acknowledged the
anger of gay activists but attributed it to perception and magical
thinking about Obama's political priorities. Another senior
administration official predicted confidently that "we'll turn this
around."
What did the first official mean by magical thinking? (That phrase is
mine, but I think it characterizes what officials are thinking about
the gay rights activists.) Activists, in the White House's view, are
incorrectly interpreting Obama's silence as evidence that he does not
care or is delaying action on gay rights matters for political reasons.
The real reason is that Obama has a lot to do, has prioritized his
policies, and wants to tread carefully around cultural minefields,
building consensus. Still, it's true that long-time Democratic hands
in the West Wing are concerned about pushing too hard, too fast, on
cultural issues.
John Berry, the gay director of the Office of Personnel Management,
said that Obama's action today represents "long overdue progress in our
long march to equality." Again, that's debatable. Long-term insurance
isn't an item of concern.
What do gays want? They want the Recognizer in Chief, the Persuader in
Chief, the Leader -- to recognize them. They want visibility; they want
acknowledgment that Obama doesn't take their money and presidential
support for granted; they want assurances -- words and deeds -- that
Obama will fulfill his campaign promises. They want Obama to expend his
political capital to get supermajorities in the Senate for legislation
getting rid of the ban on gays in the military and ending
discrimination against gays in the workplace.
Berry, who has become the administration's de-facto spokesman on gay
issues, told reporters today that Obama's action was "the first step,
not the final step.
"they want assurances -- words and deeds -- that Obama will fulfill his campaign promises."
Personally I've gotten past the point where I care about words, only deeds will convince me at this point.
The fact that the Administration hasn't gotten rid of the HIV travel ban yet is telling. It is my understanding that this is something they could do right now, Congress removed the legislative barrier to it last year, even Bush signed the bill removing it from the law. Now all that is needed is for the administration to official end it. Yet it hasn't been done yet. Why?
It's not that gays are interpreting his silence as cause for concern, we are taking umbrage to actual harm to our community as an outright rejection of campaign promises and a refusal to fill his self-appointed role as our "fierce advocate."
Like Rillion says, we're still waiting on the HIV travel ban. 253 members of the military have been fired under Don't Ask Don't Tell since January. The Obama DOJ has filed an outrageous defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that appears to take its legal reasoning straight from Focus on the Family press releases. Worse yet, the White House said it was standing by this brief! Obama's flagship campaign promise was to repeal DOMA, yet his Administration is actually entrenching it further.
Today's memorandum will do little more than re-recognize a right that federal agencies already have. It doesn't reach into the Department of Defense. It makes no moves to end transgender discrimination in the Federal Government. It doesn't even provide health benefits to domestic partners. We don't even know what it will provide for those tens of thousands of federal employees in States where domestic partnerships, civil unions, or same-sex marriages aren't available.
Hate crimes against the LGBT community are up 28% this year, the highest it's ever been since the year Matthew Shepard was killed. Yet hate crimes legislation is languishing in the Senate, and the White House has made no affirmative moves to get it moving along.
Mr. Berry should be ashamed that he's announcing "first steps" six months into the presidency, when these so-called changes--and far more productive measures--could have been taken in January.
agree with the first two. These administration sources really don't get it. Folks were willing to grit their teeth and wait until it became clear the admin is actively behaving in ways that harm LGBT interests. But the WH wants to keep kicking people and then act like we're misreading Obama's position.
Sorry, bud. we're judging by actions rather than words, and your actions to date look a lot like the last two guys'.
this... isn't... helping
It isn't helping gay causes. It isn't helping gays. At a time when the zeitgeist is "So, is this the Apocalypse or what?", when every month seems to bring major good news for the gay community, and when the Obama administration is overturning some injustice or other on a weekly if not daily basis, it just seems out of touch to complain about what hasn't yet been done.
"nd when the Obama administration is overturning some injustice or other on a weekly if not daily basis"
What injustices has Obama overturned on behalf of the gay community?
HIV travel ban? Nope.
DOMA? Nope.
DADT? Nope.
What gay civil rights issue has he pushed, championed, spoken out against, led on, or done anything about?
He has simply repackaged a few benefits that were already being given on case by case basis and said, "during my administration its going to be our official policy to continue giving these out rather then being something that was done under the radar by various managers."
Where is the change we can believe in?
I am concerned just as much as the rest of the commentators on here, but let's give Obama some room to work. It's only been five months for God's sake. I agree that the administration could have handled several issues better, especially that ridiculous pro-DOMA legal brief.
I've given plenty of my own money and time to the Obama campaign, and to some of this administration's legislative objectives. Until I begin to see real movement on the gay rights front, that is going to stop.
As with everything in America, money buys just about anything. And once the deep gay money well dries up enough, real change will likely be right around the corner.
Really interesting post. For the most part, I'd agree that Obama needs a little breathing room so he can tackle other issue like, say, "the economy," but if those were my rights being toyed with, I wouldn't really appreciate delay. The blog I contribute to, http://www.usdemocrazy.net/blog cited this post in exploring this issue today.
Where is our self respect? Obama's Justice Department not only defends the Defense of Marriage Act in violation of Obama's promise to overturn it, but he has defended it in terms of stopping federal recognition of gay marriage to prevent incest and pedophilia. This is absolutely unacceptable! Obama still has my vote, but I will not volunteer or provide campaign contributions to someone who seeks to shamelessly use the gay community and the civil rights of gay Americans as scapegoats and targets of bigotry and horribly offensive and near criminally offensive (in my opinion) stereotypes.
The travel ban issue is what makes me very suspicious about trusting the administration on other gay issues. A much more Republican Congress got rid of the legislative mandate. Bush signed that bill and started to get rid of the ban. Why is the INS still operating with it? It makes no sense if you take the view that the administration is anything like sensitive to gay rights.
So I am beginning to suspect, it isn't.