Many in the LGBT community are impatient that President Obama has not moved faster to fulfill the expectations they had for him as candidate Obama. Apart from African Americans no single group voted more for Obama than gays. This column takes the POSITIVE side in the argument best summed up by David Mixner who said gay activists are beginning to wonder
“How much longer do we give him the benefit of the doubt?”
I am not gay. I am not up on the issues as much as my colleagues on The Bipartisan Report, Marty Schecter and David Badash.
There have been three events since January 20th that focus the frustration.
Maybe suspicions were raised right at the beginning with his choice to deliver the invocation at his inaugural- Rick Warren the evangelical pastor who opposes same-sex marriage. Lost in this outrage was international gay rights champion Rt Rev Gene Robinson who delivered the invocation at the opening of the inaugural ceremony. But Obama the candidate was clear. He has maintained that he opposes same-sex marriage as a Christian but describes himself as a “fierce advocate of equality” for gay men and lesbians.
But the issues come to head now when former Vice President Dick Cheney publicly expresses his support this week for letting states allow gay marriage — a position that puts him to the left of Obama.This is the same man who for 8 years was a strong conservative voice insie the Bush inner circle. His daughter is lesbian and I’m stretched to recall if he was as supportive of her in the same way durintg the 2004 campaign. After attacking Obama on torture and Gitmo I think this was calculated purely to alienate him with the gay community. Please don’t give him any credibility.
“I think that freedom means freedom for everyone”
When the CA Supreme Court would not overturn Prop 8 and with the realization that the next chance CA supporters have is 2010 anger turned towards Obama. People looked to Obama for solace. They wanted him to push their agenda faster.
I am going to approach this by asking detractors from Obama’s gay-lesbian record to consider some issues but first consider the man. We all voted for him so we can probably agree on some areas faster than if we were not on the same side.
The Politician
Obama got to his position by being two things- an above average orator but a better politician. The orator appeals to the voters with a trong message and celar ennunciation but the politician appeals to people inside the government. Obama is a coalition builder- something we elected him for. Change from the divisive Bush/Cheney/Rove administration.
The Strategist
As a strategist Obama plays the political game like a game of chess. He places his players where they can be most effective and lets them to their job.
New nominees Sotomayor (SCOTUS) and John McHugh (Army) could be favorable to gay lesbian issues. Jim Messina is the deputy White House chief of staff and the point man on gay and lesbian issues. This is a pretty senior position to assign this objective to. Brian Bond is Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and most recently served as the Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council.
The Tactician
Obama often subtly signals his moves ahead of time. Two of Obama’s potential Supreme Court nominees are openly gay- Kathleen Sullivan and Pamela Karlan. That has to be a first in our nation. But think about the ramifications at this time- “if he appoints a gay person to the Supreme Court, he would be viewed by social conservatives — including many black ministers, another of his core constituency groups — as putting a vote for same-sex marriage on the highest court in the land”. (source Politico.com)
Consistent
If Mr. Obama were to embrace same-sex marriage, he would be seen as reversing a campaign position and alienating some moderate and religious voters he has courted.
Promises and Expectations
Personally I wish that whitehouse.gov had a section for gay/lesbian rights issues but if they are there they are buried with civil rights goals. I think the gay/lesbian activits should demand their own “Issues” section on whitehouse.gov. Currently buried in Civil rights: Anti-Discrimination Issues it says
President Obama also continues to support the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act and believes that our anti-discrimination
employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and
gender identity. He supports full civil unions and federal rights for
LGBT couples and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He
supports repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that
strengthens our armed forces and our national security, and also
believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and
individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Defense of Marriage Act
As a candidate he promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. This 1996 law (Clinton admin, Republican Gingrich lead Congress) says states need not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and blocks the federal government from extending benefits to married same-sex couples.
So if he is against this law it stands to wonder why he is against gay marriage. I think its simple. Obama is going to let the states decide how to handle gay marriage. He does not want to mandate this from Washington on states that are obviously red and antigay. Already 6 states have adopted gay marriage laws including Iowa which had to surprise many. I believe the day will come when the majority of states will not only recognize gay marriage but will sanction it. It might not be this generation but its going to happen. I don’t see it happening in the South for a couple of generations.
The Military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule.
The military ban on openly gay and lesbian service-members have not been fulfilled. In fact there are many service people who put their trust in candidate Obama and may have come out too early and now face being removed from the services. This is really unfortunate. It is estimated that over 230 service members have been discharged since Inauguration Day.
But I think we can agree that the Forces are jocks for the most part. Its been suggested that for decades the military has been made up mainly of Republicans. My feeling is that with Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran all begging for military focus this is not the time to introduce a controversial policy that would be a distraction to our soldiers. God knows they have enough on their minds just to stay alive as it is.
Before this issue can move forward Obama will need broader buy-in.
Obama has announced his intention to appoint John M. McHugh as the Army Secretary on Tuesday. The previous secretary was a Democrat appointed by Bush to clean up the mess in VA hospitals (Walter Reed in particular). Press Secretary Gibbs said
“I think it’s obvious from those statements and other statements that Congressman McHugh has made that he and the president are in agreement on changing the policy they both don’t think is working for this country right now.”
Democrats and where they stand on gay marriage issues
Some public opinion polls show more than 40% of Americans support same-sex marriage but the May 29 Gallup poll said 57% of Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage. This number DROPS to 47% when respondents are asked if they know a gay person. That is to say pelple who know gay people are more likely to support gay marriage. Pretty impressive. On the other side if people DID NOT know a gay person they were 72% against gay marriage. 71% of liberals have gay friends. More along the national average of 58% of moderates and conservatives can say the same. Two-thirds of Americans (63%) who do not personally know a gay or
lesbian person believe that legalized gay marriage will change society
for the worse. The Gallup study concludes that
“…exposure to gays and lesbians leads to greater acceptance,
regardless of one’s ideological leanings. The second is that people who
are more accepting of gays and lesbians are more likely to put
themselves into situations in which they are exposed to gays and
lesbians.”
My point in using the Gallup stats is simply to say that impressions of gay people rests largely in the hands of gay people. The more the general population gets to know the more their attitudes and acceptance change. Would forcing values on these people help or hurt the cause that is going qwuite well IMO.
But what has been accomplished and what is on the verge of coming to fruition? By month’s end we might see progress on restrictions on visas for people with HIV. The Pentagon also has toned down public opposition to reversing DADT.
David Mixner, a veteran gay rights activist says
“Obama is out of step with his party, which is overwhelmingly in favor of marriage at this stage. He’s out of step with the next generation.”
As Howard Dean said
“I’m in favor of giving him a little more time. He’s got an awful lot on his plate.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Another spectacular piece of identity politics, Mr. Mooney. Your obsession with race, gender and sexual preference appears to know no bounds. Obama isn’t a president, apparently, he’s a proxy for race, a pawn for sexual identity groups, and a lever to fulfil the agenda of various “constituencies” and identity groups. Let’s see, in this piece you specifically mention:
blacks (you also use the term African Americans),
black ministers,
gays and lesbians (of course),
gay activists (distinct from the above group),
Obama’s own identity as a Christian,
SCOTUS,
Army,
Social Conservatives,
“Religious voters”
… at minimum.
You say “We have to remember that Obama was elected by a broad spectrum of America.” But you have difficulty remembering this yourself. Did you say this to remind yourself, or is it just a rhetorical flourish? Actually, you apparently have some strong points about his core constituencies. Perhaps this “broad spectrum” is just spin anyway.
You say “Every group feels he “owes” them for their support.” Um, no I don’t think so; not every “group” is a variation on the Mafia, as you appear to think. Perhaps you mean that YOU think Obama owes certain groups for their support. That thought underlies everything that is vile and disgusting in politics today.
Every American has a right to believe the president owes them equal liberty, justice and representation. But your obsession over “groups”, to the extent that it reflects the facts on the ground in the Obama presidency, puts that thought to the lie.
This obsession with groups is what’s so disgusting about your whole approach, Mooney. Groups! Groups! Group rights! Justice for Groups! The president owes these Groups something!
News flash: Groups don’t have human rights. Humans do.
Humans have a right NOT to be discriminated against because of their membership in various groups. This is not the same as having special rights because of their belonging to special groups, or even to have a special link to their own cause on the president’s own web page.
Whether it’s colour, gender, sex, age, or whatever, every time we demand this GROUP or that one gets a special right, we’ve eroded the core liberal foundation of liberty and justice FOR ALL that made America great.
I thought Sen. Jim DeMint said it well during the Sotomayor hearings:
The same is true of presidential actions. Establishing laws or policies that pay attention (in ANY WAY) to a person’s sexual identity only deepens the inequity in society, either by reinforcing old injustices or by putting new ones into place and, like scratching a scab, ensures that there will never be healing.
You plea for more focus on specific groups’ rights at whitehouse.gov … bully for you. Literally, I mean.
Oh, and a note about the capital letters. I know they shouldn’t be used because people take them to mean you are shouting. I thought I’d clarify: I AM SHOUTING!
You trust this guy to keep his word???
“The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal. “Look, it’s an all volunteer force,” Obama complained. “Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bear ing the costs of their choice? It doesn’t compute..”
“I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country,” Obama continued. “I wasn’t asking for blood—just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I’d have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation’s deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans.”