Barney Frank: Obama Made "Big Mistake" On Defense Of Marriage Act

Boston Herald:

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, one of the nation's leading gay rights champions, blasted President Obama yesterday over a controversial anti-gay marriage court filing and is calling on the commander in chief to explain himself.

"I think the administration made a big mistake. The wording they used was inappropriate," Frank (D-Newton) said of a brief filed by Obama's Department of Justice that supported the Defense of Marriage Act.

Read the whole story: Boston Herald

Comments

[rainbowblue]

Where is Tammy Baldwin on this???!!!

As far as I know she's the only other out Representative. Did someone cut her tounge? Madison deserves better...

I don't want to engage the marriage debate, this brief was bad pool by Obama. With him standing by DOJ on this and not distancing himself from this, he looks apathetic to gay rights at best---a homophobe at worst.

I realize there are going to people telling me about Obama's "duty" to defend the laws of the land. There is precident though for a President to deny defending a law they thought uncostitutional, and hand that responsibiltiy of a defense to Congress (or just provide a weak defense). To put it a different way, its like if Eisenhower would have let his DOJ defend segergation by using racial sterotypes and the bad racial "science" of the mid 1800's.

[sturzl]

She was on Maddow last night. I thought she made Wisconsin look good.

[klandish]

Tammy Baldwin gave her candid comments on the Rachel Maddows Show last night. Giving specific information and facts regarding the memorandum Obama signed for Federal employees and showing her disapproval on the DOMA brief.

Rachel and her guests are often one step ( or six :) ) ahead of any other t.v. outlet on the latest issues concerning LGBT issues.

[StoicRep]

Marriage is a social contract and not a right, instituted to keep men from wandering into other relationships when they had started a family with someone. This was for the protection and caretaking of the children. Marriage for gays, on the other hand, is nonprocreative, and is an oxymoron. The social contract for heterosexual marriage is that these relationships obtain benefits from society in return for family stability. What would the social contract with gays be? There are no children to protect, and no family, and no reason for external social supports in return for the stability of their relationships.

[sturzl]

By stating there are no gay families with children to protect shows how misinformed you are. Gay families need these protections as well. It's not about making babies. It's about raising them. Get a little more informed before you spout your crap.

[joemondo]

Incorrect.

In the US marriage is right, and a legal contract - not a "social contract."

Gays, furthermore, do have children, and if you argue that having children is a cause for such benefits, gay families deserve them too.

[restoretheroar]

if frank would worry as much about being a financial watchdog as he worries about being a same secks infatuater we would all be better off. be g*y, be straight, who cares? let's worry about stuff that concerns all of us.

[sturzl]

Civil rights are a concern for everyone, genius. You're a bigger loser than your Lions.

[dancucich]

Tel lthe gay marriage zealots we will support civil unions-and that's it.
If they dont like it, let them to join the GOP-which of course,
would totally finish the GOP if it caved in to their demand.

[barrycourage]

Tell the homophobic apologists we will support separate water fountains, rest rooms, schools, and seats at the back of the bus for them--and that's it.
If they don't like it, let them join the GOP--which of course, is totally where they belong anyway.

[IndyReader]

If ole Barney wants things to change let him take the first step since it's supposed to benefit him, too. Hypocrite.

[Awake-and-Sing]

What's really sad about Frank's opportunism is what it says about him.

Either he admits to commenting on a brief he hasn't read, and looks like a fool, or the Administration got to him and with a bribe or a threat and he changed his opinion.

Neither answer is pleasant to think about.

Frank has been in the beltway for three decades. He's been the go-to guy for gay issues within the Democratic inner sanctum. What he is primarily worried about now I fear is his "access". His position of influence and his seat at the table has a great deal to do with his ability to deliver both gay money and gay votes.

Gays are dropping out next week's DNC LGBT fundraiser like flies and I think he's scared that if there is a poor showing, he'll lose his seat at the table.

[BlackYowe]

I hear so much on HuffPost about this need for Gay Marriage but no couples come forward wanting to wed here. It's a joke. It's called being a spoiler when you on insist on having something you neither want, need or enjoy. Barney does not want to wed nor do any of the people crying bloody murder on this forum. Please tell me I am wrong?

[superstition]

Huh? 18,000 people got married in California prior to Prop 8, right?

[BlackYowe]

I can tell you of all the Gay people I know none of them want to be married. There is so much talk about the right to marry but where are the couples on here who want it? I have not seen one speak up wishing to tie the knot. Not one. California is no measure of the national trend.

[dancucich]

If the Democrats will leave controversial
social and religious "issues"
like Gay Marriage, guns and abortion
to the Supreme Court to resolve, we will never lose
another presidential election. Period.

None of this divisive stuff is worth the problems it brings to the party.

Barney Frank is a huge PR disaster for the democratic party
and a political liability-NOT an asset.

Ignore him, and the gay marriage zealots; they cost us more votes
than they give us- plus 1/4 to 1/3 of them vote GOP anyway.

Any politician or political party that gets too far
ahead of the culture on any issue, does so at its peril.

[puffthedragon]

Extremely Excellent point! you have a very wise perspective

[cliffstep]

I gotta disagree with you on a coupla points.
We do it at our peril , but we gotta do it. We're not the land of the free if we're not the home of the brave. (that was pretentious, wasn't it?)
Barney Frank is a huge positive figure. Yeah , he fixed a coupla tickets in , what , 1985? This is a serious , smart guy.
The zealots are hard to take , but they're us.

[barrycourage]

"Behold, the turtle makes progress only when it sticks its neck out."

So go back into your shell, watch Bugs Bunny cartoons, and wait for a big foot to smash you.

[AngryCitizen]

Cracks are appearing in Obamas base of support, and he has only himself to blame. Live up to your promises Obama!

[puffthedragon]

I think you are the one with a crack problem

[klandish]

You are the one who puffs on the magic dragon.

[Scotty108]

Those aren't Obama's views.

Just let the states take care of gay marriage.

[TxAggie]

Would Barney be the bride or the groom?

[superstition]

It doesn't seem like he cares about marriage. Someone recently quoted him as having said he opposed Obama's earlier decision to support same-sex marriage recognition. It seems political opportunism matters more to him than doing the right thing.

Barney Frank throws us under the bus. Lauds incest brief. Says language was appropriate.
http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/barney-frank-throws-us-under-bus-lauds.html

I hope he enjoys the echo at his empty fundraiser. Maybe not empty. Lieberman might be there.

[jmpurser]

I had a lot of respect for him until just now. What a shame.

[barrycourage]

I assume it would be a Jewish wedding.

You would be the one of the glasses Barney and his partner break under their feet at the end of the ceremony.

[TxAggie]

You think I'll get invited?

[RJII]

It seems alot of the effort is being laid at the President's feet when there isn't enough public support for gay marriage. Why aren't state efforts being better organized and state leaders held accountable?

[carlonw]

If history has taught us anything, it is that progressive movements always succeed sooner or later. The civil rights movement. The vote for women. Abortion rights. Woman's access to sports in educational facilities. The historians among us can cite more.
In contrast such notions as censorship, prohibition, "separate but equal" die by their own weight.
Along with repressive drug laws, the other big progressive ideal to pursue is the rights of the LGBT community. We all know that the progressive movement will prevail(History and all). The question is when. I see a broad lack of support for the gay agenda, and I believe that is inbred in us. I can remember as a youth being told by parents, teacher, clergy and friends that gay is bad, and they had the bible to back them up. Also, there were local ordinances prohibiting gay activities. Kids are sponges and we all soaked this anti-gay rhetoric up. Now, can this bigotry long ingrained be dismissed by presidential decree?
I believe it will take many years for the gay community to be fully accepted. But it will be . It will take generations, much as it has been for the black community. This is fitting, because this also a civil rights issue. When the politicians see enough support, they'll come around.

[CigarGod]

Have a cigar!

[graphicnovel]

By "gay activities", do you mean sodomy laws?

[superstition]

In Germany's major cities like Berlin, there was a cultural thaw during the Wiemar Republic. Gay couples were rather visible.

This success was replaced with a brutal repressive regime that incrementally changed policy to become increasingly homophobic.

[JackNasty]

In the 1933, Nazi Youth of the Deutsche Studentenschaft made an organized attack on the Institute of Sex Research. A few days later the Institute's library and archives were publicly hauled out and burned in the streets of the Opernplatz. The Nazis arrested gay men and sent them prisons and concentration camps.

Let's not forget when the US and its allies freed the Jewish, Gypsy, Labor Union survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, the US troops and their allies rearrested and imprisoned gay survivors. Gay Holocaust survivors could be re-imprisoned for "repeat offenses," and were kept on the modern lists of "sex offenders."

Long after the war ended, homosexual concentration camp prisoners were not acknowledged as victims of Nazi persecution. The reparations and state pensions available to other survivors were denied d to gay men, who were still classified as criminals . The Nazi anti-gay law was not repealed until 1994,

[ThisIsAllJustADream]

i hear the voices of straight progressives scrambling to assure us to be patient because our day will come soon. what is the motivation behind these frantic assurances? is it genuine concern for the LGBT community or is it fear their ever-so-fragile coalition will crumble and another bush-gore 2000 will ensue? i have to wonder.

i was willing to put health care and all the other progressive issues before the repeal of DADT and DOMA. but then the Obama administration insulted us. so it's no longer about putting our desires behind the good of the country, because we see that we are not considered part of that.

we're just votes to the democratic party and i can see they and the republicans are two sides of the same coin. i remember reading a news item about gay voters and i was able to calculate from that data that we are 7% of the voting population. it's interesting to note that Obama won precisely by that margin. 90% of gays voted for Obama. had we voted the other way it would have been McCain in the white house.

[mfcesq]

I feel the EXACT same way. Last week I was ALL for putting our interests on hold for policy change that affects everyone..of course I'm referring first and foremost to health care. Now I'm just angry. I would have waited years and still been championing Obama's initiatives and saying "Just wait until he gets reelected...then he'll be able to show is true affinity for our community without political risk". Well now I don't think he cares about our community at all. When I hear the OBAMA ADMINISTRAITION of all things comparing gay marriage to incest and pedophilia in the fashion of some megachurch preacher, I've had enough.

[williamg]

"i hear the voices of straight progressives scrambling to assure us to be patient because our day will come soon."


Don't be patient. Get off your butt and do something. To me, the gay community is about the most apothetic community there is. How about a little organizing? Don't wait for someone to pass a law -- make them do it.

[ThisIsAllJustADream]

we are hardly apathetic. daily i send out emails to various politicians and groups. i attend organizing get-togethers. what do you do?

[cliffstep]

If you come back,
I might be one of those guys - though I don't know if I'm a progressive.
I don't want you to be patient. I just don't want , for want of a better term , bad vibes.
There are two issues: DADT , which our prez can rescind with a signature. He should , soon.
And there is DOMA. He cannot sign that one away. There are only two solutions - congress passes legislation , or the supreme court rules it unconstitutional.
The prez said he is committed to the repeal of DOMA. I believe it will happen and happen better if we stick together.
I'm ticked because I hoped he would instantly order all soldiers in Iraq home in thirty days. I'm not getting what I wanted , but I feel we're working our way out.
But in no way do I mean to say stay home like good little boys and girls. I just ask you to consider what kind of splintering effect one might cause to the very administration that is your best friend in the reality we find ourselves at this moment.

[Coattails]

Frank is the type of politician I can't stand.

What did he do that was so great before he got elected? nothing

What has he done that is so great that people seem to talk about him all the time? nothing

Will he ever lose a general election in his district? probably not, and therefore he will probably serve for several more decades or until his death.

I don't know about you, but his best days, and ideas are behind him. He may have had some good ideas in the 1970's when first elected, but now he will just vote whatever the liberal opinion is and be a lockstep partyliner.

Now, would you still use a computer that was built in the 1970's? No you wouldn't. I'm still waiting for the swamp to be drained, it seems mostly moderates are getting replaced with moderates of the other party in the past few elections. What we are left with is the hacks that will serve for life and never get voted out because of the ideology of their districts.

[graphicnovel]

Well, he did have some ideas when he was working closely with freddie and fannie.