Obama Announces Three High-Profile LGBT Appointments

The Obama White House announced Wednesday the appointment of three openly gay officials to high-profile positions, two to take on roles within the administration, and one nominated to a distinguished federal judgeship in New York.

Roberta Achtenberg, a co-founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, has been selected to sit on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

It's just the latest groundbreaking move for Achtenberg, who became the first openly LGBT American appointed by a U.S. president to a Senate-confirmable position in 1993, despite opposition from some in that chamber, such as the late Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) who once referred to her as a "damn lesbian."

Jeffrey Levi was named by Obama Thursday as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health, after earlier having pioneered AIDS prevention efforts in the 80s and later serving as Executive Director of Trust for America's Health.

Obama's final appointment came at the behest of Sen. Charles Shumer (D-N.Y.) who petitioned the president to nominate J. Paul Oetken to a position on the federal bench of the Southern District of New York. His appointment is pending Senate approval, but if confirmed, he would become the third openly gay federal judge in the country.

According to the Gay City News, Oetken served as associate counsel to President Bill Clinton at the end of his administration and before that in the Justice Department. He is currently the associate general counsel at Cablevision Systems and an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School.

Comments

[Cowboylove]

10:57 AM on 01/29/2011

Bravo! Now I wait for the day when an LGBT appointment is not headline making! LGBT people are just - well - people. Just people, like everyone else. What goes on in people's bedrooms is their business, and frankly not nearly as exciting as we like to imagine!

[Randy Wetzel]

10:20 AM on 01/29/2011

Seems some one is trying to smooth some ruffled feathers.

[bradenton]

10:11 AM on 01/29/2011

So Obama gave 3 Gay folks jobs. In the meantime thousand of Gay people are being discriminated against in the workplace and nothing is being done. Neither these 3 or the millions of other Gay Americans have equal rights. Thanks for nothing Obama. We need a Progressive 3rd party now.

[CatfishAndGrits]

11:56 AM on 01/29/2011

That's right. It's all Obama's fault. wait......oops....It was Bill Clinton who signed DOMA. Is Bill going around advocating for a bill HE signed to be undone....

Obama is busy correcting G.W Bush, Bill Clinton, G. H. W. Bush, and Reagan's mess. But if your simple mind can't handle that level of complexity then you go right ahead and keep it simple.

I now return you back to your Obama bashing rant already in progress.

[Americanium]

05:29 PM on 01/29/2011

Thank you.. These gays are some of the most racist people you can find. .they won't admit it.. but they are !!

[gaydood]

03:53 AM on 01/29/2011

day by day things are gonna be ok :)

[JackNasty]

02:18 AM on 01/29/2011

Does anyone else notice none of these appointments are for cabinet level positions?

There are no openly gay men or women serving in Obama's cabinet.

[Dem4us]

03:39 AM on 01/29/2011

i swore janet napolitano was a lesbian.......and she is sec. of homeland security

[JackNasty]

10:28 AM on 01/29/2011

Facts never get in the way of your stories, do they?

[Americanium]

01:13 AM on 01/29/2011

Gays do not like Obama .. Period .. End of Story.. now find another issue to whine about.. Move on..

[gaydood]

03:48 AM on 01/29/2011

i like him !

[David N Taiwan]

04:59 AM on 01/29/2011

I'm gay. I like him.

End of your theory.

[Americanium]

05:30 PM on 01/29/2011

I can dig that!

[reluctantWASP]

10:29 PM on 01/28/2011

Wait, wait, wait it seems that practically three short months ago the LGBT community had basically labeled President Obama their #1 enemy because step and fetch fast enough on their DADT demand. However, lately it kind of seems that what he said regarding his belief in equality for all before, during, and after his campaing is indeed true. Maybe a lesson can learned, namely that a little bit of patience is a good thing.

[JBaker]

11:21 PM on 01/28/2011

Maybe losing the midterms was the lesson that needed to be learned by Obama. He has since had to hustle quickly to shore up his base.

[CAHertzfe]

11:51 PM on 01/28/2011

I doubt it. The election was a referendum on Republicans to start marching to their new orders from the Koch brothers.

[Kara Kramer]

10:20 PM on 01/28/2011

Wow, some LGBT people are just going to hate this guy whatever he does. Usually this kind of action wouldn't unleash this barrage of abuse, but you all are treating him making LGBT appointments like a personal insult!
Is it that you don't WANT any LGBT people to get appointments? Because at this point I'm genuinely confused.
Or is it that you're just never going to be happy with this president unless he changes his religious beliefs, which strikes me as a little unfair and deeply hypocritical when he isn't asking you to change who you are.
Honestly, if I was an adviser of his reading this, I'd tell him to just pack it in because when everytime you do something to promote LGBT equality all it does is annoy LGBT people, then maybe it's best to just leave them alone.
It's clear you guys are going to hate him whatever he does, so perhaps it's best for him to extract himself from what is rapidly turning into an abusive relationship.

[GabeSmall]

11:33 PM on 01/28/2011

Obama picks the strategy most likely to have a lasting, consequential result, even if he knows he'll take heat from the people most affected because of the strategy's "optics".

Now *that's* dedication.

[JBaker]

11:52 PM on 01/28/2011

Kara, I am not sure who you are responding to, but I will address your point. I voted for Obama, and will certainly do so again over any Republican. Patience is not much of a virtue in civil rights. For instance, the black population was comparatively 'patient' with outrageous oppression from 100 years following the civil war, waiting for basic decency and the promise of full citizenship to be fulfilled. But it didn't happen and never would. Patience was rewarded with indifference. When that point finally sank in, that is when the riots and protests in the 1960s turned the political equation upside down. Only then was there finally real governmental movement to redress injustice. Lesson: unquestioning gratitude for promises yet to be fulfilled is a fools errand.

BTW: Obama opposes gay marriage, but you think we should be licking his boots with appreciation for that? And voters never owe any politician gratitude for anything. We gave them their jobs and prestige. They OWE us, not the reverse.

[GabeSmall]

12:08 AM on 01/29/2011

The choice between boot-licking gratitude and unrelenting hostility is a false one.

[wendy scott]

06:18 PM on 01/28/2011

Someone posted this list after DADT was overturned. Obama's GBLT accomplishments.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x485790

[cminca]

08:22 PM on 01/28/2011

OK--now remove everything on the list that was actually done by somebody else. Hate crimes? He SIGNED the bill. Nothing more.

If he gets full credit for getting hate crimes, then he takes full blame on no public option. No more blaming the senate. No more "we don't have the votes." He can't take the credit and accept none of the blame.

Now go through the list and look at what was done in the state department­--and give the credit to Hilary. She moved before he did.

Now go through the list and look at it critically­--"Endorse­d the Baldwin-Li­eberman bill, The Domestic Partnershi­p Benefits and Obligation­s Act of 2009, to provide full partnershi­p benefits to federal employees" except, due to DOMA, federal employees DON"T get full benefits unless they can marry.

Now go through the list and throw out all the fluff--Lau­nched a website to gather public comment on first-ever federal LGBT housing discrimina­tion study. He launched a website to study discrimina­tion? GROUND BREAKING! How about DOING something about the laws that permit discrimina­tion.

Now take another look at the list. You'll find little or no heavy lifting and a lot of spin.

And now--let's talk about the stuff that didn't make the list--Rick Warren, the DoJ briefs, Donnie McClurkin.

[Kara Kramer]

10:05 PM on 01/28/2011

So, according to you cminca, he did nothing? Well, that's not a very balanced view of events, and may I suggest a degree of personal bias on your part against this president, and ask you why?
I have a few ideas, but I'd really like to know for sure why you seem to hate him so much and have such difficulty giving him ANY credit for ANYTHING?

[GabeSmall]

11:19 PM on 01/28/2011

You're just not willing to give an ounce of credit, are you? You are determined to count him as your enemy.

"He launched a website to study discrimina­­tion? GROUND BREAKING! How about DOING something about the laws that permit discrimina­­tion."

Did you miss the news? Based on that study, HUD recently announced a set of anti-discrimination regulations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/obama-lgbt-rights-regulatory-changes_n_812233.html

Have a look at the proposal. It's obviously crafted with a lot of care in putting together rules that address the problem in a meaningful way.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=LGBTPR.PDF

This was not something dashed off in a last minute pitch for LGBT contributions, and it was done with little fanfare. It's the action of someone who wants to effect concrete change, not someone pandering for votes.

[Steamboater]

06:05 PM on 01/28/2011

But Obama is not for allowing them to marry. and therefore punished beause Gays do not get to file joint income taxes and Gay couples have to pay more then straight married couples.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

06:34 PM on 01/28/2011

wait, the obama glee club, will sing "but he has done so much."

[bilmardre]

07:01 PM on 01/28/2011

The President represents ALL Americans, many of who are hostile to your desires. Every time the President moves the ball forward for you, he risks alienating many which puts at risk what he wants to accomplish for ALL Americans. I'm sure the President cares nothing at all about your approval, but it is kinda sad that you seem to have so much disdain for this man who is actually helping you.

[Kara Kramer]

10:06 PM on 01/28/2011

So Obama alone dcides who gets to marry? So what was prop 8 about then?

[JackNasty]

02:24 AM on 01/29/2011

The Federal District Court has already overturned Prop. 8. Most likely that ruling will stand up under appeal. The court has more courage and better sense than Obama.

In contrast, Obama wrote a letter to the Alice B. Toklas Democrats that said he opposed Propostion 8 at the same time he told Rick Warren's Saddleback Church which was backing Prop 8 that he believed marriage was only for a man and woman.

[jimmyblantonlives]

05:38 PM on 01/28/2011

President Obama: working to include Gays in the American melting pot.

The GOP: working to dismantle all progress made towards civil rights for Gays.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

06:20 PM on 01/28/2011

obama, trying to raise money from the gay community, you mean.

[Kara Kramer]

10:07 PM on 01/28/2011

Fine, so give your money to the GOP. It's your money, you can do what you like with it. I suspect president Obama will do okay without it.

[DinSea]

04:47 PM on 01/28/2011

We have a president who understands the times we live in.
No matter how you feel about LGBT, this is a phenomenal leader.
He is truly a Renaissance man - not restricted by antiquated paradigms or mindsets.

BRAVO, Mr. President.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

06:22 PM on 01/28/2011

renaissance man? nothing but a career driven by political ambition and mono-lingual, wow, some renaissance.

[cminca]

08:31 PM on 01/28/2011

He claimed (before the election) that he couldn't support same all citizens equally sharing the benefits confered by marriage due to an adherence to cult based bronze age mythology mixed with medieval voodoo. That is what you call "not restricted by antiquated paradigms or mindsets."?

[Osmona]

03:50 PM on 01/28/2011

Doesn't matter, they STILL hate you President Obama.

[Awake-and-Sing]

05:34 PM on 01/28/2011

Not as much as you apparently hate us.

[Osmona]

08:39 AM on 02/01/2011

Nope, don't hate you. For me to hate you would mean you are relevant to ME and you're NOT. BTW, my cousin, whom I love dearly is Gay and he NEVER whines and crys as much as I read on these threads.

[Steamboater]

06:06 PM on 01/28/2011

When you acclaim yourself as a "fierce advocate of Gay rights' and qualify it with a but, youre hardly fierce about anything.

[Osmona]

08:34 AM on 02/01/2011

IF that's the case for the President, I wish he would STOP wasting his time on people who continuously claim he does not care about them. There are a whole lot of others who could use his help.

[Paul Oates]

03:09 PM on 01/28/2011

Here we go again...
The LGBT community again is slapping the face of the one president who has done anything to move our cause forward.
Wow!
Name another president who has done what this one has.... I'm waiting.....

[Steamboater]

06:11 PM on 01/28/2011

Hundreds of Gays and Lesbians lost their careers and didn't have to. Obama could have issued a Stop/Loss Order the very month in office. Now they're being asked to pay the military/government what it cost to throw them out!

[swabby01]

06:37 PM on 01/28/2011

and when dadt is gone they still won't be able to get partner benefits while fighting and dying for their country. obama may have done more than others but he does not believe we are equal americans and that means he is looking down at us. sorry if we aren't more grateful for a softer hate.

[CatfishAndGrits]

12:06 PM on 01/29/2011

Bill clinton is responsible for that...not Obama. He signed DOMA and DADT. Howabout we place the blame were it is ACTUALLY goes.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

06:25 PM on 01/28/2011

he is only standing on the shoulders of others. obama is/was against gay marriage! so save your paean to his progressive gay rights agenda.

[srose74]

01:48 PM on 01/28/2011

Who cares who they snuggle up with after work. Do they have the qualifications for the job? Are they the right people for these positions? That's all I want and need to care about. Can we PLEASE stop these "big" announcements about a person's orientation already?

[ziggrl]

02:17 PM on 01/28/2011

But that's what they do. They put people into victim groups.

[GabeSmall]

02:26 PM on 01/28/2011

The White House didn't announce that they had nominated gays, they simply announced a bunch of nominees on Wednesday, three of whom are openly gay. The White House did not mention that fact in their press releases.

Here are the press releases that include these three appointees/nominees--
Levi & Achtenberg:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/26/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts
Oetken:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/26/presidential-nominations-sent-senate-0

There were also several other press releases for other appointments and nominees that day.