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Obama Gives a Good Speech, But Will It Help Lt. Choi?
My mother gave me Dreams From My Father after I started volunteering for the Obama campaign. I didn't read it, I now regretfully admit, until a month ago. By then I had bought into the "hope," had my heart broken by the Rick Warren choice and had decided the new president was going to need as much, if not more lobbying on gay rights issues than any Republican.
Well, yesterday, a number of people who have spent most of their lives working for full equality in this country heard the president give a pretty perfect speech in commemoration of the Stonewall riots. He might have sidestepped the actual issues, refused to back down from defending DOMA and refused to stop discharging out military personnel, but he stated, unequivocally, that he is committed to the repeal of all federal discrimination against LGBT Americans.
Anyone who has read Dreams From My Father knows that this is not a man who believes in discrimination and this is not a man who approves of second-class treatment for any class of U.S. citizens.
So, now that that is out of the way, can we stop worrying about Obama and his administration for a while?
If we look at the track record of this administration -- the movement away from public health care, the passing of a flawed energy bill, the back and forth on Guantanamo -- we have to wonder just how much influence it has over conservative Democrats and Republicans. If it can't pass a comprehensive overhaul of health care, something people expressly voted for when electing Obama, then how is it going to repeal laws that a large proportion of Americans don't care about or to which many don't object?
The political cost of discrimination eventually becomes too great for the system to operate successfully. This happens when those within a community and their supporters become angry, begin boycotts and push legislators to move rights issues to the top of the agenda.
LGBT rights are not at the top of the agenda today. They are not going to get there if we just wait for a lull in the crisis facing this country. They are not going to get there if we place all our hope in the beliefs or opinions of the president.
Today, Lt. Dan Choi faces his review in military court. His livelihood and the livelihood of all those fired for being gay, beaten up for being gay, separated from their partners for being gay, depends on a shift in the conversation from Obama to the much broader lobbying efforts that target congress and the senate; a lobby that makes it just too damn expensive to keep endorsing bigotry in U.S. laws.
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Remember Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth? An equally dubiosly named group, Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, opposes gays in the military and is preparing for the coming battle. Expect this and other groups to “swift boat” the truth and our gay military men and women.
The U.S. military provides some of the best leadership training available. Surely, it can manage the potential impact to its culture if gay soldiers serve openly. We have the finest military in the world. In the long run, that military will be even stronger if it includes the bravery and talent of all our citizens, including gay men and women who have already proven their ability and desire to serve our country.
http://axisofreason.com/2009/07/09/time-to-repeal-don’t-ask-don’t-tell/
I was in the marine infantry in Vietnam. Having women or homosexuals among us out in the field, esp. in the foxholes during the night, would have created a distraction in the form of sexual tension that would have reduced our effectiveness.
Why?
Hello, Ms. Ruby--Sachs! Since stumbling upon Huffington Post a few weeks ago, I also happened upon your posts. I enjoy both immensely. You often take what are for me complex legal concepts relating to LGBT issues and express them in ways I can readily understand. Thank you so much for taking your time and effort to do this!
Would you (or anyone else reading) know if there is an online copy of the defense of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that President Obama’s DOJ presented to the Supreme Court? I have made several searches including, “Pietrangelo v Gates.” Despite more than a couple of hours of effort, the results have been frustratingly unfruitful.
A URL or even a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Again, “Thanks!”
One mother writes:
“I have a gay son, whom I absolutely adore, and who I pray will someday enjoy equal rights . . . But . . . don’t expect [Obama] to politically martyr himself on the cross of gay rights. It would not be politic.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emma-rubysachs/obama-gives-a-good-speech_b_223065.html?show_comment_id=26398530#comment_26398530
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Before cancer claimed my mom in 1986, she was my staunchest supporter. However, it did take her about five hours during the summer of 1981 to wrap herself around the revelation that I was gay. After sobbing inside her closed bedroom, she came into the living room and asked, “Are you a homosexual?” I responded, “Yes, but we prefer to be called gay.” She said, “I feel so sorry for you. God knows it’s hard enough for heterosexuals to find a partner; I cannot even begin to think of how hard it will be to find someone to spend the rest of your life with who is half as wonderful as you are!”
Quicky, my mom let neighbors, family and strangers know her intolerance of prejudice against gays. From the President to our County councilman, she became very involved in advocating for gay and lesbian rights. She got to know many at the state and county level by first name and vice versa.
I am so glad that my mom held her elected officials to a higher standard of performance than this mother is expecting from President Obama.
Speeches seem to be all we should expect:
"Obama deputy campaign manager abandons DOMA & DADT as priorities"
http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/obama-deputy-campaign-manager-abandons.html
"After two weeks of the Obama White House reeling over the gay backlash caused by the anti-gay DOMA brief, which compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia, we now have... First, that the burden for doing anything pro-gay in the remaining three and a half years of the Obama administration is now shifted to Congress. Obama has no role whatsoever, and no power to influence anything, even though he's still the leader of the free world. Second, the three big gay rights priorities that Congress should be focusing on do not even include what have organically become the community's top two priorities: repealing DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. They're not even mentioned in the Obama deputy's essay."
I'm a 74-year-old heterosexual woman. I believe in and support my President. However, I am so frustrated and impatient with his failure to enact a moratorium on DADT. Daily, lives and careers are being ruined. President Obama needs to sign a piece of paper and stop this atrocious injustice!
Gay Australian Defence personnel fight alongside US troops everyday in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
There is no difference in spouse/ housing/ etc. in the Australian Defence Forces.
Lt. Choi should consider joining our Army, which is also short of staff.
Put the pressure on congress, they passed the law, focusing only on Obama is the "easy way out".
Obama is the leader of the democrats. If he can't get them to move, no one can.
Congress passed the law "Don't Ask Don't Tell" . It may not be a good law but it is our law and there are legal and proper ways to fix a bad law . When the law was written there were as always punishments attached to deal with law breakers and the Lt broke the law and was dealt punishment . The Lt is a lawyer ; So why did he break the law now ? Why not 9 or 10 months ago ? Could it be lack of patience ? Ignorance ? Or is this an attempt to embarress the new President ? It seems to me a good lawyer would know how to and what steps to take get an unjust law corrected without exposing himself and breaking the law .
OK, why can't you people press those in Congress the same way you press Obama? Do you want Obama to use the executive order? Fine. But remember that the succeeding presidents could undo his executive order which would restore the status quo. It's better for it to take some time and done right than in a wishy-washy fashion. I hope you are not too shallow to misunderstand what I mean, though.
Remember, you did not make him a priority during Dem primaries and he had to be patient until the primaries were over before he got your votes. So, you've got to be patient with him and not push it too hard. I am all for gay rights and stuff, but there is time for everything.
Very well said, Time...!
Because Obama is the leader of the party. If he can't get Congress to act, no one can.
First of all put the blame on who it belongs.
Lt Choi, he knew before he opened his mouth
to tell that no laws had been changed yet. He
is suppose to be a army man, so he knows
the rules. This President has more than just one
soilder to think about. I hate to be the one to
break this to Lt. Choi, but he is not the only pebble
on the beach.
I'm sorry to break it to all those who thought Obama could do all the things that he said he could. He said that to get you to vote for him. I believe he will move things forward on gay rights, drugs, wars, guns, the economy and all the other stuff that each of us holds dear but, it isn't going to happen by waving his hand. One of the problems with human beings is that they care about what effects them the most without regard for all the other stuff that happens around them. This guy, Obama, is new at his job, very smart and has a great future. Give him a chance.
Amen.
As the commander-in-chief, President Obama can and should order the military to stop enforcing DADT pending a change in the law. Its as simple as that and is the right thing to do, morally and legally.
Since Obama is Commander and Chief, he is the one firing Dan Choi. He is the one making the decision to discriminate.
Google Ron Paul and Gays in the Military. Or Gay Marriage for that matter. Barry Obama is a Politician. Ron Paul is a Doctor. Should've voted for Dr. Paul. Like I did.
Choi is a military man with skills this country needs. "Don't ask, don't tell " is an outdated concept. Obama is Commander-in-Chief. He sould rock the boat a litlle and tell the military that he is against this idea. Not having a military background, I'm not sure this is possible. However, from a justice stand-point, believe it is. What consenting adults do in private is their business not all the world's. Gays and lesbians should have rights just as so-called straights.
I don't support the present policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but it was implemented early in the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton. I could be wrong (I admit that I do not know when Lt. Choi joined the military), but I suspect that this policy was already in place before Lt. Choi chose to join. I don't see how a civil rights argument can be made for Lt Choi since he was not forced to join the military. I served for almost 25 years in the Air Force, and I knew by making that choice that I surrendered certain "rights" or "privileges" enjoyed by civilians. I knew that I could be forced to leave my family, that I couldn't decide for myself what job I would hold, that I might have put myself in harm's way even if the cause involved was not one I completely supported. It was a choice I made, and, like all choices, it involved consequences. I was lucky since the vast majority of those consequences proved favorable for me. But if they had not, I would not have felt that I had any "right" to complain. If choices have no consequences, the morality of choice is lost.
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