Late yesterday, in the White House's daily guidance email to the press corps, one of the items caught people off guard:
In the evening, the President will deliver brief remarks and sign a Presidential Memorandum regarding federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office. This event is pooled press.
The networks scrambled to make sense of it and the print media posted conflicting reports of what it meant. What's the difference between an Executive Order and a Presidential Memorandum? Will the extension of benefits include health care and retirement? Will the transgender community receive employment protections in the Federal Workforce? Does Obama plan to announce his plan to honor his promises to the LGBT community?
These are all great questions. Some of them have been answered through the night and others will be answered throughout the day. What is certain is that there is a limit to what the President can do with the stroke of his pen.
What is uncertain is the extent of what he can do with the power of his word. What the President says today will be far more consequential than what he does. Last year, candidate Obama issued a strong statement and his words today should be judged against the vision he laid out for the LGBT community. Here are excerpts just as a reminder:
I'm running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all ‐ a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It's wrong to have millions of Americans living as second‐class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans....
As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat
same‐sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws....
I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA). Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and
lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to
repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting
American Families Act so we can afford same‐sex couples the same rights and
obligations as married couples in our immigration system....
The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it
comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science.
While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use
common sense....
We also need a president who's willing to confront the stigma ‐ too often
tied to homophobia ‐ that continues to surround HIV/AIDS....
I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT
Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need
to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together....
Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for
what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality
for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership
that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will
provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all
Americans, gay and straight alike.
So there we have it. In his own words, he reflects not only ending nearly every instance of discrimination in Federal law, but also to be vocal in ending stigmas and stereotypes. He promises to provide the leadership to make this all possible. Thus far, that leadership has been missing. In fact, his Administration has taken backward steps away from fulfilling the vision he laid out.
Today marks the first time he has spoken about the gay community since his election. That's a step forward, but only a very small step in and of itself.
Here are a few things that could make the President's remarks today a home run:
1. Extending the full range of benefits (whatever they may include) to same sex partners of Federal employees in a lasting Executive Order. According to Chuck Todd of NBC News, a Presidential Memorandum will not last past his Presidency.
2. Calling on the Congress to immediately pass legislation that would extend the balance of benefits not able to be extended via Executive Order.
3. Announcing that he will instruct the Department of Justice not to defend section 3 of DOMA, which deals with Federal benefits, that is being challenged in a federal lawsuit by the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) in Massachusetts.
4. Signing an Executive order that bans employment discrimination against transgender persons in the Federal workforce.
5. Announcing a concrete path forward on repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell
6. Calling on Congress to pass the far too long delayed Employment Non-Discrimination Act and Federal Hate Crimes Legislation.
7. Urging Congress to include the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform legislation to be considered this year.
8. Committing the National Institute of Health to undertake a new effort for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and the Department of Health and Human Services to commit to new efforts on prevention of HIV/AIDS.
It's not asking too much. It's taken this long for the White House to address our community. There is much to be done to end discrimination and this would be a great start. The President could announce everything on this list today. Don't ask, don't get.
I believe what worried them is the massive unsubscribing to their email fundraising lists. They have relied on those lists to get Obama elected. That's the only way he raised the cash he needed to run for President.
I have personally unsubscribed from not only the Obama mailing list, but the DNCC and all other Democratic fundraising lists and whenever possible, made it known that until gays have equal rights, there will be no money or votes for Dems coming from me and mine.
THAT, I believe, is what made them listen. However, they're just trying to throw us a bone. The Holder brief is going ahead unchanged, Obama has still not said he believes in gay marriage, the "rights" he gave to federal employees were not equal to those of straight people. As to CONGRESS, the 3 openly gay members had to be pestered for over 3 DAYS before Barney Frank made the comments that should have been instantaneous.
Gays should foreswear ALL political contributions to the major parties, ALL votes for their candidates, and consider throwing our support to third parties or start a party of our own. There are a lot of angry non-gay liberals who would join us in a heartbeat.
cuz that has ceased to be MY COMMUNITY.
What is the proper role of abstinence training? Scorn and contempt. It is an ignorant gesture that recommends the unlikely and repulsive to confuse real understanding.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-kirsten-gillibrand/i-stand-with-lt-dan-choi_b_217364.html
Send Senator Gillibrand your support so that DADT is repealed expeditiously.
It's time for GLBT community to stop supporting these jokers, and voting against their best interest. Vote your conscious, not the lesser of two evils. Seek out the Libertarian and Green candidates. They are aligned with equality and protection of individual liberties.
If you're going to support politicians, please choose individuals who do support you - not parties.
They've played GLBT people, stringing us along for our votes, our time and our money, saying just enough to get what they want out of us but without making real progress.
Why actually accomplish anything? They're getting all the benefit of our support without the risk of doing anything.
He extended .01% of rights denied gays and lesbians to between .06% (% of US labor force employed by the federal government) and .58% (% if you include postal workers - are they included? the military isn't) of working, taxpaying Americans. Now calculate the percentage of those numbers who are gay and lesbian - 10% or less - and he's made virtually no impact. Plus it all disappears when he leaves office.
Gee, thanks.
The new motto for the GLBT community should be: Stay at Home - Save Your Money.
Stay at home: don't vote. You can't vote for the Republicans and you can't vote for the Democrats, so you might as well stay home.
Save your money: Don't donate to the Democratic Party (or Republicans). Period. Doesn't matter if they're gay, straight, say the right things or not. Until they can show that they will actually move onbringing equality to the GLBT community, don't support them.
They'll miss our money and votes when the elections get close. It may take another eight years, but it's not like we're on track to see any progress in that time anyway.
Stay at Home - Save Your Money!
" I do, You don't "
When they ask for contributions, just say I have too much on my plate to write a check.
It's clear from these crumbs, which even these we wouldn't have gotten without the fundraiser falling apart, that money is the only thing the beltway ultimately cares around or understands, because money, not votes is seen as actual power.
We cannot let this DOMA brief go without an accountability moment. It's a betrayal and nothing less than that.
For once, can we please have enough self-esteem to stand up for ourselves?
There will be hundreds of $1,000 a plate fundraisers before the next election.
Just once can we do something that says we are not the doormats they can wipe their feet on that they believe we are.
If you need any further incentive to boycott next week's fundraiser, then click on the link of what Obama promised us and compare his feckless behavior over this legal brief.
http://obama.3cdn.net/36ddd2f5daac41cb21_rym6bxaax.pdf
All nonprofits are suffering. This one time, redirect your $1,000 to something constructive. Don't throw good money after bad.
"I can accept that you see the glass as 3/4 empty. I hope you can understand that I see the glass as 1/4 full."
Having cut my activist baby teeth with ACTup in the early 90s -- as our brothers were dying of AIDS -- the current situation just does NOT feel as dire to me.
I share your goals, Lane, but i don't share your sense of life-or-death urgency.
Gays were some of the earliest and most active proponents of candidate Obama. Long before blacks, gays rallied to Obama because of the ill treatment the Clintons had given gay Americans.
Obama is going along the same path of the Clintons, not willing to spend any political capital to fulfill his promises for equality for gays. Handing out kitty treat size benefits still means that gays are eating off the floor while the rest of Americans sit at the table.
The issue is equality.
There's no polite way to tell a man, "You are not my equal, and do not deserve the same rights I demand for myself." Those are fighting words, and gay americans have heard the president loud and clear. The furious reactions of Obama's former supporters is entirely proportional to the message the president just sent. If the president continues on this course he will be doing lasting damage; damage that will be a long time healing.