Obama's Plan for Gay Rights

When it comes to gay rights, President Obama has been forceful in declaring where he stands, promising to bring an end to both the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex couples.

Yet even after federal judges ruled separately that both laws are unconstitutional, the Obama administration’s Justice Department has continued with appeals, saying it’s bound by a “duty to defend” the laws even if it doesn’t like them.

The Department’s latest appeal came Wednesday when government lawyers asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the military’s ban on openly gay service members after District Court Judge Virginia Phillips ruled it unconstitutional and issued an immediate, worldwide injunction against the policy.

The administration’s handling of the case has angered critics on both sides of the issue. Gay rights advocates, infuriated by what they see as hypocrisy, and some legal scholars, insist the “duty to defend” has already been fulfilled and that there is ample precedent for the administration to let Judge Phillips’ decision stand. Meanwhile, supporters of the law say the administration’s invocation of their “duty” is a smokescreen for a halfhearted defense.

A federal appeals court reinstated the policy late Wednesday. A three-judge panel granted the Justice Department’s emergency request to allow the policy to remain on the books so that the appeals court could have more time to fully consider the issues presented.

TV personality Olivia Munn is annoyed that President Barack Obama has not done more to legalize same-sex marriage.
By Julie Bolcer

Television personality Olivia Munn took President Barack Obama to task last week for not legalizing marriages for same-sex couples, saying that as an African-American man, he should be more sensitive.

Munn, 29, spoke with the Fox News entertainment site Pop Tarts.

“It’s ridiculous and I’m really upset that Obama, as a black man, and all the things that African Americans have gone through after being oppressed, has said ‘you’re less than’ and cannot stand up and say marriage is a union between two individuals who love each other,” she said. “I just think everyone should be allowed the same rights — if they want to exercise them, they can and if they don’t, they don’t.”

Munn recently posed for a PETA campaign urging people to boycott the circus in response to claims of elephant abuse.

–Advocate.com

Obama won’t support the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Politically, this position is only slightly harder than kissing a baby and offering “change”. The Federal Marriage Amendment exists for one reason only– to help conservative Republicans get elected. The measure has limited support, would never pass Congress and would never get the votes from U.S. state legislatures needed to enact it.

–The Obama-Biden Plan

Obama plans to address Saturday’s Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner gala, the organization and the White House announced Monday afternoon.

“It is fitting that (Obama) will speak to our community on the night that we pay tribute to his friend and mentor Sen. Edward Kennedy, who knew that as president, Barack Obama would take on the unfinished business of this nation — equal rights” for the gay community and for “every person who believes in liberty and justice for all,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

The dinner falls on the eve of the National Equality March, expected to draw thousands of gay and lesbian activists to the National Mall. Many have been critical of Obama’s slow pace on redeeming campaign promises to end a ban on gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military and pushing tough nondiscrimination policies.

“Eleven months after his election, he has failed to deliver on any of his commitments to gay Americans, but even worse has been his refusal to engage around these issues,” said Richard Socarides, who advised President Bill Clinton’s administration on gay and lesbian policy.

“What he needs to do now is engage and deliver,” said Socarides. “Spend some of his political capital on ending the gay military ban, a hugely symbolic issue. And with no intellectually sound arguments left against it, come out squarely for gay marriage equality.”

Obama wasn’t likely to go that far, though, despite a rocky relationship with gay grass roots activists. He has taken a slow and incremental approach to the politically charged issues. He has expanded some federal benefits to same-sex partners, but not health benefits or pension guarantees. He has allowed State Department employees to include their same-sex partners in certain embassy programs already available to opposite-sex spouses.

– Associated Press

Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

The Obama-Biden Plan