Truth Bombs

Last weekend, President Barack Obama addressed the Human Rights Council (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gendered (LGBT) advocacy group, at the council's Annual National Dinner. During his speech, Obama renewed the commitments to equal rights he made during the 2008 presidential campaign.

     Calling for an end to the Clinton administration's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the president described his participation with military leaders and alluded future congressional legislation to overturn the obsolete and discriminatory law banning homosexual men and women from serving openly. Another Clinton-era debacle currently under revision is the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which expressly defines marriage as an institution that exists solely between one man and one woman.

     These revisions are long overdue, but seem like legal battles whose time before lawmakers has yet to arrive. Closer to fruition are new provisions in Employee Non-Discrimination Acts (EDNA) and Hate Crimes legislation to include federal protection for LGBT victims.

     If the C-SPAN coverage of the speech is any indication, the audience appreciated Obama's words, and, indeed, the mere fact that the commander-in-chief personally solicited support from a gay rights organization is progress in and of itself.

     Oh, and Lady Gaga performed.

     However, many prominent voices from the gay community have sharpened their criticism of the man who courted their votes so broadly during the campaign. In fact, tens of thousands of gay rights activists gathered at a protest outside the HRC on Saturday and a rally around the capitol on Sunday, imploring the  president to deliver on his campaign promises.

     Sunday's National Equality march saw celebrities like Charlize Theron and James Franco, as well as civil rights leaders such as Cleve Jones, air their grievances with the president's relative inaction surrounding LGBT issues, emphasizing their continued support of the Obama administration with the expressed caveat that said support won't be sustained by rhetoric alone.

     Where does the discord spring from? Barack Obama is without question the most progressive advocate for gay rights to ever occupy the Oval Office. All signs indicate that the dawning of a new era in American inclusiveness is rapidly approaching, and compared to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Barack Obama seems like a big gay beacon of hope for freedom.

     While it's certainly unfair to ask good people fighting for equal protection under the law to wait patiently for the rights straight Americans take for granted, why have these protestors focused so intently on the shortcomings of the one president to take their causes seriously?

     The rumblings arise out of the Obama administration's facilitation of discriminatory laws and failure to generate sufficient momentum among lawmakers to overturn them.

     During the first year of Obama's presidency, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policies have ousted talented, dedicated soldiers, leaders in their respective fields, from the active service in the military merely because they refuse to lie about who they are and how they love.

     "While Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a federal law enacted by Congress and neither the president nor the military can force representatives into its reversal, Obama is not entirely ineffectual in this regard. The president can issue a stop-loss order to prevent the military from discharging these soldiers, but thus far hasn't. He supports the extension of some marriage rights to homosexual couples, but won't make the full commitment to endorse legalizing gay marriage.

     Barack Obama is undoubtedly the most pro-gay president in American history, but the bar he reached was set tragically low. By campaigning directly to the gay and lesbian community, President Obama engaged a demographic heretofore ignored by the mainstream political process. He also extended benefits to the partners of federal workers and appointed openly gay leaders in some prestigious positions in his cabinet.