President Barack Obama told LGBT advocates who attended a White House Pride reception Tuesday that he would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with them as they fight for equality across the country.
“The fact that we have activists here is a reminder that change never comes — or at least never begins — in Washington,” Obama said. “It is when ordinary people out of love for a mother or a father, a son or a daughter, or a husband or a wife, speak out against injustices that have been accepted for too long.”
The White (House) Party With The Prez
9About the Author
Wayne Besen is the Founding Executive Director of Truth Wins Out and author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth” (Haworth, 2003). In 2010, Besen was awarded the “Visionary Award” at the Out Music Awards for organizing the American Prayer Hour, an event which shined a spotlight on the role American evangelicals played in the introduction of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
That Obama is quite the BS’er. Having the government oppose the legal case against DOMA is hardly standing shoulder to shoulder in the fight for equality.
But he’s still better than a Republican president would have been.
Fact (distasteful as it is): The government is, by law, required to defend standing law in court. It isn’t a choice.
I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve heard differently from people with legal knowledge.
I note that the goverment didn’t defend the prop 8 law in California when it was challenged in court.
Prop 8 was not a federal law, so the government didn’t defend it.
On every news circuit and websphere I see, it’s HILLARY CLINTON who is LEADING on LGBT issues. I supported Hillary with great pride and had to choke down supporting Obama because, it is better he than John McCain. However, our President, the true Liberal, the true champion and doer rather than speaker still is, Hillary Clinton. I HOPE she runs in 2012. She is strong and he is weak. We’ve had enough to time see that now. Obama picks out DADT. Woo Hoo… who does that affect? 1% of the LGBT? Please, don’t let the ONLY gay military person on this blog respond and try to respresent a sufficient percentage. Is it important? Yes! But we need partnership rights! We need all of the 80% popular support agrees. We need someone with fortitute to lead.
Kai, I’m well aware that prop 8 was not a federal law, what I was pointing out was that the state government didn’t defend it so I’m not buying your “Obama had to” argument.
Actually, it was a little controversial in CA about Prop 8–Jerry Brown decided the state attorney wouldn’t defend Prop 8–it upset some conservatives–though it seems to have blown over to a large extent.
The Justic department is not obligated to defend laws that if feels is unconstitutional. If the Obama Administration determined that DOMA and DADT both violate the Equal Protection clause (or right to privacy, or any other basis) of the Constitution, they would be under no obligation to defend it. The Justice Department has instead chosen to defend both laws. Other administrations have not defended various federal laws against challenges for various reasons.
The Obama Adminstration is a fierce advocate in defense of both of these laws that codify de jure discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans.