Last week we editorialized against President Obama's backtracking on his campaign pledges to promote and actively work on policies that would provide equal rights to gays. These include, first and foremost, equal federal rights for LGBTs, followed by passage of hate crimes and employment protection laws and repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
Since then, a number of mainstream newspapers have also examined Obama's record on LGBT issues and have found that nothing has been done except for the LGBT agency appointments he has made.
Whether he likes it or not, if he will not lead on our issues, they will force themselves upon him. Pressure is building on the president over DADT, as Army National Guard officer and West Point graduate Dan Choi is set to be discharged under the homophobic policy because he came out as gay on national television. Choi is a highly trained Arabic linguist – the Army has invested thousands of dollars training him – and recently returned from Iraq, where he served under tough conditions. His fellow soldiers knew his sexual orientation and had no problem with it, according to military researcher Aaron Belkin. He is exactly the type of person the military needs, yet he is being unfairly drummed out of the service.
Another gay Army officer, Sandy Tsao, actually penned a letter to Obama in January, urging him to get rid of DADT. She received a hand-written note back from the president, which was reported on last week. In the note, Obama wrote, referring to repealing DADT, "I intend to fulfill my commitment!" Unfortunately, any such move will come too late for Tsao, who is expected to be discharged next week.
These discharges will be Obama's first under DADT, something we didn't expect to see – and we wouldn't have to if Obama exhibited the leadership on which he campaigned.
The president could be promoting greater acceptance by mainstream America on LGBT rights. As a constitutional law professor, Obama certainly knows that separate is not equal. Civil unions are not marriage because the federal Defense of Marriage Act prohibits same-sex couples from receiving equal federal benefits. At last weekend's White House Correspondents Dinner, the president even made a joke about same-sex marriage, using himself, and his chief political adviser David Axelrod and the punchline: "I can still remember ... that day that I called Ax so many years ago and said, 'You and I can do wonderful things together,'" said Obama. "And he said to me the same thing that partners all across America are saying to one another right now, 'Let's go to Iowa and make it official.'"
Yes, that got lots of laughs from the crowd, and we laughed at home, too. It was funny. But it's disappointing that his first public comments on same-sex marriage came in the form of an oblique joke at a banquet.
Obama prides himself on being a different kind of Democrat, much like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger branded himself a different kind of Republican. We had hoped for more from each man. Schwarzenegger could have been on the right side of history and helped bring the Republican Party (in California, at least) along on the issue of equal rights for same-sex couples had he signed the marriage legislation a few years ago when he was popular.
It's an open secret that Obama personally doesn't have a problem with same-sex marriage. Heck, he even supported it during his 1996 run for state Senate in Illinois, based on a questionnaire he provided to Outlines (since acquired by the Windy City Times) in Chicago. And a lot of other Democratic politicians agree, too. So do some Republicans, like Schwarzenegger, who initially ran in the recall race on a pro-business platform. These days that means pro-equality, as more businesses have come to realize the value in offering equal benefits for employees and adding anti-LGBT discrimination to their policies.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump declared that Miss California USA Carrie Prejean can keep her crown, despite her opposition to same-sex marriage. Why? Because her position is the same as the president's, Trump said at his news conference.
Obama's lack of leadership and equivocation are used to prop up anti-gay positions. That's why he needs to speak up. We need a president who is unafraid to tackle homophobia, who can tell the American people that gays deserve to be treated equally, in all aspects of American life.
It was great last month when first lady Michelle Obama attended the swearing in of openly gay John Berry as head of the Office of Personnel Management. She even spoke with gay rights icon Frank Kameny. With little else to point to, it seems she is a fiercer advocate for gays than her husband.