Look what's up at Whitehouse.gov with NO apology or minced words

[BR_Parkway]

(yeah, the marriage/civil rights thing doesn't totally match up with me, but I'm still thrilled to see so much front and center)

Support for the LGBT Community

"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.

* Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

* Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President 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.

* Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.

* Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.

* Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.

* Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.

* Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/

[CraftyGal]

1. Yahoo!

I don't think I have felt this much excitement as I have today.

[Political_Junkie]

2. Pretty cool, huh?

Our new president knows that we're human!

[Lost-in-FL]

3. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be finally out!!

I remember my friends being harassed by the Command and routinely scrutinized because of their "behavior". Gay and Lesbian soldiers are as patriotic and professional or more than any soldier. I had the chance to see a great female soldier forced to leave the military, and others hide in their "closet" afraid of being kicked out. It is a sad policy.

[Sequoia]

59. I'm glad too.

While I'm not either I think it was always wrong to deny them to serve in the military if they wanted to. I was in the air force and knew a couple of ladies who liked ladies and it didn't bother me at all and if the officer's knew they didn't kick them out. One girl was shocked when her friend told her she was a lesbian and was surprised that I wasn't shocked. I was like, so? Hey, but wasn't that gay group wonderful in the parade!? So happy.

[Lost-in-FL]

77. The gay band did awesome!

And at the concert, the Gay Men chorus was excellent.

[Bette Noir]

69. Hey, an old friend of mine-- straight-- got a dishonorable discharge

because he had gay friends. It was a BAD policy.

[Lost-in-FL]

76. That's horrible!!!

:mad: :mad:

[asdjrocky]

4. This looks very good to me.

I'd love to hear our GLBT brothers and sisters check in here and let us all know what they think.

[Bluebear]

5. Thrilled to see it on whitehouse.gov - thrilled to see it under "civil rights"

It's an ambitious and important menu of things to accomplish. Hoping beyond hope that this all comes to pass!

[asdjrocky]

6. Good. I have to think this is a big step forward.

Thanks for checking in. Perhaps we can start to see some healing for the country and at DU.

[otherlander]

7. They're going to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell"!

Now men who love men will have the right to kill men!
:bounce:

Wait...

[Libertyfirst]

8. You can't lay it out plainer than that. GoObama

[The Doctor.]

9. There are some who will choose to believe this is somehow not sincere.

But for now, this is very encouraging!

K+R

[Orsino]

15. No, it's the "marriage is between a man and a woman" bullshit that's not sincere...

...and was just a convenient shield during the campaign.

But the rest of this stuff...these would be substantial gains on the road to equality. It's an impressive agenda.

[The Doctor.]

26. Hmmm... I guess I'll just have to admit that I was wrong.

If 99.99% is 'substantial', then I guess I'll have to agree. :think:

[Orsino]

42. Well, none of these items has been accomplished yet...

...so I'm holding off on calling them "substantial."

But I have hope.

[efhmc]

72. Listing them as goals is certainly substantial compared to what

was there 2 days ago.

[Orsino]

78. Yeah.

The Obama Administration wouldn't even have to accomplish any of these items to win my approval, if I see honest, sustained effort and they leave matters better than they found them.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. Woohoo!!!! This is the first time I ever visited that site and didn't feel like I needed a shower

later!!!

It's been reborn!!!!!

[chollybocker]

11. This is great news.

[Usrename]

12. This is a breath of fresh air.

I really liked the fact that he has Civil Rights at the very top of his agenda, then I realized it's alphabetical.

:blush:

[beaglelover]

13. That is so great! (n/t)

.

[ZombieHorde]

14. May I make a poll out of this? nt

[time_has_come]

16. Ah. So the choice of Rick Warren to do his little thing wasn't such a big deal after all?

The vitriol and condemnation at that time soaked this forum.

Will this soak it to the same extent, I wonder?

[bettyellen]

17. where'd you get that stupid idea?

the slap in the face happened people were completely correct to be upset and concerned. lots of people can see more than one side to things, even if you can;t.

[time_has_come]

19. "people can se more than one side to things, even if you can't"...ironic

That was exactly the problem with those condemning Obama at that time. They couldn't see beyond the Warren pick to the giant step forward for gay rights Obama is.

No no, it was only about the Warren pick and the predictions were dire for gay rights.

See more than one side? Yeah, I'm all for that. Check the OP, how's that for a side? Does Warren matter one friggin cowshit now? No.

[Two Americas]

29. no one "condemned Obama"

We condemned remarks like the ones you are making.

[time_has_come]

37. There was a lot of condemnation of Obama over his pick.

[Two Americas]

38. no there wasn't

Criticism of the invitation is not "condemnation of Obama."

[Rockholm]

54. There was condemnation of the pick, not Obama.

And as usual, condemnation of the silly old gays for wanting marriage equality and just plain old equality.

[kestrel91316]

56. Wrong. Plenty of DUers got HATEFUL toward Obama over Warren.

So much so that I considered leaving.

[iconicgnom]

62. cry me a river. Obama's made a mistake in choosing Warren.

And it was a good thing he was told so in pointed terms.

[Two Americas]

63. people are hearing that, yes

People have a lot invested emotionally in the new president, and not without good reason. I try to respect that. I think they are overly sensitive to any critical commentary as a result.

I for one made it trough 8 years without ever criticizing Bush, and instead focused on the politics of the administration. That made it a lot easier to persuade Republican voting people to vote Democratic, and I was very successful at that.

I guess it depends upon one's priorities - getting objective results in the real world, or worrying about their own personal emotional state and needs, and identifying too personally and too strongly with the "winners" and the "winning team." The Bush hatred made people feel good, but was counter-productive politically.

Just as dissent makes the country stronger, and does not "tear America down" as the right wingers claim, so, too, dissent makes the party stronger and makes it more likely, not less likely, that the administration will be successful.

The only thing at risk from the critics is the illusions and fantasies of the team loyalty crowd. There is also a small faction using that as cover in order to drive the discussion and the party to the right.


.

[Fran Kubelik]

32. ...

:hi: :*

[HEyHEY]

34. Not only that, it's just a politician playing games

I'm happy Obama is in too, but I'm not gonna go all sheeplike and just follow him around.

[Skip Intro]

18. Well yeah, it was.

The man Obama chose for that prominent role accused gays of "Cristophopia" and hate speech.

I can see how this choice was deeply offensive to many.

The website statements, while welcome, do not undo that offense.

[time_has_come]

20. "website statements"

You seem to give more weight to the Warren choice than you do to Obama's pledges.

Maybe that's because you see them only as "website statements". They're obviously much more than that, and the Warren pick is over and done with.

[Skip Intro]

24. sheesh

my mistake for taking you seriously

[Name removed]

25. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Toasterlad]

31. The Warren Pick HAPPENED. The "Website Statements" Have YET to Happen.

The Warren pick automatically has more weight as an established fact.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[asdjrocky]

47. It was a big deal.

It hurt a lot of my friends here at DU and in the LGBT community. I'm hopeful for the statements on the sight, but that no reason for an "I told you so" attitude.

[Captain Hilts]

48. Other than insult a whole lot of folks it was fine. When we reaching out to racists? nt

[Bette Noir]

70. Hillary tried that during the primaries.

It didn't help.

[racaulk]

55. Yes, it was a big deal. n/t

[iconicgnom]

61. The condemnation helped insure that Obama would act positively!

Obama himself explained how the squeeky wheel gets the grease. Folk who say that we shouldn't speak up for what is right are on the wrong side of history.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Some good stuff ...... but I'm not seeing anything about marriage equality,

As a straight man, I think I should share marriage rights with gay people. Take 'em away from me, or give equal rights to them. "Equal" is an unambiguous word.

[lonestarnot]

22. Damn I love it!

:bounce:

[JerseygirlCT]

23. A VERY good start, I think. So good to see! nt

[Number23]

27. This is great news. I'm not even the slightest bit surprised by it, either.

I always knew that this is what the man was all about.

Thanks for posting, Parkway.

[NJmaverick]

43. This is what I expected from Obama as well

No suprises, just quality leadership.

[Toasterlad]

30. Anyone Can Post a List of Things to Do.

Let's start cheering when any of them actually get done.

[Flying Dream Blues]

33. A great start...let's get it done! Civil rights for everyone! nt

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BR_Parkway]

41. 20+ years ago when I served in the Army, people around me knew

and didn't have a problem with it. So no, I'm not about to keep who I am to myself just because some people have a limited view of the world.

[HillWilliam]

79. Hear, here.

It was 30 years ago when I volunteered the first time, a little less when I volunteered for the Active Reserve. Those around me knew and didn't care. I served in professional outfits; we were very highly, very expensively trained assets. We had difficult live, ongoing missions that were vital to the defense of this country. We all took our jobs seriously and did them to the best of our abilities. When we entered our workplaces, we had our minds on our jobs. We worked and looked after one another like family.

Of course our company and battalion commanders knew. Once, a brigade commander came down all twisted-up and confronted our battalion commander, bellowing that he'd heard there were queers in our outfit, he wasn't having it, blahblah, yaddayaddayadda. Our battalion commander calmly said that the men and women under his command were the best in the business. We were nearly irreplaceable (true) and that the mission was of vital importance to the security of the US. If he did a purge, there would be nearly no one left to perform the mission. Was that what the colonel wanted? If so, the major would carry out the order and the colonel would be left to explain to DIA and the NSA why a critical mission was suddenly shut down.

The colonel left fuming, boxed in.

Heh.

Gay and Lesbian people do serve with honor and integrity. We do love this country -- why in the world would we not? It's our home, too. We have family, loved ones, heritage and will leave legacy here. We've always served in the military and whether or not DADT is lifted, we will continue to serve because it's the right thing to do.

[Kurovski]

36. K&R. (nt)

[tavalon]

39. This man plays it cool when necessary and kicks ass when necessary

Overall, good first day. I dread the first gaffes but good first day.

[Life Long Dem]

40. No Warren's = no discussion = no equal rights. Obama is actually helping the GLBT community

And he said exactly just that. That he brought discussion to the topic. But instead, freepers are using this to bash Obama.

[Le Taz Hot]

44. As one of DU's self-certified skeptics,

I have to say this is VERY encouraging. I'm not sure how he's going to reconcile this with his other friends, the good Reverend Write and his ilk, but it will be fascinating to see if he can pull it off.

[kestrel91316]

57. Wright is no longer Obama's pastor nor his friend. And Obama

certainly need not explain anything to him or get his approval. We elected Obama, not Wright.

[tom_paine]

45. This is all very positive stuff. I am happy for the DU LGBT Community.

I hope he follows through on at least some of it. He may be just the guy to follow through on ALL of it, Warren not withstanding.

When I open my mind to more positive interpretations of Obama's actions, on ALL fronts, not just LGBT, the bad signs and concerns I have melt a little when I think that it is easily possible to interpret his actions that "piss off the base" as mostly cosmetic, like Warren, while his actions that piss off the Bushies are mostly REAL changes.

This plays into the Bushiganda delusion that perception management IS reality, and he may be snookering them. I certainly hope so

As I said, this is a positive interpration and not one I am married to...but it is a hope-giver and may be true. We can't know for sure until Obama has governed at least a year and maybe longer.

Some stuff, like the 40% in tax cuts can't be shoehorned into this positive interpretation, but most of his actions can.

My whole point is, maybe LGBTers have reason to hope, too.

It might all turn out in the cyncial interpretation in the end, like the Clinton Presidency and triangulation, but that is for tomorrow...

[Strong Atheist]

46. K&R. nt.

[FloridaJudy]

49. Thank you, Mr. President!!

God, but it feels good to say that!

[pleah]

50. This makes me happy:)

[FunMe]

51. This is great - finally!

Once the stupid DOMA and Gays in the Military are thrown away and ENDA becomes law, it will go VERY FAR with us forgetting about that homophobe Warren.

ACTIONS not words are what will bring out nation forward. And I believe that YES WE CAN! :-)

[pasto76]

52. lemme tell you what, I would GLADLY have had one of those linguists

with us overseas. We could have actually COMMUNICATED with people, instead of pointing weapons. Imagine that.

SGT PASTO

[Baby Snooks]

53. A little contradictory and a little troublesome...

Why oppose a constitutional ban on gay marriage if you're supporting gay civil unions? There is a contradiction there. If you have one, it cancels out the other.

And what do women with AIDS have to do with GLBT civil rights? The implication here is the women need to be empowered against their bisexual husbands and of course that feeds into the homophobia in many of the minority communities - if men weren't having sex with men then women wouldn't have to worry about AIDS. That's a little troublesome.

Women need to be empowered. But not as part of GLBT civil rights.

[Piewhacket]

58. its a draft....

:hi:

you could pick something and draft it better? first read this.

earlier CA prohibited gay marriage but began allowing same sex civil unions, full state rights,
but no Fed rights.
then CA Supreme overturned the prohibition against gay marriage on equal protection grounds
and gay marriages were allowed, and many occured, but no federal rights (eg Soc Sec).

so then prop 8 passed and gay marriage was again prohibited but civil unions were
still allowed, but court challenges were made to the constitutionality of prop 8,
and CA atty gen Brown himself argues it should be overturned, unusual that,
so may be overturned and the gay marriages may come again to CA....
BUT STILL NO FED RIGHTS (because of fed statute prohibiting same sex marriage).

Now as to a constitutional ban...
If CA Supremes throw out 8, allowing gay marriage, a US constitutional ban on gay marriage
would overturn that, again prohibiting gay marriage _everywhere_ including CA.

OTOH other states may do things differently, not allow gay marriage, but might allow
civil unions. If so if there is fed recognition of gay civil unions it would provide
FED RIGHTS to both marriages and civil unions.

Remember, this marriage/civil thing is, for the religious sector, about the trappings
of theocracy. Its about overturning the secular state. Its not about GLBTs, its not
really personal, God loves all his children, right? Its about theocratic power.
Yet the forces are already powerful. So what to do?

You decide. Did Team Obama get it right?

[Broadslidin]

60. Holy Smoke.. Visits to "Whitehouse.Gov" will likely become as frequent as popping over to D.U...!!

:toast:

[paulkienitz]

64. see, this is walking the walk

At this point, complaining about Reverend Bareback or unwillingness to quite go all the way to supporting marriage is kinda petty. This is support for gay rights that is absolutely unprecedented on a federal level, and furthermore, clearly supports allowing individual states to have gay marriage.

[foxfeet]

75. Keeping a close eye on "Reverend" Bareback is not petty.

It is merely prudent vigilance. He's not going to change his position or his sugar-coated venom no matter what Obama does. (For the reading comprehension challenged: I am not, repeat not, complaining about Obama here, nor the poster to whom I am responding.)

[Divine Discontent]

65. it's great to see, and I hope they put it all into action so the masses who don't read that page

will know, based on clear actions (like the removal of DODT shortly) that the US does not deny rights based on sexuality.

[Bluenorthwest]

66. Excellent to see!

Keep up like this and we might get some stuff done...

[Balderdash]

67. K&R

[Bette Noir]

68. I like this new President.

[MNBrewer]

71. I truly hope it comes to pass.

[Kajsa]

73. This is a very good place to start.

Thank you, President Obama!

( I just love saying that)

:)

[Politicalboi]

74. Hopefully we'll see this soon

The Warren pick was bad, it's ours to live with through time like the oath flub. But we have Obama for 4 years and hopefully more if he does what he says.