Obama and the Lesbian and Gay Community

(Image Courtesy of BarackObama.com)

On Election Night, when California was called for Senator/President-Elect Barack Obama, thousands of citizens in my neighborhood (Logan Circle) streamed into the streets to celebrate his victory. Strangers were hugging strangers, citizens where sharing beers with on-duty police officers, and my neighborhood, a very gay-friendly neighborhood, was excited and looking to the future. One of the many strangers I shared a laugh or a hug with that night handed me a sign much like the image to the left, an Obama Pride sign. That sign is still in my home office.

This past Saturday marked the final weekend of "Capital Pride" here in the Nation's Capital, and I wonder if those who were streaming into the streets to mark the new President's election were pleased to read how the Obama Administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act. Last Friday, the Justice Department filed a brief in the case of Smelt and Hammer v. The United States of America, et al., that supported the Defense of Marriage Act. In fact, the brief, as described by John Aravosis, is "despicable" and "homophobic."

Let us revisit Candidate Obama. Taken from his website, Candidate Obama promised to repeal DoMA, to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and to oppose a Constitutional Ban on gay marriage.

Now, let us visit President Obama's actions thus far in office. Not only has his Justice Department filed an overly harsh brief in support of DoMA, he has not taken a single step towards repealing DADT. In fact, as Aravosis argues, the brief, and the arguments in the brief defending DoMA, may do more harm that good. Rather than simply stating that the Defense of Marriage Act is settled law and is not ripe to be repealed, the brief goes further, arguing that DoMA is constitutional, reasonable, and equally discriminatory in that it discriminates against straight unmarried couples as well.

Then, adding insult to injury, the brief argues that since States have long been afforded the right to refuse to honor marriages from other states, in such cases as child rape and incest, that DoMA is therefore constituational. States, therefore, are free to invalidate marriages from other states that violate public policy. Be it public policy against child rape, incest, or gay marriage.

Many on the left who supported Obama during the campaign did so because of his promises to the gay community to honor their lifestyles, recognize them as equals and take steps to acknowledge their committed relationships through civil unions and equal rights. Yet all the gay communitity has seen thus far from President Obama is not an outstretched hand, but rather a cold shoulder. This is extremely dissappointing.

Tomorrow, President Obama will sign a Presidential Memo extending Federal benefits to unmarried partners of Federal employees, including gay couples. Many will argue that this is an effort to try and stem the outrage on the President's left flank after last week's brief. Many will argue that this is a nice step but a little late, given the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered the State Department to implement this step a month ago. And many more, like myself, will wonder if this is another series of campaign promises this President is now shelving in favor of his bigger goals, be them Health Care or achieving stabilization in Iraq and Afghanistan. Either way, his actions thus far on these issues has been more than dissappointing.