Thursday, October 28, 2010

Obama on Gay Rights

Given my recent post on President Obama's It Gets Better video and the thoughtful opinions voiced in the comments section, I have started thinking more about Obama on gay rights. He made a lot of promises that convinced a lot of the gay community and straight allies to vote his way in 2008 that he has yet to follow through on. The most obvious example of this is, of course, Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). Obama promised to do away with this outdated and homophobic military policy. However, in 2010 he is still dragging his feet about it despite a federal judge's order to stop enforcing DADT and the fact that 78% of Americans are actually in favor of repealing it.

But recently Obama has
implied that he might be adopting more gay-friendly policies:

"I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine," Obama said in response to a question from Joe Subday of Americablog.

"I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents. And I care about them deeply," Obama continued. "And so while I’m not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it’s fair to say that it’s something that I think a lot about. That’s probably the best you’ll do out of me today."

Later, Obama seemed to suggest that legalization of gay marriage is inevitable. "The one thing I will say today is I think it’s pretty clear where the trend lines are going," he added.


My first reaction is to be hopeful that Obama is becoming the stand-up guy I always wished he would be. On the other hand, the cynical side of me is thinking that midterm elections are coming up and he might just be trying to tease the gay community into voting his way on November 2nd.

What do you think? Do Obama's recent comments reveal a change for the better for gay community or a just more false promises?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama lied to get elected. His admin. just did an injuction against the judge's order, which I believe has been made permanent.

Why are you having difficulty seeing Obama's position on gay rights? He has done nothing on the issues he promised: repealing DADT and DOMA ; instead he actually hinders their natural progression.

Anonymous said...

Why do so few people understand that the president doesn't issue edicts? He's not a king, or dictator.

He can introduce an idea, but the congress has to pass it. It's not a "false promise" if he attempts something, and a republican filibuster prevents it from happening.

If you're going to comment on American politics, perhaps you should do a bit more studying, and a bit less reactionary "OMG WHY DOESN'T OBAMA LOVE ME?" whatnot.

For instance, the reason they were against the judge's order, is because the judge in question overstepped their boundaries, and acted beyond their station (checks and balances, look, the system works), and because something like that simply can't be flicked off like a switch. Not how things work.

He's been in office 2 years, what do you honestly expect? You're asking someone to spend his entire time in office catering to 1% of the population.

You complain about republicans only caring about the top 1% of the rich, but you want Obama to only care about the 1% of gay Americans.

There's a LOT more important things going on than DADT and DOMA. Sorry, but 8 years of disastrous policymaking, moneywasting, and a 7 year long war on our taxdollars comes first.

Fixing all the massive economic problems in this nation are higher priority than giving you warm fuzzies over your sexuality.

Sorry to be blunt, but you need to be a bit more perceptive.

Amelia said...

Only 1% of Americans are gay? Can you please cite the source you read that found that to be true? I do not have any statistics of my own, but that number seems incredibly low (considering that non-straight people come in many more varieties than just "gay") and part of your argument hinges on that face.