I really can't put into words how disappointed I am over the administration's handling of GLBT issues.  The first candidate in the history of the country to be elected with a plank for civil unions in his platform, and instead of rising to the challenge (Barack could be the gays' LBJ), the Obama administration has skirted responsibility and action at every turn...and once again, we find that the only thing that matters in this is money.

I hope that Obama doesn't make out his legacy to be one of failure to move on the most critical civil rights issue of my generation.  That would be a tragic miscarriage of the mandate he was given in November.

stop circling the wagons, grow a pair, and demand that Obama fulfill his campaign promises!

After all, self-loathing is so 1980's!

This has been planned since March;

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schle singer/2009/03/13/obama-has-little-wiggl e-room-on-domestic-benefits-for-gay-part ners.html

This is a very interesting article by the way. Here's some highlights;

The New York Times reports today that the Obama administration is trying to figure out how to deal with an incipient controversy over whether the same-sex partners of federal employees can qualify for health benefits.

It is unfortunately an open-and-shut case in two respects: First as a matter of common sense and justice, of course same-sex partners should qualify for spousal benefits. Second as a matter of law, they don't. There's really not much wiggle room here.

Obama is on record as wanting to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and favoring spousal benefits for gay couples. But ... while the Defense of Marriage Act is cheap and offensive, it's also the law. That means the judges can't simply ignore it. The Times quotes New York lawyer and former Clinton adviser Richard Socarides to the effect that Obama "has broad discretionary authority to find ways to ameliorate some of the more blatant examples of discrimination," but it seems unlikely that this authority includes declaring a law void because he thinks it's discriminatory. That sounds an awful lot like a legal doctrine that Obama's predecessor might have endorsed: I don't like this law and have decided that it's illegal so I'm going to ignore it. That sort of thinking was wrong and dangerous regarding torture but would also be wrong and dangerous in this case--presidents don't get to pick and choose which laws they obey.

Perhaps the best way for Obama to deal with this issue right now is to say this: Once his health care overhaul is passed, the issue will be moot because everyone will be covered anyway.

Is it reactive? I was told it was planned some weeks ago. Though Aravosis has been hysterical for longer than that. Hmm.

Only the blogosphere can take something that's a cheering sign in our leadership and make it into something supposedly terrible.

Well, the blogosphere and Republicans, I guess.

Well said friend.

I have had a couple of thoughts on this whole issue.

1.)People who are completely outraged don't understand how these things work.

2.)They seem to think six months was enough to time to get an entire agenda passed.

3.)They don't seem to understand that, in the political process, all of your fights are connected and that a President has to strike a careful balance in how they approach their agenda so as not to lose the votes that are needed for other priorities. (And I am talking about votes from people who are, ostensibly, on our side of the aisle.)

President Homophobama?  I'll say.  cut and pasted this from a comment on Kos.  even his fan boys there understand that not only doesn't he deserve a pass on this, he clearly has a problem with teh gay.  repeat after me obamabots.  dick cheney is more progressive on gay rights.  how does that taste?  a history of homophobama's homophobia...

# inviting ex-gay homobigot Donnie McClurkin to perform and emcee a concert for South Carolina black evangelicals and ignoring the warnings and protestations of several GLBT advocacy groups choosing to try convincing people McClurkin isn't homophobic and that even if he is, that Obama didn't agree with his views.

# In attempt to balance McClurkin, Obama adds a gay preacher to give the invocation at the concert but refuses the offers of several openly gay African-American ministers in favor of a openly gay white minister, Rev. Andy Sidden. (And we all know whites, especially gay whites, preaching to blacks goes over so well in the AA community.)

# At the concert, Sidden's invocation was delivered to an almost empty venue well before the concert began while McClurkin had the prominence of emceeing and performing and used his access to the mic to proclaim his ex-gay bullshit on how "God delivered me from homosexuality." It should be noted that ex-gays are viewed by most in the GLBT community to be radioactive and even more deplorable than Log Cabin Republicans because of the profoundly negative impact "reparative therapy" can have on people. (See Surviving Childhood)

# After the concert, Obama's campaign issued a condescending press release that mimicked one before the concert but included the offense statement, in all caps: "MCCLURKIN DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE GAYS AND LESBIANS WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR LIVES." So its OK to target unhappy gays with "reparative therapy" when such "therapy" is condemned by medical authorities including the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Amercian Psychiatric Association?

# When asked by a DKos member about his association with McClurkin in New Hampshire, the member reported that "he seemed ticked off that I brought it up. He did not apologize or say anything that would make me think he understood how offensive the incident was to LGBT folks. His answer was to repeat over and over 'It was just one concert.'" That's just goes to show he really didn't get that he had done something wrong. It was highly dismissive of something that is very important to the general mental health of the GLBT community and to the very lives of GLBT youth who are often forced into these "reparative therapy" programs against their will. (See eg. Zach Stark)

# Obama shows his position on McClurkin is a double standard when he not only denounced the anti-Semitism of the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, but famously at a debate with Hillary Clinton had to both reject and denounce a nonexistent offer of support from Farrakhan since such would sour Obama with the Jewish community, but it was OK to throw the GLBT community under the bus with McClurkin.

# Obama appointed Pepperdine University law professor Doug Kmiec to be a "faith surrogate" for the Obama campaign in the state of California at the same time that Kmiec was actively serving as one of the biggest cheerleaders for Proposition 8.

# Obama went to Rick Warren's church for a forum with Republican John McCain. At the forum, Obama used the common right wing language to talk about marriage, abbreviated in the GLBT community as IBMIBAMAAW: "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman." Obama's exact statement was event worse that that stating "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian -- for me -- for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God's in the mix." He went on to reiterate his call for a return to segregation by creating a separate but "equal" institution for us fags.

# Just prior to the election, Obama released a toothless statement opposing Prop 8 in California, a statement so utterly weak, proponents of Prop 8 were able to chop off the first sentence of the statement and use the rest of the statement in robocalls advocating the passage of Prop 8. Obama didn't condemn the move or make a clear message that he definitively opposed Prop 8.

# He chose Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Inaugural ceremonies on January 20th while gays and Lesbians were still seething and protesting in the streets over the passage of Prop 8.

# Obama, apparently realizing he might have ticked off the gays with Rick Warren, invited Rev Gene Robinson to deliver the invocation at the We Are One concert that kicked off the Inaugural activities though adamently claimed that the slection had been made weeks before when that plainly was not the case or they would have used it to quiet the furor over Warren. Come concert time, Rev. Robinson's invocation was given before the TV broadcast began so the nationwide audience was denied viewing it and those at the concert didn't hear it either since a curious speaker malfunction just after a successful mic check prevented most of the overflow crowd at the Lincoln Memorial from hearing it.

# Obama did not appoint a single openly GLBT cabinet secretary, but made certain to appoint one from each of the other major constituencies of the Democratic Party.

# The Windy City Times revealed it had found a 1996 candidate questionnaire from Obama's run for the Illinois state Senate in which then Prof Obama stated his unequivocal support for same sex marriage meaning that his position on the issue has devolved from one of full equality to one of opposing equality opting for a segregationist institution instead.

# After the Iowa Supreme Court decision, the Obama White House released a statement on the ruling reiterating Obama's opposition to marriage equality and failed to even use the word "equal" at all. After a mini-blogosphere storm started to form, a "corrected" release was sent out changing the clause "he believes that committed gay and lesbian couples should receive protection under the law" to "he believes that committed gay and lesbian couples should receive equal rights under the law."

# After Vermont successfully overrode Gov Douglas' veto of the marriage equality bill and after Maine and New Hampshire's bills were signed into law, the White House's response was: "         <cricket churp>        <cricket churp>"

# The White House started deleting pro-GLBT language on the White House website. The outcry over the removal of the items prompted some of the material to be put back, but with much weaker, softer language forcing yet another revision of the language to placate the outrage.

# While appoint some GLBT persons to his administration, none of the appointments have been very high positions, the highest being the Director of Personnel Management. Obama passed on selecting an openly GLBT nominee to the Supreme Court and none of his other judicial appointments have been GLBT meaning there is still but one GLBT judge out of approximately 860 federal judgeships (0.12%).

# Obama has passed up several high profile opportunities to suspend separations under Don't Ask, Don't Tell when the discharges of 2nd Lt. Sandy Tsao, Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach became publicly notable. GLBT servicemembers continue to be discharged at a rate of approximately two per day.

# The Obama administration successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to deny a hearing on Lt. Col. Fehrehbach's challenge to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

# Obama's DOJ files an incendiary brief in a challenge to DOMA that relies on analogies to incest and pedophilia (or more correctly ebophilia) and goes well beyond what was necessary to secure that the petition in question is not granted a writ of certiorari.

I'm really glad you guys are keeping on top of this issue.  I've been trying to keep up but just haven't had the time to do a full analysis.

I agree that this action by the White House is completely reactionary.  I think it really relates to something like the Draft Sestak Movement which saw how the Progressive Community can make a difference (even if we aren't elected officials) and get positive responses from elected officials.  

I called obama a homphobe and my post got deleted.  nice stalinist web site you got there.

Actually I think Markos is wrong - if Obama were doing anything - anything at all - to move on DADT or DOMA, the briefing would be seen as the Constitutionally debateable point that it is.

As of now, it's a symbol for the important stuff.

I was a little worried.  There were a couple of articles above the last "obama hates t3h gays!" article.

Only on open left(DD) could federal partner benefits signing be taken as a bash against gay Americans.

Sheesh.

and Senate needs to start the process of repealing DOMA and DADT. I mean NOW!
Obama can continue to help by reminding folks of the need for equality.

However the DOJ brief was shameful and hurtful. Somebody from DOJ ought to apologize to the LGBT community for such a bigoted debrief. Heck, I would be fired from my job, if in at a meeting, I equated same sex relationships to incests.