RSS Feed MenuOn Saturday, President Obama presented a rousing rhetorical defense of gay rights to the nearly 3,000 people attending the annual Human Rights Campaign’s dinner in Washington. Rhetorically, President Obama is all that the gay community hoped and dreamed the President would become when they most enthusiastically supported his campaign. “I’m here with a simple message: I’m here with you in that fight,” Obama said on Saturday. Obama spoke passionately to the crowd about his commitment to equality for the gay community and hinted that he was working with military leaders to address the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Yet despite the President’s powerful statements, gay rights is yet another issue on which the President speaks big words but has offered little in terms of actions to accompany them. The President believes “don’t ask don’t tell” is unequivocally wrong… but, as he told gay leaders in June, “As Commander-in-Chief, in a time of war, I do have a responsibility to see that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term.” Of course, the President left that line out of last night’s address.
The President may mean what he said last night: he may be ready and willing to risk a portion of his rapidly diminishing supply of political capital to not only end “don’t ask, don’t tell” but also to support gay marriage initiatives, and he may simply be waiting for the right moment to attack these issues head on. But until that day, the most important leaders as far as the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community goes is not the President but rather two Washington lawyers: Ted Olson and David Boies. In a city with more lawyers than it knows what to do with, these two stand out: Besides being possibly the best two constitutional lawyers in the United States, the pair famously argued against one another in Bush v. Gore. In any event, the unlikely pair came together after the California Supreme Court upheld the legality of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state of California. The team has joined forces to appeal the constitutionality of the decision, if necessary, all the way to the United States Supreme Court, a venue where these two men have, to put it mildly, proven track records of success. The case is far from a slam dunk, but at this juncture, it seems that Olson and Boies, and not Obama, are the ones leading the real fight for change.
Obama: Pro-Gay Talk, but No Action // Oct 11, 2009 at 1:02 pm
[...] that the GOP should take the lead on ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” and Golinkin highlights two lawyers fighting for equal rights in the [...]
rbottoms // Oct 11, 2009 at 4:57 pm
the GOP should take the lead on ending “don’t ask, don’t tell”
Representatives from both the Democratic party and the White House were unable to offer comment due to an inability to stop hysterical laughter each time the question was asked.
mlindroo // Oct 11, 2009 at 5:07 pm
> The President may mean what he said last night:
>he may be ready and willing to risk a portion of his rapidly
> diminishing supply of political capital to not only end
>“don’t ask, don’t tell” but also to support gay marriage
> initiatives, and he may simply be waiting for the right
> moment to attack these issues head on. But until that day,
> the most important leaders as far as the fight for equal rights
> for the LGBTQ community goes is not the President but
>rather two Washington lawyers: Ted Olson and David Boies.
[...]
> The team has joined forces to appeal the constitutionality of the
> decision, if necessary, all the way to the United States Supreme Court,
> a venue where these two men have, to put it mildly, proven track
> records of success. The case is far from a slam dunk, but at this
> juncture, it seems that Olson and Boies, and not Obama, are the
> ones leading the real fight for change.
Yet another weird “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” type of Obama post from New Majority…
In this case it is impossible to say whether the author is an enthusiastic proponent of gay marriage rights (a rather rare view among Republicans, see for example the fairly typical comment by NM reader “Escapevelocity in another thread). Are you saying Obama should declare that he strongly favors the Olson-Boies initiative??
And what about not immediately ending DADT? Isn’t it, you know, actually a *good thing* if Obama does not immediately ride roughshod over the delicate homophobic sensibilities of a significant portion of the military as well as the political opposition??
MARCU$
rbottoms // Oct 11, 2009 at 5:46 pm
This has got to be some kind of drug induced delusion wherein a Republican thinks their party is actually for the rights of gays and lesbians? Have this fellow seen what the people in his party are saying about Mary Cheney’s pregnancy?
You couldn’t ask for more vile meanness to be coming out of the mouth of a human, unless what’s being said is being directed at Barrack Obama instead. It’s the same schizoid idea that the GOP was actually the champion of blacks during the Civil Rights era. Laughable on its face to anyone not living inside the cocoon of other Republican “thinking.”
greg_barton // Oct 12, 2009 at 12:36 am
Personally, I think this whole site is just an extension of Rush’s chaos project.
Srsly.
balconesfault // Oct 12, 2009 at 12:37 am
This has got to be some kind of drug induced delusion wherein a Republican thinks their party is actually for the rights of gays and lesbians?
Nope … they’re just really frustrated that Obama didn’t unilaterally overrule law and stop enforcing DADT – because if Obama had done so, we’d see about a dozen posts here attacking him for his supposed totalitarian tendencies on the basis of that decision.
greg_barton // Oct 12, 2009 at 1:37 am
I know. It’s frustrating when presidents follow, you know, the law. Ain’t it?
sinz54 // Oct 12, 2009 at 10:30 am
rbottoms: This has got to be some kind of drug induced delusion wherein a Republican thinks their party is actually for the rights of gays and lesbians?
In the mid 1970s, the National Review actually toyed with this position.
I remember columns arguing that gay citizens have the same concerns as everybody else (taxes, jobs, etc.); and that conservatives’ fear of big government should segue into guaranteeing gay citizens their privacy to pursue their lifestyle as they wish.
But shortly thereafter, these conservatives made their Grand Bargain with the social conservatives who viewed homosexuality as sinful or even perverted; and that was the last we heard of conservative support for gay rights.
sdspringy // Oct 12, 2009 at 3:03 pm
The only reason the Dems keep pushing this issue off on Rep. is because they can’t win on it either. How is it possible that traditional marriage was protected in California when the majority of voters are Liberal. Because traditional Democrat voters also voted against the Libs on this one. So why would Republican conservatives want to vote for this loser of an issue.
In every state where traditional marriage protection is added to a ballot, it wins. As a crossover issue it is a big win for conservatives. Until the Dems can bring a majority of their own voters over to the extreme Lefty Lib side to vote for homosexual marriage the conservative should stay as far awaya as possible.
DFL // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Surprise- rbottoms is right. Homosexuals are about as popular with Republicans as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins would be at a Baptist Convention or the Sistine Chapel.