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UPDATE: The text of the memo is available here, and is also printed below the fold.
Well here it is. In his comments Obama said he support the Domestic Partners Benefits & Obligations Act which, if passed, would give federal employees full spousal benefits. Tammy Baldwin is an author of that bill, and was present at the event today.
Obama also said he would work with Congress to repeal DOMA, but of course gave no indication that this was going to happen in our lifetimes. He used vague words such as “in the months and years ahead”. He failed to say anything even vaguely resembling “I’m going to be pounding on Reid & Pelosi’s desks until we get those abominations DADT & DOMA repealed!!!”
THE PRESIDENT: Well, today I’m proud to issue a presidential memorandum that paves the way for long-overdue progress in our nation’s pursuit of equality.Many of our government’s hard-working, dedicated, and patriotic public servants have long been denied basic rights that their colleagues enjoy for one simple reason — the people that they love are of the same sex.
Currently, for example, LGBT federal employees can’t always use sick leave to care for their domestic partners or their partners’ children. Their partners aren’t covered under long-term care insurance. Partners of American Foreign Service officers abroad aren’t treated the same way when it comes to the use of medical facilities or visitation rights in case of an emergency.
These are just some of the wrongs that we intend to right today.
In consultation with Secretary of State Clinton, as well as OPM Director John Berry, my administration has completed a long and thorough review to identify a number of areas where we can extend federal benefits to the same-sex partners of Foreign Service and executive branch government employees.
I’m requesting that Secretary Clinton and Director Berry do so where possible under existing law — and that the heads of all executive departments and agencies conduct reviews to determine where they may do the same.
Hundreds of Fortune 500 companies already offer such benefits not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because they recognize that it helps them compete for and retain the best possible talent — and we need top talent serving their country right now more than ever.
Now, under current law, we cannot provide same-sex couples with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
“That’s why I’m proud to announce my support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, crucial legislation that will guarantee these rights for all federal employees.
I want to thank Representative Tammy Baldwin, who is behind me somewhere — there she is, right there — for her tireless leadership on this bill and in the broader struggle for equality. I want to thank Senator Joe Lieberman — Joe is here — as well as Susan Collins for championing this bill in the Senate; and Representative Barney Frank for his leadership on this and so many other issues — in fact, this is his second trip to the White House today. (Laughter.)
It’s a day that marks a historic step towards the changes we seek, but I think we all have to acknowledge this is only one step. Among the steps we have not yet taken is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. I believe it’s discriminatory, I think it interferes with states’ rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it.
We’ve got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally; to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms; and to bring about that more perfect union. I’m committed to these efforts, and I pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues in the months and years to come.
Thank you very much everybody, and with that I am going to sign this executive order.
(The memorandum is signed.) (Applause.)
END 6:08 P.M. EDT
Also present were OPM Director John Berry, Fred Hochberg, the president of the Export-Import Bank of United States, Rea Carey, executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality, Leonard Hirsch, the president of the Federal GLOBE, Lorilyn “Candy” Holmes, a career federal employee, and Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Well Blenders, are you satisfied? John Aravosis isn’t. here’s his evisceration of Obama’s civil rights performance to date.The Memo
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 17, 2009June 17, 2009
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination
Millions of hard-working, dedicated, and patriotic public servants are employed by the Federal Government as part of the civilian workforce, and many of these devoted Americans have same-sex domestic partners. Leading companies in the private sector are free to provide to same-sex domestic partners the same benefits they provide to married people of the opposite sex. Executive departments and agencies, however, may only provide benefits on that basis if they have legal authorization to do so. My Administration is not authorized by Federal law to extend a number of available Federal benefits to the same-sex partners of Federal employees. Within existing law, however, my Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of State, who oversees our Foreign Service employees, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, who oversees human resource management for our civil service employees, has identified areas in which statutory authority exists to achieve greater equality for the Federal workforce through extension to same-sex domestic partners of benefits currently available to married people of the opposite sex. Extending available benefits will help the Federal Government compete with the private sector to recruit and retain the best and the brightest employees.
I hereby request the following:
Section 1. Extension of Identified Benefits. The Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall, in consultation with the Department of Justice, extend the benefits they have respectively identified to qualified same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees where doing so can be achieved and is consistent with Federal law.
Sec. 2. Review of Governmentwide Benefits. The heads of all other executive departments and agencies, in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, shall conduct a review of the benefits provided by their respective departments and agencies to determine what authority they have to extend such benefits to same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees. The results of this review shall be reported within 90 days to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, who, in consultation with the Department of Justice, shall recommend to me any additional measures that can be taken, consistent with existing law, to provide benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal Government employees.
Sec. 3. Promoting Compliance with Existing Law Requiring Federal Workplaces to be Free of Discrimination Based on Non-Merit Factors. The Office of Personnel Management shall issue guidance within 90 days to all executive departments and agencies regarding compliance with, and implementation of, the civil service laws, rules, and regulations, including 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(10), which make it unlawful to discriminate against Federal employees or applicants for Federal employment on the basis of factors not related to job performance.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) Authority granted by law or Executive Order to an agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) Functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 5. Publication. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
National Center for Lesbian Rights responds:
A statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell on the Presidential Memorandum(San Francisco, California, June 17, 2009) – The policy announced today by the President committing to a federal workplace free from discrimination, is a step in the right direction but inadequate and long overdue. It leaves out millions of Americans who do not work for the federal government and fails to include key benefits including health insurance. When running for office, then candidate Obama called equality for LGBT people a “moral imperative.” We will continue to demand this administration live up to the President’s promise of achieving “full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country.”
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) responds:
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin Statement on President Obama’s Signing of a Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and Non-DiscriminationJune 17, 2009
(Congresswoman Baldwin attended today’s signing ceremony in the Oval Office.)
“President Obama’s orders today will make a real difference in people’s lives. Domestic partners, parents, and their children will now receive a number of meaningful benefits currently granted other federal employees.
LGBT Americans yearn for full equality. After last week’s U.S. Department of Justice filing seeking to dismiss a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), many in the LGBT community, myself included, were profoundly disappointed. After that disappointment, I was heartened to hear the President make a strong case today for the repeal of DOMA.
It was also gratifying to hear the President proudly announce his support for my Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009. I look forward to working with him and House and Senate leaders as we work toward passage of this legislation that will extend to the same-sex partners of Federal employees all of the benefits currently enjoyed by the opposite-sex spouses of Federal employees.
President Obama said today that his Memorandum is just a start. I agree that it is an important step in the quest for full equality for LGBT Americans. I welcome the challenge and the President’s support.”
104 Comments
The GayTM is now closed to the Democratic PartyAll of my local dems, elected dem officials, Senator (since Al isn’t one yet), and Reps have been informed that no more of my $$$ is going to see into their coffers.
They can send a message to the DNC and Obama for me.
No mo money. Period.
This shouldn’t stop the fundraiser protestthis is a step in the right direction, a step more than mccain would have done, & if small steps like this continue, he will get my vote, but if he wants me canvassing, phone banking, donating fo rhim or any other dems, there needs to be a lot more work.
Satisfied?Well in a sense. I’m satisfied that I have a full understanding that we have no gay leaders in D.C. and nobody on our side. We have Democratic Congress hacks like Barney Frank, who just happen to be gay. We have Joe Solomayonnaise, who is… what the hell is he anyway? A lobbyist? And we have…
Joe Freaking Lieberman? Why was he there? Did he wander in because he thought BO was signing a declaration of war against Syria? How disappointed little Joe must have been.
But in terms of being satisfied that it’s a step toward equality. Uh, no. In fact, what the hell was that anyway? I heard that he signed into law some benefits that gay federal workers already have. True?
NO way…Canceled my newsletter subscriptions to “yes we can” newsletters and websites. Don’t want to hear anymore more from the “No we can’t White House”, the demo-critters or the cowardly Lion Congress. We deserve equality and there is no excuse for not ANYTHING LESS!
Not sure what to think…but his picture has come off my fridgeI’m not excited at all. Saying he wants to repeal DOMA and then supporting that horrid, hate-filled brief leave me asking the question: Where do you truly stand, Mr. President?
For we really do not know.
On one hand we have the President saying that he supports the repeal of DOMA. We have him saying he wants to end DADT. But on his watch, over 200 service members have been terminated due to sexual orientation. He has issued no moratorium on those firings. They will continue tomorrow. Earlier today, his press secretary alluded to the President supporting the brief from the DOJ. So that takes us all back to the orginal question: Where do you really stand, Mr. President?
Just tell the truth, for crying out loud. It’s not that hard.
As Ricky used to say to Lucy: “You got some splainin’ to do!!”
LiebermanLieberman is the sponsor of the senate version of Tammy Baldwin’s H.R.2517, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.
The Fringe Fringe BenefitsIs how NPR just referred to the pitiful benefits provided by the memorandum. The story includes a couple of great quotes from David Mixner that absolutely rip the administration for his actions today and the DOJ brief and the lack of effort to repeal DOMA or DADT.
Then the story closes with Barney Frank apologizing for Obama and saying it’s only been a few months — give him time. Feh!
I can’t even watch him anymore!I don’t believe Obama anymore. There was no passion in his delivery or body language. This was a massive failure. There was no apology for the statements made in the DOMA brief. There was no clarification for what Press Sec. Gibbs said in response to a question about the brief from Jake Tapper (he stated that the president stands behind the brief).
This was completely unsatisfying and TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE. The protest at the fundraiser next week must continue and we must continue to call and write to get some real action.
This was a farce.
Pathetic!Absolutely Fucking Pathetic!
if i was satisfied, I’d be laying back glowing, lighting 2 cigarettesTHIS wasn’t even close
Satisfied? In a word, “No.”(n/t)
The President just couldn’t lie anymoreTonight President Obama revealed his true self. No more fake promises, only vague mumblings about the repeal of DOMA. I’ve never seen a more half-hearted speech from him. Well, at least now we know for sure exactly where we stand.
Absolutely Not!I won’t begin to be satisfied until he looks into a television camera and apologizes for comparing my relationship to incest and pedophilia. Period.
I can’t wait to protest the big fancy fundraiser next week!
NO COLLABORATION WITH THE FRENEMY!
Am I satisfied? Hell no!A memorandum (that will expire upon Obama leaving office) to officially offer a handful of benefits to the same sex partners of Federal employees? Considering the small percentage of Americans that work for the Federal government, and the small percentage of Federal employees that are gay, and the even smaller percentage of gay Federal employees that are partnered…well…this is tantamount to doing nothing.
This seems like signing up to run a marathon, running only a couple of city blocks, and then giving yourself a self-congratulatory pat on the back for the great job that you did. This is a far cry from being anything close to resembling fair treatment.
I know that was a largely rhetorical and/or sarcastic question, Lurleen, but still…
History WAS made….… it wasn’t what was on that piece of paper. No one has been more critical of the President than I, and I am not so much now defending the anemia of this action as I am its context.
Standing next to him, the man he handed the pen, was 84-yr. old Frank Kameny. I knew Frank years ago, worked with him in the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, cooked for him in the home I shared with Leonard Matlovich. And to see this gay pioneer, this icon finally standing next a President of the United States…even after his personal papers and protest signs from picketing the White House 44 years ago have been embraced by the Library of Congres…to witness such a microscopic step, had me in tears.
Kameny could have been our Martin Luther King but for various reasons was benched by the Professional Gays years ago. Even at 84 and physically feeble, he is capable of summoning a stentorian voice to make the rafters ring with righteous indignation, an encylopedic knowledge of gay history and law, and take no prisoners attitude in his demand for justice. That he chose to be polite today, at least on camera, takes nothing away from the greatness and majesty of the moment that HE brought not the President…who didn’t even think to introduce him.
Frank earned this brief moment in the sun more than any gay person living, and I applaud HIM, while encouraging everyone else, even after the significance of the President finally saying on camera that he wants DOMA repealed [whether he means it or not], to turn up the fire against the President’s feet, and deny the DNC another dime until real change happens.
Fuck Barney F-g!
Does Obama really think…This magically makes us want to open our wallets to him? FAIL!
Again…Too little, too late. I’m sticking to my guns: before I lend any more emotional or monetary support to Obama or the Democratic party, I need to see this:
Transparency MUST also be applied to the commitments he’s made to the LGBT community, not backroom politics and whispered promises.
Are the Blenders satisfied??Pam, my darling, you are excellent AS ALWAYS. Cut direct to the really tough question: Are we satisfied?
Well…
I disagree with those who are accusing Obama of insincerity. I am glad I could watch the video, and I can make my own judgment rather than listen to that of someone else.
In this video, our President doesn’t impress me as false; he impresses me as fatigued and beleaguered. I expect that behind the walls of the White House, he has had many long hours over the crisis in Iran, of which he can say nothing because it would play into the hands of hardliners there. But the GLBTQs have their needs, too, and we voted for him and the Iranians did not; so he must keep his energy going. And it looks a little hard for him, today.
AS FOR US, was I glad to hear that he remains committed to repealing DOMA? Yes. I was glad to hear it from his own mouth, not that of some stupid, evasive, lesser functionary. Am I satisfied? Well…no. If you are “against it”, then why are you going to court “for it”, in the most vile, rabid terms?
I don’t feel “satisfaction”–I think “cognitive dissonance” would be a better word for what I feel!
So again…I must keep saying this.
I love Frank Kameny tooBut I was appalled to see him exploited by the Administration. I can’t wait to protest at that offensive fundraiser next week! I hope Frank is there. I’d love to meet him.
Exactly right.Obama may have his faults, but one thing that he can do exceptionally well is speak to an audience. When he believes and has conviction in what he is saying, you can tell the passion and sincerity in his voice. I didn’t see anything that resembled that in today’s presser.
Shameful.
Frank KamenyThere was a great article in the Advocate on this:
Full article: http://advocate.com/exclusive_…
That’s wonderful…That Frank Kameny was there. It’s just sad that Obama couldn’t even introduce him, and it’s sad that Frank was there just to see a piece of paper be signed. Hopefully, he won’t have to wait too much longer to see real progress made.
Presicoward Bigot OdomaBigot Odoma is IGNORANT of the law. He just stated that DOMA prevents him from giving medical benefits to domestic partners. It DOES NO SUCH THING. It ONLY prevents the Fed Govt from recognizing MARRIAGES of gay people and states from having to honor other state’s MARRIAGES.
Good luck getting ANYTHING done with this IGNORANT BIGOT in office.
Lying bastardLet me see if I understand this:
Obama signed a memo asking his cabinet secretaries to allow the benefits they had the discretion to allow.
Excuse me? Why would ANY DEMOCRATIC cabinet secretary not have already implemented everything within his or her discretion?
Hillary Clinton announced in January that she would be implementing everything within her discretion.
If you remember, the OAK Society* attacked Hillary for doing that, saying it wasn’t enough, it didn’t mean anything, and she was trying to undermine Obama by grandstanding.
*Obama Ass-Kissing Society
Hey TorhamYou better keep your phone number and address secret. You are unbelievably gullible and I would hate for you to buy a bridge in Brooklyn.
Obama is a pathological liar. You cannot believe anything he says, no matter how sincere he appears to be.
Obama is fatigued and beleaguered because he stands for nothing except kissing Rick Warren’s butt.
Obama is fatigued because he refuses to stand up like a man, a president, and the leader of the free-world and actually lead.
He’s going to lose on LGBT rights, on health-care, and many other critical issues, and he’s going to be a one-term, failed and disgraced president who lost the best opportunity since Franklin Roosevelt to move our country forward.
I have nothing but outrage and contempt for the bastard and I am ready for him to be gone.
It’s night a step in the right directionIt’s a shell game.
He’s like a mobster that steals your car and then wants you to be grateful when he sells it back to you.
Obama did nothing that his cabinet secretaries were not already empowered to do on their own before he signed the memo.
Give me a break.
Like I saidDick Armey was correct about Barney. I just didn’t know it.
and it’s not just LGBT issues he’s fudgingCheck out Glenn Greenwald’s ongoing complaints about the Obama DOJ and the suppression of atrocity photos/FOIA, the continued military commission trials, the continuing detentions w/o trial. This President doesn’t torture, which is nice of him (snark) but no word as to whether the renditions continue.
There’s also his appointing Tim Geithner at Treasury and managing the banking crisis, which is sort of like having Joe Lieberman as Secretary of State. There’s also the refusal to consider single-payer and the ominous waffling about even a national public health-care option.
He’s great at end runs but seems to forget the whole purpose of the game is to gain yardage, not give it up.
LGBT issues aren’t the only thing on my menu, so manybe I’m even more leery of this Administration. (Yes, yes, it’s still better than the ticket of Sen. McKrakatoa and Gov. Parrot. Not saying much).
Family Equality CouncilJennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council sent me an email today stating:
“Just now at the White House, President Obama took a step in the right direction towards equality. With a Presidential Memorandum, he extended certain domestic partner benefits to federal employees. The Federal Government is the largest employer in the United States.”
My reply to the email:
“Dear Ms. Chrisler,
The Obama Administration just threw us a bone that can be chewed up by the next administration. We get nowhere with Executive Orders. We need repeal of DOMA and DADT and the enactment of a trans-inclusive ENDA, and we need enactment of a Gay 1964 Civil Rights Act to ensure that the majority no longer infringes on our rights.
I am joining with the progressives in withholding all donations, time, and work for the Democratic party until the above Acts are repealed and enacted. I will not give to any entity who will in turn give money to the Democratic party or its candidates.
The Justice Department just shit on us and you are bragging about this Executive Order as if they have done something special. They are burying us.”
At this pointI’d like for Tammy Baldwin to profoundly shut up.
I had suspended judgement, and given Obama the benefit of the doubtTHAT honeymoon is OVER.
Everything in my annual clock says it’s time for PRIDE, and I’d joyfully celebrate it for over 30 years in MN, but down in Louisiana they hold PRIDE around Southern Decadence in September.(which I haven’t attended in the 6 yrs I’ve been here, NOLA and big drunken crowds has ZERO appeal for me)
So any view I have of normal PRIDE and LGBT reaction to Obama will be online or on the National News…..so unsatisfying.
drama queen much?sheesh
What blog is this?Hey maybe Pam’s house blend can share space on the Free Republic server now.
I’m not remotely satisfied,but I am encouraged. He seems afraid of what we can do to him.
Obamaton much?sheeeesh!
President’s less than tepid “memorandum” of todayWe’re screwed. I will not contribute to Obama ever again.
The memorandum won’t expireIt can be overruled by the next administration, but they do carry over.
Thank YouMr. Kameny is not only an important person in our history, he is important in our lives.
His quiet dignity today speaks volumes, and I applaud him for it. This is the kind of recognition that matters, but which will be smothered by the Professional Gays who orchestrated this disaster.
I have been struck by another event missing from the current debate. Watching the hundreds of thousands of silent Iranians seeking to reclaim their lives and their country, I remembered the immediate change the Obama Administration brought by joining those nations who oppose criminalization of gayness at the UN. How many Iranians have been executed under this regime for “gayness?” (And how many Iraqi have the Americans people through our government killed for the same offense?)
What happened? We all thought Obama was on course then.
46 years and 5 days ago……46 years and 5 days ago, President Kennedy, after betraying the black community over and over again (even wiretapping MLK and allowing the FBI to egg on James Earl Ray), was finally cornered and gave a speech in which he stated, in his capacity as president, that he would bring change. After several fatiguing nights, amidst growing crisis throughout the world and at home, he finally finished and put his seal on a bill he was given by members of Congress and delivered it back to them, walking it past committees and taking whole liability onto himself, seeking to get a start on ending the federal conversation of rights for all americans based on race.
It ended up being signed by LBJ several months later, and was known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
If you aren’t yelling at every single Senator within earshot, you’re throwing away a chance to pin Obama against history, just as Kennedy was pinned against Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Tell them: draft such a simple bill now and deliver it to Obama AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Draft as many as needed. Multiple versions, many copies…
Make him answer for his betrayals against those who pounded pavement, wallets and voted for him. Even if it’s out of fear, a genuinely full plate or inexperience, it’s still a betrayal. And if it’s truly malicious, then he’s risking his own legacy when more progressive times come, risking being known as “that bigot” with a shake of the head.
Oh, gotcha!Thanks for the clarification. :-)
Oh My God!Barney Frank’s statement was weak and disappointing to begin with.
Now he’s saying he was misquoted and HE SUPPORTS WHAT THE OBAMA DOJ DID.
Simply unbelievable.
http://www.house.gov/frank/pre…
Examining my reactionsMaybe the anger was just the overwhelming emotion blocking the rest. Tonight the HURT and broken trust has come to the front.
Neither of those are going to dessipate the way anger will.
I feel Obama purposely chose to inflict pain with that brief, and did the supposed amends so badly and insufficiently to make them mocking and insulting.
I don’t believe what Obama says to me. That is going to be significant when he wants my support on other issues, or other funding or votes.
Am I mistaken…Or isn’t this really what Hilary has been pushing for since her first week as SoS??? (only a very watered down version)
Unbelievable
I saw that at AmericaBlog toounbelievable is the word….a lawyer as smart as Barney claiming he commented without reading the brief…that insults our intelligence too
Office of Personnel Management RegulationsThe OPM regulations follow the letter of the DOMA law in their definitions of “spouse” (1 male 1 female married to one another) so no Cabinet can overrule that. OPM is the governmental institution that decides who gets what benenfits (life insurance, health insurance, long term care insurance, retirement benefits, etc) for federal employees, not Cabinet members. The only reason Hillary was able to do what she did was because the Foreign Service is not under Title V of the Code of Federal Regulations which is what most of the “civilian” federal personnel fall under.
Lieberman and Collinshave been “bestest buddies 4 forevah”- that they worked together on this doesn’t surprise me one damned BIT.
CorrectionWhile this is indeed “Pam Quality”, this is the work of the incomparable Lurleen…
Protest every Obama and DNC eventDo not let the administration experience a news cycle around an event that does not feature our demand for citizenship, a demand that he, amongst others, continues to deny.
Keep in mind that his words, during the campaing, and th words that he endorsed on the DOMA brief, will haunt us for years.
Hold our “fierce advocates” accountable
Don’t let them buy their wway out of this with shallow gestures.
We cannot give leadership back to the “professional Gays”the conservatives who turned a rights movement into a lobbying firm more intoxicated with networking that it was committed to obtaining rights.
Right now, each and every one of us, angry, disappointed, and thirsty for citizenship, real citizenship, is a leader. Keep it so.
Incest ComparisonIt really pisses me off that the revisionists among our alleged allies are pushing this meme that the Obama DoJ brief did not compare same-sex marriage to incest or child marriage. They claim that the brief just referenced two cases where states were allowed to reject marriages legal elsewhere.
Here’s the problem – the real comparison is not these two cases, it is Loving v. Virginia, where the Supreme Court clearly ruled that no state could use arbitrary characteristics of an individual to determine marriage rights. In both the incest and child marriage cases, there is a legitimate government interest in not recognizing the marriage – more than an argument based on “tradition” – and that is decidedly not the case with same-gender marriage.
So, basically, the DoJ is arguing that there is a legitimate governmental reason to deny recognition to same-sex couples married elsewhere, just as there is in incestuous or child marriages. In other words, a comparison.
Yes, true.Aravosis is reporting that federal agencies already had the power to give these benefits to their employees. This whole charade was just exactly that–a con game to try and persuade us Obama wants to do the right thing. Just more of his homophobic bullshit. I will be SO disappointed if people now decide to lay off the fundraiser next week.
Obamaton is much to kind a word.Try dumbfuck.
You may be right, you may be wrong. The only wayto test your theorem is for us to act.
Jusr offhandI can’t think of even one of his campaign promises he has kept.
I’ve been referring to Obama in my postings as Bush-Lite. That now seems sadly inadequate. Bush Redux is more like it.
You think Free Republic is arguiing for LGBT equality?Go boil your head.
Wow, I just read Aravosis’ piece over at Salon.John-Boy had a hissy fit and banned a bunch of us a few years back, but i may have to start reading his blog again.
Poor Barney–moving from stooge to QuislingSelling us out Barney, selling us out….
What did Obama threaten you with to betray your own, was it hanging the banking scandals aound your neck?
Of course, you always were more or less a Mattachinist, but this, this snivelling servitude to the President who continues the marginalisation and persecution, tacitly or actively, of ten percent of the US population, is simply sickening to watch.
We stood by you when you were screwing an escort who used your home as a brothel; you abandoned us when the President screwed us.
We are done with you, Barney. We are done because we are done negotiating, pleading and begging.
We stand by the Dallas principles; full citizenship and equality for ALL LGBT’s–now!
You, of course, never believed in that to begin with….but now you are an irrelevancy whose final bow was to betray us….
To “Barney Frank” someone will forevermore mean to sodomise without lube…what you tried to do to us.
Bad dayI’ve had to deal with Obamaniacs all day. And most of them were GAY! I cannot understand blind faith. Not at all…
The State Department made those stepsand our current Secretary of State doesn’t always seem to check back in with the boss.
I’m proud to announce my support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, crucial legislation that will guarantee these rights for all federal employees.“Handsome is as handsome does.”
I will be watching.
Am I satisfied?HELL F**CKING NO!
1st) This was the least passionate and least heartflet promouncement this president has made since assuming office. And coming from such a great orator it is ever so much more disappointing.
2nd) As I have said several times in the last 24 hours:
Keep your crumbs Obama, I want the same three course meal as everyone else. I am sick and tired of subsidizing the “opposite marriages.” Talk about redistribution of wealth, Hummph!!
Vintage Frank Kameny…champagne
At Defense Department civilian security clearance hearing FORTY YEARS AGO. If only our “leaders” today spoke like this.
“I, personally, placed my life in jeopardy, in frontline combat, under enemy fire, for this country. [My client] served honorably in the Armed Services of this country. We did not do so in order that our government – or any agent or officer of it – might disparage our people, by which we mean our fellow American homosexuals, or our way of life – to our faces, or behind our backs. We are fully as entitled to our dignity, and to the respect of our government as the homosexual citizens that we are, as are all other American citizens. . . . In the past, we have remained silent when [antigay] remarks were made. We do not intend to continue so. If any such remarks are made, the proceedings will be halted on the spot and will not continue until the remarks have been retracted and apologized for. You and your colleagues elsewhere in this Department have been placed on notice.”
“I will define myself to my government. I will not allow my government to define me to me.”
Okay, but from what I think I’ve read online in the way of analysis, aren’t the “benefits” he’s extending actually benefits that were already available to federal employees?
If so, color me infuriated!
I’ve been referring to Obama in my postings as Bush-Lite.The Dark Wraith has long been referring to him as (to the effect of) “Bush, without the incompetence”.
Rachel and Keith missed that these bennies are already in place Did I miss something? Or did both Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann not get the memo that this grand gesture of Obama’s today (granting a few piddly benefits to a few SS partners of Federal employees) accomplished nothing—that these benefits were already available. At least R & K each put today’s “action” in context as being a weak response to the furor over Friday’s pro-DOMA brief. We need to keep writing to MSM to explain that Federal employees already had these benefits supposedly granted by Obama today, and that this was a phony and insulting gesture of appeasement on his part.
I was holding my breath hoping that against all evidence something real might happen today (some balloons almost never land). Like Obama finds his inner Andrew Shepard and says: “I fully reject the principles and the arguments enshrined in DOMA; they are blatantly unconstitutional.” Followed by …
“Today the WH is sending a bill to Congress repealing DOMA, and this bill demands full support from every congressperson who professes to believe in civil rights for all Americans …” or
“The WH will be working with Congress this summer to write and pass a bill repealing DOMA. In the meantime, I am issuing a stop-loss order to halt all DADT discharges. We cannot require excellence and honor from our service members and simultaneously tell them that they must hide and lie …” or
full weight of the WH behind the Matthew Shepard Act, etc., etc.</li>
full weight of the WH behind ENDA, etc., etc.
or any real fucking action that actually demonstrated genuine support, instead of a sorry, empty gesture and more words, words, words.
I’m scraping the bumper sticker off my car tomorrow and mailing it to the White House with yet another letter. Was going to sell my buttons, t-shirt, and car magnet on eBay and donate the proceeds to the Victory Fund, but the crap ain’t selling. So it goes to the WH too, and I’ll just have to cough up some of my own dough to donate to the VF. No more money for the Dems (local, state, or national), or for any LGBT advocacy organizations that aren’t agitating.
Sooner or later he’ll just ban you again.I say that as someone who was never banned from Americablog.
In case you didn’t read JohnA….it is ALL GOOD!Here is today's important part:
There was no real directive to do so, it was voluntaryThat’s why Secretary of State Clinton had to act of her own accord to do so, although that was mainly to wash the blood of DOMA off her hands.
Palin in 2012!REAL real change!
My Two CentsLatest FaBlog: For Immediate Release
In all the wrong ways.
And in other news…One of our VT State Senators (Peter Shumlin) who was to be an honoree at next week’s DNC fundraiser has decided to boycott it in solidarity with us.
He wrote this to explain why he was boycotting the event: ”By defending DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans, the Administration has chosen discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to be more courageous in defending. This action will only serve to sow the seeds for further hatred and division against the only minority group left in America that politicians can publicly discriminate against and see their approval ratings rise.”
Nice to see a heterosexual get it!
Then who?Slacktivism hasn’t produced a viable candidate yet, and nobody has any ideas as to who would have been better (hint: they all sucked to similar degrees).
That’s it, I’m voting for the robot and/or advanced presidential computer next election. Don’t blame me, I voted for Presibot MMXII.
or Obamination
Michael, you are one ornery old queenBut we need to have you old ornery queens and dykes and transgenders around.
Those like you have survived so much. If anyone had told you back in the 50′s and 60′s that gay people would have been even having a public forum about marriage equality, equal protection under the law, blah, blah, blah, would you have believed them?
Thing is, we don’t even know half the time who’s shoulders we really stand on, though we have some outstanding gay historians now. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do.
God Save Ornery Old Queens.
I’m confusedIn his 1st paragraph the prez stated
but in his last paragraph he stated
Aren’t a presidential memorandum and an executive order different?
he misspoke at the end.it is definitely a memorandum.
Return to the “Yes we can” blog, then.
HuffPo has this Obama spammer called We-Are-The-Onestap dancing as fast as he can, I batted him around a couple times, then just listed 6 other queer forums/blogs hetero readers can find REAL LGBT opinions not what some Obama hack is telling them what LGBTs think.
My bad!It is Lurleen, and you ARE quality!
Stem CellsHe promised to repeal the ban on federal funding for stem cells, and he kept that promise.
That’s all I can really think of. Which granted was a very important move for everyone, but that’s the only one I can think of.
OMGKameny got the pen!
Fire Rahm “M*^%&%$%^&” Emmanuel and replace him with the staffer (as if it was a staffer!) who arranged that!
Thank you so much for sharingMichael, there is so much that the younger generation doesn’t know. I really wish you would do a diary series of your history in this movement. As a 31-year-old veteran, I know far too little about my own history as a dyke sailor.
Certainly we would all benefit from hearing about people like Leonard and Frank. Thank you for sharing this bit of history today. To echo Kevinchi’s words, God Save Ornery Old Queens. 
An alternative home for your donationsGive to your local LGBT orgs especially those that help our youth. Most of them are really hurting for operating expense money. They can’t afford fancy fund raising dinners or their own lobbyists, or even “donation gifts”, but they can and do provide important services to kids that have seen far too much hatred just for being themselves. If you had a perfect childhood or just don’t like kids and young adults, then give to your local adult LGBT organizations or local political group. Do some good with your money, don’t just give it to a national politician and especially one associated with the two parties or the professional lobby groups.
Well, sorta he did…
His hands are tied by Congress, you see. He’s forced to sign these bills.
WOWI’m sending him a thank you card and will research moving to Vermont. We actually have rights up there, and Bernie Sanders has a petition on his Senate web page for single-payer.
http://sanders.senate.gov/peti…
THANK YOU SENATOR SHUMLIN!!
You’re very kind….Thank you, Keori, for your kind words and encouragement [LGBT movement history is one of my passions]. I didn’t realize anyone could submit a diary. [I would luv to have included my Eartha memories here when she passed.] My personal contributions to the movement have been so much smaller than so many others, but I have a timely idea for one.
While I still have a great deal to flesh out atwww.leonardmatlovich.com because I’m doing it myself as I don’t have the financial resources to pay a professional, there’s already a great deal of information there about Leonard’s fight against the military ban [Frank was his inspiration], Anita Bryant, AIDS activism and arrests, etc., including several video clips going back to 1975, with more to come.
And in the site’s LGBT Veterans Gallery section, you and others might be surprised to learn how many other movement pioneers, in addition to Frank, were vets, including Harvey Milk who was wearing a Navy belt when he was shot.
http://www.leonardmatlovich.co…
I’d luv to include you in the gallery, too, if you’d like to e-mail me a photo [preferably in uniform] and a little service bio.
Thanks again for your kind remarks and all you contribute to PHB.
I wish you love.
Remember your roots, your history, and the forebears’ shoulders on which you stand. – Marion Wright Edelman
Are we satified– no!It’s about this time in a board meeting where there’s been so much of discussion that we need to stop and make some “action items.”
As I see it, there are 3 actionable items that CAN BE DONE and MUST be done before the DNC fundraiser on June 25th.
1. We require that the loathsome Brief in defense of DOMA be RETRACTED at the President’s or AG’s order. To cover their asses, they can claim it “needs to be revised” for all we care. it must disappear.
2. Obama MUST immediately issue “stop loss” orders– retaining the 200+ servicemembers who have been remove from military duty due to DADT since Obama’s inauguration. The Commander-in-Chief should make it clear to the commanders that he will issue stop loss orders for every subsequent attempt to remove servicemembers by DADT until DADT is repealed.
3. We must be provided a timeline for the repeal of DOMA and DADT that is specific– not “months and years”– and it must be this year 2009.
These are actionable items that CAN be accomplished over within the next week. If these are done I will give Obama credit for having “a plan” and engaged in our cause.
I personally will withhold any contributions to the DNC or any other Democratic org until these few quick things are provided. The 2010 mid-elctions start in only a few months and our support (and money)is important.
Going out on a limb. I feel that we are not holding HRC accountable for their lobbying efforts on our behalf. They are the GLBT’s main lobbying arm in Washington. I have given monthly contributions to HRC for almost 2 decades, and provided capital funds for their Washington offices. I am withdrawing future support of HRC until I can see some material headway (such as the action items above) on the matters of DOMA and DADT and ENDA.
Muchos muchos, Kev!Thank you for the kind comments.
No, when I first wrote about our people in a 1971 college newspaper article, 1. the degree of “virtual equality” we have now was something few imagined [and "marriage," as I'm sure you've read, was simply not something that any significant number of gays talked about]; and 2., in retrospect I, for one, vastly underestimated how long it would take us to achieve what compared to what we had then is so much but compared to what we should have is so little.
Thanks for your many contributions here and in other Net neighborhoods we mutually tread [and patience with my "rhetorical flourishes" :- ) ]. The quote I posted in the shout out thread to Pam describes me just as well:
“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” - Audre Lorde
You would fit right inat DemocraticUnderground. They can’t stand gay people there, either. Head over there and you can get a complementary set of pompoms while you tell GLBT Americans to STFU to your heart’s content. Don’t worry, if any of the GLBTers call you on your trolling and flaming, they’ll get posts deleted, eventually warnings with disingenuous messages, and finally get banned. It’s been open season on the GLBT and progressive allies since the McClurkin Fiasco.
Hear, hear!As one of her constituents, I’d just like her STFU and then go away. She’s racing neck to neck with Barney Frank for the title of Most Impotent Rep.
Thanks, LurleenI just can’t believe that the POTUS, an orator and constitutional scholar/professor who is a fierce advocate for the LGBT community misspoke at the end of an extremely important, but limited impact, moment in history. (end snark)
Eartha!please post your Eartha memories!
Show some appreciation for the President risking political capital..It was a bold and daring move to agree to cover the cost of a U-Haul for the domestic partners of federal empoyees to relocate.
This speech and policy should be enshrined into LGBT history, the moment that we acheived “Rental Truck Equality”
+1I’m so glad I’m finally relieved of my need to visit that shithole. DU is now simply FR touched up with a can of blue spray paint. In just five short months, DUers (a whole lot of them, at least) have become what they despised about freepers for so many years – blind devotion to the President.
Want to mention Obama’s lack of leadership on gay civil rights? Then be prepared to hear about all kinds of ponies, poutrage, and pet issues, all designed to stifle any criticism of our President, no matter how justified. Now with all kinds of picture threads showing us how dreamy Obama is.
Gag me.
It’s good to see you again, MHD. :-)
because…because its not important to him.
lets call himout on that
What Important Moment?The Rental Truck Equality Memorandum of 2009, covering U-Haul costs of relocating the domestic partners of Federal Employees?
That was important?
That was naught but a political Xanax that they are offering us to try and sedate us.
Excellent clarification of the distinction.
Yeah…you’re right. Why bother? Thanks.
Well, Dick Cheney supports same-sex marriageIf he runs, I’ll vote for him.
The Democrats and Obama’s performance on equality since January is so dismal, that I am turning into a one issue voter.
You guys are getting beaten up for being greedy and selfish for demanding your rights when we are faced with many other problems. Well, if the “many other problems people” can’t support you at the same time, than I see no reason to support resolution of the “many other problems”.