Please

“I think he’s doing a good job, you have to take into consideration that it is his first year and there was a lot to do. I think it’s amazing that we have a president that actually listens to us.”

And wouldn’t it be nice if we had a president that actually did something for us?

Good grief!The Prez had a lot to do this past year?  Boo-hoo!  He has no staff, he’s all alone in the bid bad White House working away at every single issue–except ours?  How much time and energy does an Executive order take?
I understand that it would be rude to criticize your host, so to speak, but this man is either naive or dishonest.  He could have just declined to comment.

Why does the phrase “window dressing” come to mind?“See, I don’t hate gay people! However, let me reiterate that I firmly believe that marriage exists between one man and one woman and that I am utterly powerless to change Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell. Please send your generous contributions to the DNC at the address at the bottom of your television screens.”

Does the phrase “House gay” come to anyone else’s mind?I guess we should at least be thankful that they didn’t reach out to a Log Cabin Republican in the attempt to be more bi-partisan

Free trip to DCCut the guy some slack – he has to make nice to get the free trip to DC. Quite frankly, even though I have been very critical of the Obama White House (and they have the emails to prove that), I sure as hell would make nice if I got to sit next to Michelle. Sorry, it’s the silly queen in me.  

Actually the name that comes to mind is “Brian Kenny”This guy isn’t an old school stereotype he is new school all the way. Not to mention the fact that he is the first lady’s guest and not that of the President. Because of course it is so chic to have a fashionable fag in one’s entourage especially if others see you as a fashionable icon yourself. When do the modern stereotypes end here?

I suppose the First Ladyhas time to watch Oprah, since Oprah raised that whole “fashionable fag” stereotype recently.
Still… I’m with CPT_Doom above, if it’s the First Lady…

By what measure has this administration done a “good job” on lgbt rights?If one measures the President’s performance on lgbt issues by whether he periodically acknowledges our existence, then I suppose they can say the administation is doing a good job. There was the lesbian couple on the train to the inauguration; Bishop Robinson’s last minute invitation to speak (what turned out to be off mike) at the inauguration, the gay family at the Easter Egg Roll, the meeting with the A-list lgbt power brokers at the White House, the speech to the HRC, and appointments to the Export-Import Bank, Ambassador of New Zealand and the all-important Office of Personnel Management.
     For the many millions of gay people in the country, these gestures do nothing to improve lives. For these millions we have Obama’s continuing aggressive enforcement of DADT, his failure to push ENDA, his siding with the bigots on DOMA–including some of the most vicious anti-gay briefs ever written, his stated opposition to marriage equality, his silence in the battles for equality in Maine and New Jersey. And his Office of Personnel Management shill is opposing the Ninth Circuit order that federal employee benefits be extended to the legal wife of a court employee.
If this is a good job, what would a bad one look like?  

Oh, pleaseIf the First Lady invited me, I’d respectfully decline her invitation until she loudly and publicly advocated for support for MY military family, too. I wouldn’t lower myself to be one of her sycophantic house queers at yet another useless soiree she doesn’t really want to host. Fuck that noise.

I’d also add signingRyan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, & Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act, & the lifting of the HIV travel/immigration ban earlier this month.

Not really, noNo, the term “house gay” didn’t come to mind, and it’s really ugly and unnecessary. Just because the guy is taking the view that MANY other Democrats and some Independents and a tiny fraction of Republicans are taking doesn’t mean he’s some kind of destructive or self-destructive force.
Also, he’s being selected for his business, not as a gay token. I doubt A LOT he’ll be announced from the stage as a gay person.
True, if he were against the president as much as some progressives are, I would understand not going (though he wouldn’t have entered to begin with).
I’m a former Obama cheerleader who is disappointed, but I definitely don’t think the man is a bigot. Ineffectual, showing poor leadership qualities of late, making some regrettable decisions, yes. But he’s not someone I would be ashamed to stand with in that forum, not by a longshot.

Bitterness by the Bushell!A whole lot of folks around here are serving up a heaping helping of bitterness and refusal to respect the right of others who are equally decent and intelligent (They are, you know!!) to think differently . . . Sort of feels as intolerant and rigid as hanging out with the right-wing Bible bangers . . . “I got it right … if you disagree, YOU are WRONG!” Not exactly the kind of open-minded world I envision and work toward achieving.
As one person pointed out, the President has achieved the following ….  ”Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act, & the lifting of the HIV travel/immigration ban earlier this month”.  Also, extended to all federal employees the maximum in partner benefits allowable under current federal law.
If folks commenting here don’t like current federal law, use more of your time lobbying Congress and less complaining online to your fellow gloom and doom LGBT friends.  CONGRESS NOT the PRESIDENT MAKES/CHANGES LAWS!  Obama will sign ENDA, the repeal of DADT and the repeal DOMA the MINUTE CONGRESS PASSES them.
It’s cheap and easy to blame Obama.  Working for change is long and hard.  Until you actually get to work, you aren’t really committed and nobody will take you seriously . . . nor should they!

Administration reached out to NGLCCTo their credit, it also sounds as if the administration reached out specifically to NGLCC to identify an LGBT business owner for the SOTU, AND did so prior to the MA upset. That, to me, is a cautiously optimistic sign (not holding my breath, though).

Not a Legislative IssueThis is only my opinion, but my anger and frustration with Obama and the Democratic leadership has nothing to do with the status of legislation, it has to do with tone and commitment. When referenda about the value of our lives are held and the leadership refuses to condemn them, that’s a problem. When anti-gay preachers, many from the AA community, pontificate about our secret plan to destroy marriage and the family, and Obama says nothing, that’s a problem.
Here’s the analogy I think is appropriate. FDR could not do much, politically, about racism. He was stuck with very senior, racist Democrats heading key committees. He could not win the Presidency or govern without those racist votes, even if he was not the racist they were. Instead he smartly used Eleanor as his representative to the AA community. Her radicalism on the subject, for which FDR had plausible deniability, signaled to the AA community that the issues were political, not fundamental racism on FDR’s part.
The equivalent of what Obama, Reid and Pelosi are doing is if Eleanor, having learned of the DAR’s snub of Marian Anderson, said “oh well, that’s just the environment we’re stuck with, sucks to be her.” Instead she gave a big, if very proper, F___ You! to the DAR and arranged the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Many people credit those actions as helping launch the modern AA Civil Rights Movement.
Had Obama, et. al. in the last year roundly condemned the vote in Maine, campaigned for the DP rights in WA, spoke out against the anti-gay rhetoric of the right and spread the message that LGBTs are NOT threats to the US, but rather important citizens – even if we were in the exact same position as we are now – his support among LGBT people would be, I believe, basically unchanged.
Walking the walk is about more than legislation. What I see today is a lack of true commitment to equality, to building that “more perfect Union” on the part of the Dems, and that does sadden, anger and frustrate me.  

By “making some regrettable decisions”….
….what are you referring to? It’s one thing to say one would respect an invitation from the First Lady to the SOTU or a WH dinner or Easter Egg Hunt, and another to put forth a ridiculously mild criticism.

Would you describe as merely “regrettable”:
Obama being the sole Dem Prez candidate to repeatedly wrap denying gays marriage equality in the Bible, which has been repeatedly exploited by religio homohaters?
Telling Catholic press that he wrestles every day with the conflict between his religious faith and gay rights?
Letting his DOJ attack legal efforts to overturn DOMA with language more homophobic that even that used to pass it?
Refusing to follow a judge’s order re same gender partner medical insurance that has resulted in the most respected gay legal org in the country, Lambda Legal, suing his Administration?
Wrongly claiming that DADT has been declared “constitutional” even as he let his DOJ attack legal efforts TO challenge DADT’s constitutionality?
Pretending he has no Congressionally mandated legal authority to suspend discharges in the name of national security when he unequivocably does?
Discharging some 700 gay servicemembers since taking office rather than using that start date as he explicitly promised to being putting the weight of his administration behind repeal and ordering the DOD to create an implementation plan for eliminating DADT and even accepting discharged gays who want to reenlist back in?
Abandoning his promise to use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat gay families fairly?
Abandoning his promise to take an active role in passing hate crimes?
Abandoning his promised to take an active role in passing ENDA?
Abandoning his promise to end the ban on needle exchange programs in government-funded aid programs to help fight the spread of HIV-AIDS.
Submitting a budget to Congress that, for the first time, “flat-funded” U.S. overseas AIDS investments thus not keeping pace with medical inflation, estimated at 4-10% this year resulting in a D+ grade from global AIDS activists. “Activists around the world are ‘dismayed’ by what they’ve seen from Obama’s commitment to AIDS in his first year.”
Sitting silent on his hands for months while the Neaderthal dishes ran away with the healthcare spoons?
Waiting so long to fight to save Ted Kennedy’s seat he’d held for over 40 years that a loony tunes poseur stole it?
Increasing by 30,000 the number of American troops in Afghanistan, a war the American public does not support and insurgent warfare experts say we cannot possibly win?
Quietly increasing by tens of thousands the number of paid, arms-carrying mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan while bragging about removing or limiting uniformed soldiers?
THOSE kinds of “regrettable decisions”?

Remember Jackie Kennedy and designer HalstonHe was also from Indiana.  They pick people from those flyover states for political reasons.

NO, that’s all the faultof those uppity gays and those liberals. Fucking up Obama’s shit! (snark)

It’s one thing to urge more polite disagreement…
…and another to FUCKING DISTORT THE FACTS, msfwdc, which I am SOOOOOO goddamn tired of you shit eating Obambots doing that I will not let a single instance of it I read pass.
First, Obama was NOT the one who “achieved” the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act, & the lifting of the HIV travel/immigration ban.
As much as it pains me to say it, Ryan White was created during the Bush pere administration and lifting the HIV traveler ban under Bush fils. Obama deserves NO credit for the passing of the hate crimes bill. After abandoning his promise to play an active role in fighting for it, he even cancelled a meeting with Judy Shepard at the last minute, pausing just long enough for a photo op.
A fucking auto pen machine can SIGN BILLS, and Obama’s having just done that, the minimum “right thing” to do is NO cause for statue building so stop circulating the petition.
Yes, Obama cannot repeal DADT except by signing a bill involving repeal passed by Congress but there IS a way he legally could, as it were, stop the bleeding himself until the doctor arrives.
Under a law passed by Congress in 1983, the President can unilaterally suspend ANY law…including DADT…and stop the discharge of ANY servicemember that he believes is in the interest of national security…something no less than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [hardly a radical] has URGED HIM TO DO while Obama pretends he can’t!
Ironically, and to his personal embarassment which it would seem he’s incapable of, the Commander-in-Chief isn’t even listening TO HIMSELF as when he stated TWICE last June that dischargeing gays otherwise fit to serve “WEAKENS NATIONAL SECURITY.”
As for repeal, charter DADT opponent and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin has said that it is impossible without LEADERSHIP from the President…something Obama repeatedly promised during the campaign and, again, has abandoned.
So, yes, pressure Congress, but the buck, as always, stops at the President’s desk.

PHOTO: Leonard Matlovich, the first gay servicemember to fight the ban sitting at the President’s desk [still used by Obama] during the Carter Administration. The sign, given to Carter by Pres. Truman’s daughter, is now in the Carter Library Oval Office recreation in Georgia.

Obama the billbot?Obama isn’t just a bill signer, he’s a leader, he has the bully pulpit, and he can speak out forcefully on our issues, and he could have immediately done something about dimissals under DADT, or later spoken out about Maine, he could have done many things–but he hasn’t. Bottom line: Obama is not our fierce advocate, though he claimed to be.
And why do you seem to want to muzzle people’s expresion of their dissatisfaction?  
This site is called “Pam’s House Blend…always steamin’” not “Don’t Worry-Be Happy.”

MLK and three ways of dealing with oppressionIt is past time where anyone who happens to be LGBT and makes it a point of saying Obama is doing a good job (because they are getting some kind of special access like cocktail parties or highly visible position) needs to be vilified and exiled by our community until we get specifically want we want from the Obama Admin.  We can not afford to send mixed signals to them.  They should be aware of what they are doing.  It isn’t like they haven’t studied Martin Luther King and what he happened to say about the “house n*ggers” who sold their community down the river for a little comfort.  We have to start publicly calling out members who participate in cocktail parties and special access events and then apologize for Obama’s inaction on the oppression our community faces.http://gay.americablog.com/2010/01/mlk-on-three…
We can’t afford to be sending mixed signals and providing cover, as a community, for their inaction.  They know what they are doing.  They think as long as they invite a representative or “cool gay kid” to cocktail parties then they won’t have to follow through on their promises to us.

Re: “Gay House N*ggers” – They and Them = Obama AdminThey (OBAMA ADMIN) should have ALL studied MLK and this is a deliberate attempt to provide special access to some and get them to play the “House N*gger” role and be a cheerleader for the master.  Good for them, but they aren’t part of my community until we get ALL our rights if they are so willing to sell the rest of us out for a little access and good fortune.

I’ve traveled to Washington to testify before CongressMy partner, at the time, and I (Tim Beauchamp) testified before congress to get the Federal Hate Crimes Law enacted.
http://commdocs.house.gov/comm…
I personally fought DADT when one of my poems, written as a gay submariner, was published in the Smithsonian American History museum:
http://www.americablog.com/200…
President Obama made SPECIFIC promises to our community and has been WOEFULLY inadequate on following through on those promises on:  ENDA, DOMA and DADT
In fact, he has actually WORKED AGAINST positive change for our community in filing hateful briefs for DOMA with the ridiculous caveat they had to defend the law because he was the President and then IGNORED the law when it came to medical marijuana.  I’ll be the FIRST to stand up and cheer the Obama Admin on when they do the right thing, but I’m not going to play the part of “Gay House N*gger” if I’m given some kind of special treatment or access by this administration.  In other words, being an apologist doesn’t do our community any good.  It works against our claiming our FULL AND EQUAL rights as U.S. Citizens.
As far as DADT is concerned, Obama needs to act more like Truman and call those military leaders on the carpet when they try to pull the rug out from under him. Unless, of course, Obama is deliberately being manipulated and allowing those generals and admirals to act as cover for something he does not want to do for our community.
Obama could stop the DADT policy DEAD IN ITS TRACKS by refusing to enforce it.  When the sky doesn’t fall, which it won’t, then congress and those chicken little generals and admirals wouldn’t have an argument.
Be careful who you accuse of hiding behind their keyboards in the fight for LGBT equality.  Some of us are and have been on the FRONT LINES and we refuse to compromise on our rights.  Those rights are THERE and it is just a matter of us forcing the oppressor to REALIZE and ADMIT they are there and for us to CLAIM them.

Uh, cowboyneok…first of all, that was Malcolm X that made the infamous “house negro” speech, in reference to MLK (and there were black Christian ministers that were also saying that about King, by the way, like Detroit’s Albert Cleage…but that lesson is for another day.
Second….uh, “House Fa*got” or “Gay Uncle Toms” or even “Aunt Marys” (and gay folks have been using all three terms since the 60′s, I’ve found out) is fine. Gay House Ni*ger is not.
I have much love for ya’, but there’s just some things that you can’t say (now I might call David Kaufman a Gay House Ni*ger but…I can say that…)

Well, if it makes ya feel better…I use an “*” because I can’t bring myself to type or DEFINITELY can not bring myself to even say that word.  I believe there are ways of conveying what you mean by not completely spelling it out, or saying it, like you and I both did to ensure everyone KNOWS you would NEVER say or even write that particular word but still denote the meaning.  For instance if I had to say it, you had better believe I would say, “Gay House N-word”  I would never say “N*gger” (fill in the blank)  You are right about Malcolm X but I also believe MLK was referring to the “House Negro” when he wrote:
“So acquiescence-while often the easier way-is not the moral way. It is the way of the coward. The Negro cannot win the respect of his oppressor by acquiescing; he merely increases the oppressor’s arrogance and contempt. Acquiescence is interpreted as proof of the Negro’s inferiority. The Negro cannot win the respect of the white people of the South or the peoples of the world if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.”
I am by no means advocating using the word “Negro” or “N*gger” but simply trying to point back to those who fought the good fight in their own struggle to realize their civil rights.

I should have used another WORD! MAJOR APOLOGY…I should have used “Gay House Negro” because I in NO WAY would EVER purposefully use that hateful N-word when another one with less nasty connotations would do.  I absolutely see what you mean.  You are right… I should have found another way to say it without using the N-word with or without the asterisks.  I apologize profusely!  I just now re-read what I had written.  Sometimes one can get so desensitized to hearing that particular word said in “various venues” that it can slip into a derogatory phrase to describe “House F*ggot” or “Gay Uncle Tom” when something less offensive would have worked just fine.  One of my best friends is an African American trans woman.  I’ll have her give me a good beating for using it!  (LOL!)  AGAIN, I would NEVER, NEVER say that word…  Thanks for pointing it out.

LOL!No harm!
On the statement by Dr. King, you’re right, he is vaguely alluding to the “house negro” archetype. But the fact that King is vaguely alluding to it (as opposed to simply saying it) is one of the reasons why he was painted with the label “house negro” by others in the black civil rights movement.
The gay versions of the “house negro” stereotype are interesting though because I had no idea that gays were using the term that far back until recently. (I first heard the term “house fag*ot in the late 80′s.) The “Aunt Mary” reference actually goes back to the late 1950′s.

STILL…I try to be VERY VERY careful in my word choices.  I hate being called a “faggot,” etc. so I always TRY to remember that when referring to some of my other minority brothers and sisters, even when the term is meant to convey a derogatory word to describe “An Uncle Tom” (for instance) I try to use the LEAST most offensive terminology.  ya know?  It just KILLS me to ever come across as insensitive or worse because I’m not!
I got nauseous when I reread what I had typed…  Thank you for pointing it out to me, and I apologize again for using such bad judgment.

As far as my friend Kendra is concerned…I hope she doesn’t read what I wrote.  I don’t really want to get backhanded by her.  ;)