Obama still doesn’t support marriage equality, but Happy Pride Month

[Bluebear]

by Joe Sudbay

President Obama still hasn't evolved on marriage yet. You may recall that Obama first told me he was "evolving" on the marriage issue back on October 27, 2010. Well, he's still not there. Mediaite's Tommy Christopher asked Jay Carney about it yesterday:

Mediaite: And my second question, based on his what he said and his actions, I think a reasonable person can conclude that President Obama believes in the right of gay couples to marry. So why hasn’t he come out and said that?

Jay Carney: The president has said in the past what his position is. It hasn’t changed. And if it changes, I’m sure he’ll let you all know.

Mediaite: The last time we checked, he said it was evolving.

Carney: And that’s — I have no update for you on that.

All is not lost. Yesterday, the President did "proclaim June 2011 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month." But, funny thing (or not), the Proclamation doesn't mention anything about marriage or even civil unions -- it did in previous years. MetroWeekly's Chris Geidner reported on this finding:

There is no mention of relationship recognition, despite the fact that on Feb. 23, Attorney General Eric Holder, announced that the president had determined that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The Department of Justice subsequently ended its defense of that portion of the law in ongoing court challenges.

By comparison, in the 2010 proclamation, Obama stated, "That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act."

In the 2009 proclamation, meanwhile, Obama stated, "Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include ... supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples ...."

Huh. That's odd.

It's 2011. Evolve already.

The White House -- and the Obama campaign, led by Jim Messina -- should know by now that marriage equality is one of the biggest unresolved issues facing this presidency. The President is behind the curve and getting further behind every day. He knows which way the trendline is moving. He told me that during our October 2010 meeting. The White House and Obama 2012 are making a political calculation here. Of course, HRC didn't help by jumping out with its early endorsement without a commitment on marriage. Messina must have called and yelled at someone over there to make it happen so soon (that's has happened before and apparently had an impact.)

As Mediate's Tommy Christopher noted:

President Obama eloquently tried to reassure bullying victims that it gets better. I agree, and do you know when it gets better, at least a little bit? When the President of the United States finally says that they are equal human beings.

Yeah. We're waiting.


http://gay.americablog.com/2011/06/obama-still-doesnt-support-marriage.html
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/05/31/carney-no-updates-on-enda-executive-order-marriage/

[Pab Sungenis]

1. "Yeah, I compared your relationships to incest and pedophilia

but Happy Pride!"

:sarcasm:

[Bluebear]

4. You!

Shut up and go read THE LIST!!! :)

[QC]

7. Oh please...

:eyes:

Everyone knows that you are unreasonable and childishly impatient.

[Bluebear]

11. +

[readmoreoften]

12. 50 years waiting for labor legislation to protect you is nothing! Poutrager!

Waaa! I don't want to be fired cuz people are prejudiced against me! Waaaaa! I wanna see my partner on her deathbed! Waaaaa! I don't wants to get beated up in the street! Waaaa! When my partner dies in war I wanna be able to get his stuff!

Fuckin' whiner. How could you bring your trivial selfish bullshit into this discussion. We have presidential doggies and hot shirtless POTUSes to talk about.

[MNBrewer]

2. The Devil's in the details and God's in the mix

still.... (sigh). Obama's "evolving" is taking too long. Grow a pair of gills already, President Obama.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[xchrom]

5. Recommend

[QC]

6. K&R

[Starry Messenger]

8. k&r

[Enrique]

9. how much does it matter that any president supports it

I can see how we would want that, but how much does it matter in an issue like this?

it seems the tide of public opinion is swinging unmistakably in favor of gay equality. Even the head of the Family Research Council just said his side has lost the battle against gay marriage, or something like that.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rpannier]

15. Quite a bit actually

As the leader of the country it is helpful when he uses his position in support of something like this.

[Bluebear]

17. +

[Heidi]

13. Recommended.

:kick:

[Duncan Grant]

14. If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the mornin'...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKB3PxG-0E


I'll be happy when the equivocation stops. :hi:

[Fumesucker]

16. K&R

[TriMera]

18. This "evolve" crap is just that, crap.

So, the POTUS is so creeped out by the thought of LGBT folk getting married that he has to mull the idea over for a long time before he might hop aboard the marriage equality train. He's just stringing us along, as usual.

[Heidi]

19. A "we're better than only 17 recommendations on a human rights issue" kick.

(Unless we're really not, in which case I'm hangin' with the wrong crowd.)

:kick: