There's a chance Obama will end up advancing gay rights significantly, albeit painfully slowly, by the time his administration is complete. You can spin it as the admin reaction to pressure from the LGBT community if you want, but I think this is very calculated. Obama views the slow and steady path as one that will ultimately go further.

oh my! i can leave a message! i'm still reading a cached-page version, but i can leave a comment!

a round of applause for the hardworking folks trying to fix the problem.

as far as the DODT issue, i've been thinking about this, and what i deduce is that, like stem cell research, the president is letting the outrage build until he is "forced" to do the right thing, taking the wind out of the sails of those opposed. it's much harder for the opposition to argue that the repeal is being imposed when there is much public outcry for the repeal.

Glad to see you back up. I was starting to go through withdrawal.

As for this particular item, I would like to point out what's not covered, courtesy of Jennifer Vanasco:

Gay benefits press call clarifies…nothing

What’s not included?

The stuff that matters. Health insurance. Pension access. Survivor benefits. Life insurance. You know, the stuff that the majority of the Fortune 500 has been providing for years (as Berry helpfully pointed out). The stuff people actually want.

I'm of the mind of too little, too late.

Regarding this "step," Dan Savage politely pointed to the "sheer insulting incompetence of this idiot maneuver." I'd go with that, actually.

The Administration's already acknowledged that they're trying to figure out something easy to do re queer rights so the GLBTs will come to a major fundraiser for Biden next week with their wallets open. (Like progressives, the queerroots are viewed as human ATMs for corporate Democrats.) Try reading Pam's House Blend or Americablog for real details.

Not only are these benefits paltry, they will expire when Obama leaves office 3-1/2 (or 7-1/2) years from now. Big effing whoop.

'the president is letting the outrage build until he is "forced" to do the right thing, taking the wind out of the sails of those opposed. it's much harder for the opposition to argue that the repeal is being imposed when there is much public outcry for the repeal.'

If that really is Obama's strategy, then he's a lot stupider than I thought. He ought to know by now that the opposition will be whining and crying about it no matter how he does it.

And I'm getting tired of that excuse in any case. He said quite explicitly during the campaign that he intended to fight for gay rights then and he got elected. That's a pretty clear mandate no matter what the homophobes think. By not taking firm steps to keep that promise, and by actually having his DOJ make such a hideous argument in favor of DOMA, he's treading quite close to outright making a liar of himself.

I am still sirprised how that so many people think electing Obama meant that their pet issue was going to be fixed overnight. It seems to me there is an awful lot of shit going on right now and DADT and DOMA (rightly or wrongly) may not be high on the list of things that need fixing.

I want to see both done away with as well. But he can't wave a magick wand and make it happen. Congress has to repeal these laws since they made them and then Obama has to sign them. Could he put more pressure on them? Of course he could but given the number of blue dogs who would more than likely side with the repubs it will take a lot of work to get these things through the congress.

You want real change? Start pressuring the legislative body, you know the ones who make the laws, to change the laws.

The reason this is boiling over now is the DOJ brief equating gay marriage with incest and pedophelia. That's it. It's as simple as that. And the briefing today where the president's mouthpiece said that the president supports that brief.
I've said this before on other threads, Obama is a politician and this politician has decided that gay issues are not high on his agenda. Fine. Obama the man might support us, Obama the politician doesn't. At all. So we need to focus on our issues and make them be heard and be ruthless in the pursuit, like politicians.

I know that Obama cannot do everything at once but there appears to be a disturbing pattern of reluctance to take significant steps: in regulating financial markets, in gay rights (this today seems largely symbolic), in correcting warrantless wiretapping and Fourth Amendment violations (which Holder reportedly dismissed today as "settled law"). He wants a public option for health care, but the mark-up process has begun and it's still not in there. He is infinitely better than the dangerous McCain, and I admire him immensely. He is the most brilliant politician we have ever seen. His instincts and statements have been brilliant in foreign policy -- an essential issue. But always integrity must supersede political advantage. Maybe he's waiting for public opinion, but he's already got it on health care and much more. His first year is four months gone; the momentum is going to start slipping away, especially if health care flops.

the momentum is going to start slipping away

maybe in *your* very small circles...

Justice Department attorneys said they are legally obligated to defend DOMA in court as long as it's on the books

Huh. I'm not sure that's correct. In fact, Justice can challenge laws. Enforcement, probably (gotta enforce the laws and all), but not necessarily vigorous defense.

Obama got blind-sided by a Bush holdover in the DOJ who wrote the DOMA brief. What Obama needed to do, and still needs to do, is get rid of the guy and withdraw the brief, and then give the whole situation a rethink.

This was bound to happen somewhere in the bureaucracy at some point. The deal-breaker for me is Obama's failure to take this seriously and handle it expeditiously.

I doubt that gays will get much of anything from the Obama Administration. Much like the jesus freaks who keep voting R in hopes of seeing Roe v. Wade being overturned, the glbt community is repeatedly duped by the D's every election cycle.

I would love a clarification about whether DOMA bans health benefits being conferred.

Obama campaigned with a C&W homophobe by his side. He's against gay marriage. He doesn't give a crap about GLBIs. He won't spend any capital.

"There was also a strong presidential proclamation in support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month." My, how metrosexual! Just one more case of really cheap talk. Obama and his advisors (figurative Bush holdovers?) should find out just what a "fierce advocate" for gay rights really is. The first time he uttered that phrase, it was not particularly credible. Now it's close to obscene.

I'm not sure exactly what MissMudd's comment, above, means, but I noticed tonight, on Olbermann, that a poll released today shows Obama's overall approval down 5%, to 56% (which is still very good and something G.W. would have loved to see his second four years) and among those i.d.'ing as independent, it's down 14%. Some drop must be inevitable as people get used to a new president and problems persist, yet it does seem a worrisome drop and may, um, indicate a loss of initial momentum. I'd guess it's progressives getting worried, and not a switch to the ever more hapless GOP.

Regarding the Pride Proclamation, while appreciated, it is not "strong." It's rather mediocre, and talks more about what Pres. Obama hopes he might someday be able to maybe accomplish than about more than 50 years of activism for GLBT equaltiy. This work did not start with Stonewall in 1969, but many years earlier. I found the proclamation shallow and self-serving.

And the problem with the Administration's sloooow pace on GLBT issues is not the Bush holdovers, but the Clintonites serving in the current Administration. They got burned in 1993 when Pres. Clinton tried to end the ban on gays in the military. That includes AG Holder. 16 years have brought lots of changes to these issues in the minds of the American people.