Whoopie.... big steps. How about some Goddamn action?

And how about stepping up in the healthcare debate? Does anyone call asking for private solutions only? Someone in the White House needs to get a clue.

America is waiting for leadership. If we have the political capital to waste on crap like Iraq, then you'd think someone would realize the value of standing up for the non-wealthy.

Washington is a leadership desert. And it seems to include the White House.

It's about the $$$$. The DNC is waking up to the fact that their LGBT fundraiser featuring Biden next week is facing a slew of gay notables withdrawing their support for the $1000 a plate dinner.

Oh noes! The gays won't spend $1,000 dollars a plate on some fancy-pants Washington Fundraiser!

Exactly how cheap are our Reps? They act like a bunch of low-rent whores, if you ask me.

Pressure works and luckily there are many responsible people in the gay community who aren't going off hysterically believing the lies being told about Obama and instead are working with the administration to move gay issues forward.

Unfortunately there are people out there who would rather torpedo anything and everything over a gross misconstruing of what the Obama administration's positions are. That has been sad to see this week.

But it is heartening to see constructive action and constructive response from the administration.

Folks, be patient and I suspect you'll see results from this administration. I know that's tough advice when you've been working toward something for years, but look at Obama's record: he has a way of getting things done that no one expected him to do because they thought he was being wimpy. He's not a wimp, he's an ex-community organizer who knows what works and what doesn't. He remembers that Bill Clinton rushed in right after his election to try to repeal the ban on gays in the military and got pwned by the military establishment. So Obama's not going to repeat that mistake; first he's going to build up trust and respect with the military (and he's succeeding! Petraeus & co think highly of him) and then make his move to get what he wants from them. Same with gay marriage, I strongly suspect.

Check out the article by Jonathan Chait in the latest New Republic about "The Obama Method." I'd link it if I could, but the geniuses at TNR have already taken down the electronic version from their site. It's an eye-opener about the tactics Obama learned as a community organizer, and when you look back over the Presidential campaign, you can see how effectively he's used them time and again.

And Michelle Bachmann will be saying something totally unhinged about this in 5, 4, 3, ...

many started to wonder whether the White House realized the degree to which many were angry and frustrated.

Obama spends more time tryihg to get bipartisan support from people who want him to fail, rather than working for the "change" his supporters elected him to implement.

qwerty: Obama spends more time trying to get bipartisan support from people who want him to fail, rather than working for the "change" his supporters elected him to implement.

I'm with T-Rex on this one. We've all got to be patient and realistic. One "change" we elected Obama for was a promise of bipartisanship, bridging the chasm between Democrats and Republicans. We voted for someone who would work to bring everyone under the tent, so to speak. That includes talking to nasty, filthy, lying, thieving, pig-fucking Republicans.

Obama has inherited an absolute shit heap of a job. Forcing immediate changes without making any sort of real case with the opposition, shoot-first policymaking, etc. is George W Bush-style "leadership." That's the last thing we need now.

"We voted for bi-partisanship, bridging the chasm between the Democrats and Republicans"

Where the hell did you vote and upon which ballot was that garbage listed? I, by mailing in my Oregon ballot, sure in hell did not vote for such tripe!

Remember the adage - the squeaky wheel gets greased? If gays and lesbians in this country politely wait for Obama or anyone else to do the right thing, they will continue waiting for a long time. Insisting on governmental action is the only way change happens.

Everything being said about gay rights was said about the civil rights movement. Without the confluence of Martin Luther King Jr's persistence and LBJ's openness, Obama would not be president now.

There's a really simple one he could fix right away. No messy congressional approval needed, no need to fight anyone for it, it's practically done except someone somewhere in the executive branch is dragging their feet.

The HIV travel ban. No long game needed. No measured steps. It already been given a go ahead by Congress, but we see no movement at all. They drag their feet a lot when it comes to gay issues and it's got people worried.

All Obama has to do is push the right button to get it going, but it hasn't happened yet. There's been a slow building of really bizarre moves by Obama's people that have got a lot of Gays on the defensive (understandably so considering the history of the movement).

People notice when DOMA language, DADT language, etc started disappearing from the White House website. Whenever it comes to doing something wit the gay community for whatever reason the Obama administration picks the worst possible path to go down.

Who knows, with a few more steps like these, maybe this administration will soon learn how to walk when it comes to equality.

well, not really. these benefits apply to a # of people so small they could all shop in the same aisle at Whole Foods together. and what's more, the DOMA that Obama is busy defending prevents these benefits from having any real legal meaning in the first place.

pretty big FAIL on this post. GLBT advocates and activists have reason to be angry as hell. these piddling little window-dressing gestures are infuriating because they take as much time and effort as would just doing the right thing in the first place. maybe not just as much, but nearly.

it's actually yet another slap in the face, when you think of it that way. yes, lots of straight males are out there saying "come on this is good news!" but they just don't get it. and having never been genuinely oppressed under the law, they apparently can't get it. oh well...

These things are all window dressing, not leadership. Where is the definitive statement, "I call upon Congress to pass and bring to my desk for my signature a bill overturning DADT."? Short of that, where is a Commander-in-Chief statement, "I am ordering all commanders to consider the needs of the service before implementing individual cases of DADT."?

Leadership by consensus is not leadership at all. "What does everybody want to do? Okay, lets do that." This may be the most spineless nonsense I have ever seen in the White House.

They act like a bunch of low-rent whores, if you ask me. -Mike

Only the people getting screwed aren't the paying customers.

I am stunned that questions regarding LGBT are not already worked into the 2010 census.

Srsly, people, this is 2009, not 1959.

I remember hearing that 10% of the population is LGBT. That's a not insignificant chunk of the population. Somebody should tell the Census Bureau that you don't get teh gay from acknowledging reality.

One "change" we elected Obama for was a promise of bipartisanship, bridging the chasm between Democrats and Republicans.

That's not why I voted for Obama. I don't care about bipartisanship (real "nonpartisanship" would be OK).

If it's working then MORE HYSTERIA! End DADT. If soldiers quit en-masse, then that's all the better, they'll be the bigots that I don't want holding those guns or nukes (Air Forcefundies) when the Right Wing launches a coup.

To most gay folks, this is going to look like Obama going out of his way not to keep his promises.

Can you blame them? He isn't keeping his promises to anyone. Then half of you insult them and tell them to STFU because there are grown up issues that need to be addressed.

You can make arguments that folks projected their beliefs all you want, that won't have any effect on the emotional impact of said betrayal. I keep saying this, but most of you are too stupid to understand it because you think poll numbers in 2009 matter in 2012: Obama already has a very tough road to re-election. The economy will still be in terrible shape.

People really do miss how massively triangulation would have failed without the 96 economy to keep the party together.

Chrenson and T.Rex- people just like you, if not the same exact people, said the same thing about Clinton. At the end, people like me were still very unimpressed and watched GWB wipe away every policy he put forth in his 8 year term in less than 2 years.

We tried things your way 2 decades ago. No more trust based on the BS of you 'moderates'. Half of us think you're lying to us just so we don't bother pressuring Democrats.

Your post missed some of the subtlety of the issue on the census. The census (and similar government data systems such as the American Community Survey and Current Population Survey) already recognize same-sex PARTNERSHIPS. What they do not recognize is same-sex couples who say they are MARRIED. When such cases occur, the Census Bureau edits the response to same-sex partners but not MARRIED.

The main data problem underlying the issue is that many, many more same-sex couples report that they are married than can be accounted for in official records,

If the administration is trying to get the Census Bureau to report those couples as MARRIED it will represent a significant change in practice.

berttheclock: Where the hell did you vote and upon which ballot was that garbage listed? I, by mailing in my Oregon ballot, sure in hell did not vote for such tripe!

Bert, QWERTY, etc., chances are good that, when you voted last November, you voted to put an end to a rogue administration that: acted at its own whims; claimed executive privilege while breaking the law; added "signing statements" to every piece of legislation they signed; went directly to war against Democrats, essentially shutting them out of government for six years; and advocated a guns a-blazing approach to foreign policy. We called it "divisive politics." And in our primary, we selected the candidate that we felt could more completely heal the deep division the Bush years had created. That was PART of the idea anyway.

And, we were looking for someone who would approach the Middle East with diplomacy, not rancor and bombs. Why on earth would you not want him to exercise a little diplomacy here at home? I mean Jesus! It's been six months.

And what about this from Obama's campaign website? Why didn't this keep you from voting for him? Senator Obama has been able to develop innovative approaches to challenge the status quo and get results. Americans are tired of divisive ideological politics, which is why Senator Obama has reached out to Republicans to find areas of common ground. He has tried to break partisan logjams and take on seemingly intractable problems. During his tenure in Washington and in the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama has accumulated a record of bipartisan success.

soullite: We tried things your way 2 decades ago. No more trust based on the BS of you 'moderates'. Half of us think you're lying to us just so we don't bother pressuring Democrats.

1] I'm not a moderate. 2] I'm all for putting pressure on everyone, including the president, to guarantee equal rights for LGBTs. 3] Lasting change takes time. 4] I hope and believe gay marriage will be legal in all 50 states in my lifetime. 5] I don't see any point in writing Obama off completely after only six months [unless you're actually lying to us to get us to put more pressure on the Democrats].

Those aren't steps, those are staggers.

Obama was blindsided by a Bush holdover in the DOJ filing an offensive brief. Obama needed to spend 15 minutes withdrawing the brief, and assigning the rewriting of the brief to someone who could do it right- or quite possibly, not do it at all.

The fact that he still hasn't done so is telling me all I need to know about the Obama administration.

As for this 'bipartisan' baloney, in case you haven't noticed, the platform of the Democratic Party is completely different from the Republican Party.

If you wanted to vote for Obama because of 'bipartisanship', fine. Some people just liked his looks. That's why we call it a democracy- there's no intelligence test for voters.

Gimme, gimme. I'm a special interest and I vote.

"Gimme, gimme. I'm a special interest and I vote." Well, yes, a special interest that will no longer accept being treated as less than equal. It has become obvious that the only way to get the attention of the Obama administration is to raise holy hell and to keep up the noise until they do something meaningful -- which they have yet to do. For someone who characterized himself as a "fierce advocate," this failure by his administration is inexcusable and undermines his credibility with respect to anything he says about gay people and their right to equal treatment under the law. Yes, they do vote and they do give money. That's the way the game is played. What's your problem with that?

To most gay folks, this is going to look like Obama going out of his way not to keep his promises.

It's been far more than just not keeping his promises, soullite. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are the last minority group it is acceptable for someone to publicly hate and still expect their favorable ratings to go up. The Obama White House has done nothing to change that dynamic despite two years of campaigning on that very premise.

Obama campaigned on the repeal of DOMA, the repeal of DADT, the passage of ENDA (indications were of a trans-inclusive bill), the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs as part of health care reform, and immigration reform that included a process for a gay U.S. citizen to sponsor his/her immigrant partner.

The Beltway queerz have been ardently defending Obama, preaching the "give him tiiiiiime" line at every turn. Meanwhile, we have had the following (not an inclusive list, just the major pieces):

Punting responsibility for repeal of DADT from the WH to Congress to the Pentagon to the WH to Harry Reid's foot. Meanwhile, Margaret Witt will get her day in court, and the Administration that pledged to repeal DADT filed a brief appealing the decision. Obama sent 2LT Sandy Tsao a nice little love note telling her as her CINC that it was so unfair what was happening to her, then sent Gates onto the Sunday morning talk show circuit to "kick the can down the road a bit."

Matthew Shepard act passed in the House AGAIN, then was killed as a standalone bill in the Senate, attached as a rider to a tourism bill, then was dropped altogether until fall. No statement from the "fierce advocate." To comapre, this bill passed in both chambers in 2007 with far fewer Dems in office, but was dropped when Chimpy promised to veto.

Easter Egg rolls and toothless, meaningless, obligation-less UN resolutions don't address the real, legal inqualities and discrimination that LGBT people and our families face every day. This White House has completely ignored all those piecemeal "states' rights" marriage equality. Meanwhile, trained poodle Robert Gibbs can't come up with a coherent sentence to explain his master's silence.

Did I say silence? I meant personal jokes at fundraiser dinners about marriage equality Obama doesn't support, and jokes at the expense of 1LT Dan Choi and the empty promise to repeal DADT.

Finally, this defense of DOMA brief citing incestuous marriages and marriages to minors as reasons for excluding LGBT people from marriage equality was the last straw. LGBT people are used to being the token Dem vote because hey-Rethugs-are-worse-dontcha-know. But no one expected a Democratic president, a Constitutional law scholar who campaigned on change and inclusion, to support a brief filled with christian hate rhetoric from a Prop 8 supporting mormon flunky. That went beyond inaction and "wait your turn" to contempt.

Fast forward to this week, when giving queer federal employees more household goods allowance and extra sick leave (minus the healthcare coverage needed to actually TREAT the sick partner) was supposed to be the bandaid. Trouble is, those benefits are still taxable income because DOMA prevents gay federal married employees from filing as married, and those benefits were ALREADY AVAILABLE at each agency at the discretion of the Secretary. Which is why Secretary Clinton put out there months ago that she has her civpers department working on exactly which benefits they could legally grant. And oh, btw, those benefits were available under Clinton and Bush II. Obama is either one dumb, naive cookie, or he's an arrogant, bigoted asshole if he thinks his little memorandum is going to turn the GayTM back on.

Most LGBT people drank the Change Kool-aid and toked hard on the Hopium pipe. I was not fooled by the rhetoric, not when we saw "ex-gay" born again Donnie McClurkin going out along with anti-gay evangelical "pastor" Josh Dubois to foment homobigotry to stump in black churches on Obama's behalf. My suspicions were confirmed with Obama's refusal to demand the "Yes on 8" campaign stop using his words in their ads. And once I heard "God is in the mix" and the fellating of Rick Warren's cult base, I knew we weren't getting an ally. We were getting another enemy, a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing.

Does that put things into a bit more perspective?