President Obama and the LGTB Community

In May 17, 2004, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became the first state to issue same-sex marriage licenses.  Currently, four other states, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire, now also issue these same-sex marriage licenses.

Within the context that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been a national leader on certain issues important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) community and that the LGBT community largely supported President Obama’s candidacy, the question whether President Obama kept his campaign promises on LGBT issues during his first year in office can now be asked.

Marriage

Then-candidate Obama stated that he believes that marriage is between a “man and a woman” and that he is “not in favor of gay marriage.”  He went on to state that he supports civil unions that would carry equal legal standing to that of marriage, but he believes that decisions about the title of marriage should be left to the states.

Although then-candidate Obama did not make any campaign promises regarding marriage per-se, he did promise to “repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions.”  DOMA states that the federal government defines marriage as between a man and a woman and that no state needs to treat a same-sex relationship as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.

President Obama’s actions on this topic have been mixed.  President Obama’s administration has defended the constitutionality of DOMA, stating that “the Department of Justice has long followed the practice of defending federal statutes as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of their constitutionality, even if the department disagrees with a particular statute as a policy matter.”  The administration went on to say that it does “not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal.”  In September 2009, legislators in the House of Representatives introduced a bill that would repeal DOMA.  This bill has 97 co-sponsors, but it appears to lack any strong support from President Obama.

Family

Then-candidate Obama promised to “use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws.”  It appears that outside of some supportive comments to gay rights groups, President Obama has failed to take any hard stances on this issue in his first year in office.

Employment

Then-candidate Obama promised to “place the weight of (his) administration behind…a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”  This past summer, legislators in the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced legislation that would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or refuse to promote a person based on sexual identity or gender identity, with certain exceptions.  These proposed acts are still in committee.

Recently, President Obama has signed an executive order listing gender identity among the classes protected by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity policies preventing discrimination of federal employees based on gender identity.  President Obama also has extended some benefits, but not health care, to partners of federal gay employees.

Hate Crimes

Then-candidate Obama promised to “place the weight of (his) administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes.”  This bill was signed in October.

Military

Then-candidate Obama promised to call for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the military.  This policy needs to be repealed by Congress, and President Obama has not been willing to make it a priority now.

Conclusion

In November, a coalition of liberal activists and websites announced that they will not donate any money to the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, or the Obama campaign until the president’s campaign promises to the LGBT community are fulfilled.  This coalition stated that President Obama must repeal DOMA, sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Now, a year into President Obama’s presidency, the coalition of liberal activists and websites still have strong justification for their stance.  It appears that only a small percentage of the LGBT community, members who are federal employees or partners of federal employees, have seen any real change to their daily lives, while the vast majority of the LGBT community still does not have the right to form families, receive protection from employment discrimination, or even serve their country openly in a time of two wars.  Simply, the daily lives of the vast majority of the LGBT community have not changed in any real way.  The dilemma now facing this coalition and community is to choose to continue to support a “friend” in the White House, a “friend” who has not satisfied the hopes of and the promises to the LGBT community, or to pull the support away from this “friend.”  Unfortunately, there may not be much of a choice as future candidates will most likely be enemies.

Tony Benningfield is a member of the Mass Chapter Board of Directors and a solo-prectitioner in Somerville.