latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-gays11-2009oct11,0,6000705.s
tory
latimes.com
Obama renews pledge to gays to end 'don't ask, don't tell'
He says he will work for 'full equality' but does not give a timetable for
his initiatives, which include changing the military policy and a federal
ban on gay marriage.
By Katherine Skiba
October 11, 2009
Reporting from Washington
President Obama made sweeping pledges Saturday before gay and lesbian
activists, promising to end the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and
work to undo the law that prevents the federal government from recognizing
same-sex marriages.
Obama, addressing a gala dinner hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, the
nation's largest advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
people, said he would work for "full equality" across the board. Although
there have been advances in gay rights, Obama said, there are "still laws to
change and hearts to open."
The president, who has made similar pledges in the past, did not spell out
a timetable for these initiatives, but he told the audience that they
eventually would view "these years as a time when we put a stop to
discrimination against gays and lesbians."
One night after winning the this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Obama arrived
at the dinner-fundraiser with fence-mending to do. He acknowledged in his
remarks that some gays have been dissatisfied with the pace of his reforms.
Addressing those who stand up against discrimination, he said had a simple
message: "I'm here with you in that fight."
He added, "Do not doubt the direction we are headed and the destination we
will reach."
"Don't ask, don't tell" is the Defense Department's policy of allowing
gays and lesbians to serve in the military so long as they do not disclose or
act on their sexual orientation. Already, Obama is working with Pentagon
leaders on ways to scrap the law.
"I will end 'don't ask, don't tell' -- that is my commitment," Obama said
to loud applause.
He took the stage to a standing ovation and often had audience members
back on their feet, applauding thunderously. "We love you!" one person cried
out as Obama opened. "I love you back," the president replied from the stage.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act, often called DOMA, allows states to
refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. It also bars
federal recognition of such unions.
In an address that was at times poignant and reflected on the sometimes
"painful and heartbreaking" experiences gays face, Obama said he recognized
that a gay relationship was "just as admirable as a relationship between a
man and a woman."
Despite the warm welcome Obama received Saturday night, some members of
the gay and lesbian community have been disheartened not only by what they
perceive as the president's glacial pace, but by the one-step-forward,
one-step-backward progress on the state level. Their Exhibit A is California's
Proposition 8, which halted same-sex marriages after they had been permitted
by the state Supreme Court. (Obama has said he opposes same-sex marriage.)
Now activists promise to exert a new push for more rights with respect to
marriage, adoption, the workplace, immigration and other realms.
Denis Dison, a spokesman for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which
supports openly gay and lesbian office-seekers and elected officials, gives
Obama
a grade of "incomplete."
Some protesters gathered outside the convention hall Saturday, and among
them was Mark Katzenberger, 53, a software instructor from San Francisco,
who pronounced the president's record "miserable." Katzenberger held a sign
reading: "How about the Audacity of Action, Mr. President?"
The uneven track record to date has Cleve Jones, 54, a former aide to late
gay rights leader Harvey Milk, fed up with what he termed "incrementalism"
and tired of politicians telling activists to prioritize their demands. He
compared his cause to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. "We want
equal protection under the law on all matters governed by civil law -- in all
50 states. That's also known as the 14th Amendment," he said.
Today, Jones will lead a crowd expected to reach into the thousands in a
rally, billed as the National Equality March, which will culminate with a
rally at the Capitol.
Obama was the second president to appear at the annual Human Rights
Campaign gala. The first was President Clinton in 1997.
At Saturday's event, one attendee after another pronounced Obama's speech
"amazing." LaWana Mayfield, 39, a lesbian and community organizer from
Charlotte, N.C., said: "He understands the importance of equality for everyone.
This is his first year in office, and he has a lot of things on his plate,
but I know in my heart it will get done."
Service members and veterans were more skeptical, wanting real results.
Ainsley Kling, 26, just completed 7 1/2 years with the Coast Guard; after
her commitment was up, she left voluntarily with the rank of petty officer,
second class. She wished Obama had gone further and ordered a halt to all
ongoing investigations under "don't ask, don't tell."
Kling, who is lesbian, said harassment based on sexual orientation
persists, recalling a Coast Guardsman who wrote "fag" on someone else's
bicycle,
though neither party was believed to be homosexual.
When she wanted to write up the violation, her supervisor urged her not to
do so, saying that he "knew things about me he shouldn't know." She did
not file the report.
Pentagon figures released Friday indicate 10,507 men and women have been
discharged from the military under "don't ask, don't tell" in the 12 years
ending in 2008. Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith declined to
release the number let go under Obama, saying it would be available next
spring.
Army 1st Lt. Daniel Choi, a 28-year-old West Point graduate who is gay,
served in Iraq and now faces discharge from the National Guard because he has
come out about his sexual orientation. He said he liked Obama's promises
but wanted the rhetoric met by results.
"Whether it saves my career or not is not the issue," said Choi, who lives
in New York. He finds it ironic that hundreds of service members still are
being investigated and booted out just as Obama weighs sending more troops
to Afghanistan.
Choi wore his Army dress uniform and was accompanied to the banquet by a
date, Matthew Kinsey. They kissed time and again at the behest of dinner
guests with cameras.
To many gay rights activists, Obama has sent mixed signals since he took
office.
Activists were rankled when the conservative Rev. Rick Warren, a
high-profile backer of Proposition 8 and founder of Orange County's Saddleback
Church, gave the invocation at Obama's inauguration.
Eight months later, the president has gotten good marks for appointing
gays and lesbians to administration posts, such as John Berry, director of the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White
House Council on Environmental Quality; and Fred Hochberg, president of
the Export-Import Bank.
On Thursday the House passed a bill that would broaden the federal
hate-crime law to cover violence against gays. The measure is expected to go
before the Senate within days.
Obama noted Saturday that the bill was named after Matthew Shepard, the
gay college student whose killing in Wyoming in 1998 galvanized the gay
rights movement. "This bill will pass, and I will sign it into law," the
president said to more cheers. His predecessor, President Bush, had threatened
to
veto the measure.
[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
Peter Nicholas of the Washington bureau contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009, _The Los Angeles Times_ (http://www.latimes.com/)
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