Standing Watch

There has been much said about President Barack Obama’s speech at the $250.00 a plate National Dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign.  The following is my response to that speech, and those Obama supporters who think LGBT persons should just shut up, sit down, and wait.

On July 26, 1948, facing an uphill battle within his own political party during his re-election campaign, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which ordered the end of segregation in the US Armed Forces.  He didn’t do studies, he didn’t follow the advice of military commanders, he didn’t wait for Congress to act, he didn’t wait for the US Supreme Court to make a ruling.  Truman, as Commander in Chief, gave an order, and it was followed.

Nearly two decades later, on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, knowing full well that such action would split the Democratic Party.  He would expand on this with the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and by using federal resources to tackle racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, and by uniting Churches in the North and South to work together to eliminate discrimination.

Both acted the way they did, caring little about the consequences, because it was the right and just thing to do.

President Barack H. Obama is clearly opposed to same-sex marriage (as he has stated many times in the media), preferring instead a state-by-state solution of civil unions that grants some of the rights associated with marriage, what I term the latest version of “separate but equal” policies.

Obama claims he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but has used the US Justice Department to uphold it at every opportunity, further hindering LGBT equality and strengthening DOMA.

Obama claims he opposes “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and yet continues to ignore the insistent requests of military commanders that he enact portions of that law that allow prosecutions to be halted during time of national emergency (which the occupation in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan clearly constitute).

Hate crimes legislation has yet to be signed into law, despite having passed in the House and Senate once, and again more recently in the House.  Apparently, Obama had planned to veto the legislation.  Obama did not say he would veto the legislation because it included protections for religious leaders who incite others to harm or kill LGBT persons.  Obama did not threaten a veto because the legislation would allow anti-LGBT protestors to continue to harass LGBT persons.  Why did Obama threaten a veto?  Because the legislation included an increase in funding for the F-22 (an advanced fighter jet that apparently falls apart in the rain).

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is also in limbo.

Unemployment amongst gays and lesbians is more than twice the average right now.  68% report increased harassment and workplace violence because of their sexual orientation.  The numbers are staggering amongst transgender persons, with unemployment nearing 90% (normally 70%), and workplace harassment or violence near 100%.

Hate crimes directed against LGBT persons is also up, especially amongst children, with the youngest victim to date being Ronnie Paris, age 3, who was beaten to death in Tampa, FL by his father for “acting gay.”  Lawrence King, 15, was shot to death in front of his class by a classmate for “being gay.”  Gwen Araujo, 17, was beaten to death by four “friends” when they learned she was transsexual.  Sakia Gunn, 15, was stabbed to death at a bus stop for being lesbian.

President Obama swept into office largely with the help of the LGBT population, because of promises he made to repeal DOMA and DADT, and to actively support and promote hate crimes protections for LGBT persons as well as ENDA.

Obama has instead used the Justice Department to uphold DOMA, and is well on track to exceeding the numbers discharged under DADT within his first term in office the combined total of his two predecessors.  He has at least once blocked hate crimes legislation with a threatened veto, and to date has made no effort to back ENDA.

Yes, Obama has extended a few benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, a temporary measure at best that Congress may defund, and that a GOP successor is sure to overturn.

But, what is needed is not pretty speeches, not flowery press releases.  We need action, leadership, and courage.  We need a President willing to do what is right and just, regardless of politics, like Johnson.  We need a tough Commander in Chief to end a senseless policy that harms national security, like Truman.  We need a leader willing to take bold action for the good of ALL Americans, like FDR.  We need a President who actually believes it is his or her job to uphold ALL of the Bill of Rights (especially Amendment XIV, Section 1), not just the parts he or she agrees with.

Obama would not be President if it weren’t for FDR, Truman, and Johnson.  Obama would not be President had the LGBT population not put their faith in his promises to do what is right and just.

Whether Obama remains President after 2012 will be largely up to him.  He has the authority under DADT to stop the discharges of gays and lesbians (which are mostly minorities, with lesbians discharged at twice the rate of gays), but has thus far refused outright, despite urgent requests from top military officials, and even Congress, that he do so.  He has the authority to use Executive Orders to give full equal benefits to LGBT persons working in the federal government, but has instead used “signing statements” to limit such benefits.  He has the authority to order the US Justice Department to investigate hate crimes against LGBT persons as crimes against our civil rights, but has refused to do so.  He has the authority to require LGBT persons be treated equally in the workplace when it comes to federal contracts with private business, but refuses to exercise that authority.

Yes, I agree that these would be temporary measures at best, but they are needed until Congress, slow as it is, can act.  ENDA is about workers being safe in the workplace, and not being afraid of losing their jobs based upon factors not relevant to the workplace.  DADT is about national security, pure and simple.  Hate crimes legislation is about civil rights.  DOMA is about equality and about eliminating religious criteria to determine who gets what rights.

This isn’t about studies, or trying to find bipartisan solutions.  This isn’t about what backroom deals can be made, or other Washington politics.  The time for speeches is over.  The time for action is now.  Obama has the authority granted him by the Constitution of the United States and by the laws passed by Congress to act, to do what is right and just.

The message being sent by LGBT persons marching on Washington DC is simple.  President Barack H. Obama can either do what is necessary to ensure that ALL American citizens are equal under the law, or he can stand by while his successor is sworn in come January 2013.