Via Fred Karger: President Obama, Evolve Already!

President Obama, Evolve Already!

By Fred Karger
Founder, Rights Equal Rights
Posted: December 24, 2010 05:35 PM

For link to story, Click Here

WASHINGTON, DC - Like millions of Americans, I was so happy to see the president's bill signing ceremony. Don't Ask, Don' Tell created nearly 18 years of government sanctioned and enforced discrimination. Now that it is on its way out, the president seemed genuinely happy for the first time in months.

See how great it can be to do the right thing. All that excitement and emotion at the signing ceremony was seen and heard around the world.

Barack Obama was probably one of the first prominent Americans to support gay marriage way back in 1996 when he was first running for state office in Illinois.

"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages," Obama wrote in the typed, signed, statement 14 years ago.

Then he switched his position, to opposing gay marriage, when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004.

The president is undoubtedly the only person to ever change his position on gay marriage the wrong way. Every day, gay marriage opponents are switching their positions and supporting full marriage equality, but no one has ever gone the other way.

Now President Obama says that he is "evolving" (again) on gay marriage.

I hope that the president will continue to evolve and help our community end all the hate and discrimination that is hurled at us. There are way too LGBT Americans who do not feel equal. I know. I felt that way for far too long.

The lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community is at least 21 million strong in this country, and we will no longer be second class citizens.

Gay marriage sends a very loud and clear message to LGBT youth that they are equal. When gay marriage is the law of the land, that will become our civil rights bill. What a strong message to younger people when that day comes.

Like the president said in his speech yesterday, "We area a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal."

President Obama, please come back to the right side of history and lead. Support full marriage equality for everyone in this country, and let's repeal the Defense of Marriage Act next year!

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Fred's HuffPost column has been picked up all over and appeared in many blogs and posts.  Here are some of the links:

Regator  President Obama, Evolve Already

Democrati  President Obama, Evolve Already

The Freedomist   President Obama, Evolve Already


World News Mania   President Obama, Evolve Already

Onyx Book  President Obama, Evolve Already

RSS Hog Blog   President Obama, Evolve Already

The America News  President Obama, Evolve Already

inflight wedding rap

Via JMG: Joe Biden: Gay Marriage Is Inevitable

During an appearance on the Today Show, this morning Vice President Joe Biden said that he agreed with the president's "evolving" position on gay marriage and that a "national consensus" on the issue is inevitable.

“I think the country’s evolving,” he said. “And I think you’re going to see, you know, the next effort is probably going to be to deal with so called DOMA [Defence of Marriage Act].” DOMA prohibits federal government from recognising gay marriage, meaning that even if states allow the practice, gay couples still cannot access federal benefits. Mr Biden added that attitudes had changed to openly gay soldiers and that consensus was beginning to turn in favour of gay marriage. He said that gay troops were now “widely accepted” and “the same thing is happening now in regard to the issue of marriage.”

Labels: Joe Biden, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Obama administration, Today Show

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Rachel Maddow - Lt. Dan Choi Gets His Ring Back!

Pres. Obama: I Struggle With Gay Marriage

Via JMG: Rep. Barney Frank Rips Christian Network Reporter Over Dumbass DADT Question

Via JMG: An American Soldier

Labels: American history, DADT, LGBT History, military

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Via JMG: PROMISE RING: Lt. Dan Choi Gets His West Point Ring Back From Sen. Harry Reid

Sen. Harry Reid has returned Lt. Dan Choi's West Point ring, fulfilling a promise he made to Choi at Netroots Nation in front of hundreds of progressive writers, including yours truly. Upon receipt of the ring, Choi tweeted: "The next time I get a ring from a man, I expect it will be for full, equal, American marriage.

Labels: DADT, Dan Choi, Harry Reid, LGBT History

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Via SacBee:

Via JMG: LeAnn Rimes & GMCLA - The Rose

Via JMG: Obama On "Evolving" Marriage Position

Yesterday the president sat down with Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld, who reminded him of his recent comment that his position on same-sex marriage has been evolving.

OBAMA: I'm not going to make more news today. The sentiment I expressed then is still where I am—which is, like a lot of people, I'm wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on this. I have always firmly believed in having a robust civil union that provides the rights and benefits under the law that marriage does. I've wrestled with the fact that marriage traditionally has had a different connotation. But I also have a lot of very close friends who are married gay or lesbian couples.

OBAMA: And squaring that circle is something that I have not done yet, but I'm continually asking myself this question and I do think that—I will make this observation, that I notice there is a big generational difference. When you talk to people who are in their 20s, they don't understand what the holdup is on this, regardless of their own sexual orientation. And obviously when you talk to older folks, then there’s greater resistance. And so this is an issue that I'm still wrestling with, others are still wrestling with. What I know is that at minimum, a baseline is that there has to be a strong, robust civil union available to all gay and lesbian couples.

Eleveld then pressed the president as to a timeline for "getting there" on marriage. Obama: "I'm going to stick with my answer."

Labels: Advocate, Barack Obama, LGBT rights, marriage equality

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'Yes We Did': President Obama Speaks Before Signing DADT Repeal

Quote of the Day: Dalai Lama

People often expect the other person to respond first in a positive way, instead of taking the initiative to create that possibility. I feel that's wrong; it can act as a barrier that just promotes a feeling of isolation from others. To overcome feelings of isolation and loneliness, your underlying attitude makes a tremendous difference - approaching others with the thought of compassion in your mind is the best way.

via jmg: Sen. Lindsey Graham About To Be Outed?

Wonkette reports that outing kingpin Mike Rogers finally has the goods on Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina’s favorite lifelong bachelor and former military prosecutor, is always reliably against homosexuals having any basic human rights in America because Lindsey’s a Republican, y’all. Anyway, famous outer-of-self-hating-queers Mike Rogers says he’s got pictures of one of Lindsey’s boy toys leaving Lindsey’s house. This would be SHOCKING because come on, everybody knows Republicans cannot be gay because Jesus did not make gays.

Mike Rogers has a 100% track record for correctly outing anti-gay closet cases. He's never been proven wrong.

Labels: closet cases, GOP, Lindsey Graham, Mike Rogers, outing, South Carolina

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Via JMG: Blowhard Bill Donohue: The $26M Man

It turns out that the anti-gay Catholic League, whose leader Bill Donohue was once famously insulted as "one guy with a fax machine," has assets of over $26M. And Donohue pays himself quite handsomely out of that hate jackpot.

Via Catholics United:

Controversial Catholic League president William Donohue – whose work has now gained the support of the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – earned a salary of $342,500 in 2009, with an additional $56,656 in fringe benefits. According to annual IRS Form 990 filings, the organization spent more than $2.6 million in 2009, despite the fact that its program work constitutes little more than the issuing of inflammatory press releases.[snip] The organization shells out $335,914 for its midtown Manhattan office space, and compensates vice president Bernadette Brady to the tune of $203,727. An additional $57,826 is spent on office equipment. As organizations go, the Catholic League is a “non-profit” in name only. In 2009 it pocketed $943,516 in excess revenue, down from $1.35 million in 2008. As of the most recent filings, the Catholic League reported $26.2 million in net assets.

While impoverished parishes close down and soup kitchens are shuttered, the Catholic League spends somehow spends millions and makes millions doing nothing but fighting against LGBT rights. And this they do completely tax-free. Holy crimes, indeed.

Labels: Bill Donohue, Catholic Church, Catholic League, hate groups, NYC

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Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit)

Via JMG: USMC Gen. James Amos Pledges To Lead Implementation Of DADT Repeal

Even though he thinks having openly gay soldiers will cost Marines their limbs, USMC Commandant James Amos says he will personally lead the implementation of the repeal of DADT. Here's his full statement as published by Stars & Stripes:

"Fidelity is the essence of the United States Marine Corps. Above all else, we are loyal to the Constitution, our Commander in Chief, Congress, our Chain of Command, and the American people. The House of Representatives and the Senate have voted to repeal Title 10, US Code 654 "Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the United States Armed Forces." As stated during my testimony before Congress in September and again during hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, the Marine Corps will step out smartly to faithfully implement this new policy. I, and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, will personally lead this effort, thus ensuring the respect and dignity due all Marines. On this matter, we look forward to further demonstrating to the American people the discipline and loyalty that have been the hallmark of the United States Marine Corps for over 235 years."

Labels: DADT, military, Pentagon, USMC

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Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Barney Frank

“It’s one thing to have a gay person in the abstract. It’s another to see that person as part of a living, breathing couple. How would a gay presidential candidate have a celebratory kiss with his partner after winning the New Hampshire primary? The sight of two women kissing has not been as distressful to people as the sight of two men kissing. [And because of DOMA] it’s not clear that a gay president could use federal funds to buy his husband dinner. Would his partner have to pay rent in the White House? There would be no Secret Service protection for the paramour." - Rep. Barney Frank, responding to Jimmy Carter's contention that America is ready for a gay president.

Labels: Barney Frank, gay politicians, Jimmy Carter, Quote Of The Day

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Via JMG: Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann Named To U.S. House INTELLIGENCE Committee

She wanted to be on the powerful Ways & Means Committee, but instead incoming House Speaker John Boehner has appointed Crazy Eyes to the House Intelligence Committee. Yup.

The committee has oversight jurisdiction of the CIA, the National Security Agency, other intelligence agencies within the Department of Defense, and the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury, and the FBI. This is the perfect reward for a member of Congress who thinks that Barack Obama spent $200 million a day on a trip to India, wants the president and Congress investigated for being anti-American, and who thinks the Charge of the Light Brigade was a military victory? Given that she's already enlisted Justice Antonin Scalia to teach frosh teabaggers about the Constitution, perhaps we can expect her to nominate George W. Bush to instruct them on foreign intelligence.

We are truly lost.

Labels: Congress, crazy people, Michele Bachmann, U.S. House

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