5/31/2009 12:52:05 AM

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-LGBT-Pride-Month/

Quote :

"THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 1, 2009 LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic. Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism. The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect. My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States. These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third. BARACK OBAMA"

The language was VERY carefully chosen to not wade into the marriage equality issue, but it's nice that his administration is proactively mentioning ending DADT, & calling on congress to act rather than "waiting on congress to act." It's definitely a shift in the right direction.

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 9:04 PM. Reason : .]

6/1/2009 9:03:45 PM

New Hampshire governor signs gay marriage law

http://tinyurl.com/pbunwj

6/3/2009 5:50:45 PM

Just saw that, I knew they had been working on it.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/03/nh-governor-signs-same-sex-marriage-into-law/

6/3/2009 6:13:59 PM

Something interesting that hadn't occurred to me that I saw someone point out on another forum, now Bishop Gene Robinson can get married.

6/3/2009 7:38:35 PM

The decision on when to try to repeal prop 8 is coming soon. Courage Campaign, a leading lgbt group in CA, polled its members who overwhelming want to go for 2010 instead of waiting until 2012 or 2014 or 2016 or what have you. The deadline for raising the 200 k they feel is needed to launch the campaign is pretty close now... it's on August the 13th, but they are over half way there.

I know this isn't a cause that I expect many here to financially support, but if you ever were going to, right now is when it would have the biggest impact because 1) financial support is always harder to come by at the start of a campaign than it as once everything is geared up & 2) it would help towards launching the campaign now instead of having to wait 3 or 5 or 7 years from now (although if for some reason you donated & they still didn't make the goal, they could still use that money for launching the campaign the next time around so the money isn't wasted by any means). So now is the time to donate if you were ever going to.

https://secure.couragecampaign.org/page/contribute/2010

8/9/2009 3:00:58 PM

I'm sorry, but with all the hungry children in this country I can not for the life of me see how someone would want to put their financial resources into this cause when there are bigger fish to fry. I'm not trying to troll, and its not because this is a gay/lesbian issue, but it just seems like a waste of money in lieu of other charitable donations.

8/9/2009 3:05:37 PM

^That's the problem with all charities though, I just organized a big Pet Food Drive on Friday, and the thread turned into an argument about which charities were more deserving to the point that there was sort of a unsaid agreement that the best option is to donate to nothing. I mean it got pointless when people were deciding whether or not donating to hungry people was better or worse than donating to hungry kids in Africa.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=572859

I'm not asking anyone to donate to this cause in lieu of something else, I'm just sharing the info in case someone is interested in donating. There will never be a time when lgbt equality will be the most pressing issue out there, so you can just decide to support it now when it will have a big impact, or never.

Sort of the same thing with the Pet Food Drive, hungry pets will never be the biggest issue out there, especially when there are hungry people out there, but we still had an excellent turn out & probably doubled our collections from last year.

8/9/2009 3:20:53 PM

oh look, the only issue Supplanter cares about. Wonder why

8/9/2009 3:36:12 PM

Here's how I break it down.

People in need in my community > people in need in my state > people in need in my country > people in need worldwide > animals/pets in need > political/rights activists groups

For example, even though I'm republican, I wouldnt give 2 cents to help elect any republican in office. My vote for them is enough. I guess if everyone thought like that there would be no way for them to campaign, but oh well. They shouldnt spend so much on it anyway.

And I'm not saying my order is right or wrong, that is just my personal opinion.

[Edited on August 9, 2009 at 3:42 PM. Reason : asdfa]

8/9/2009 3:41:04 PM

Quote :

"oh look, the only issue Supplanter cares about."

^^I care about more than just animal welfare/feeding hungry pets. I think posting in this thread too shows I’m interested in a least one other issue, even if you don’t count my posts in the health care thread, the david price thread, an economy thread, a racial issues thread, the cash for clunkers thread, the Richard Burr thread, an environmental energy related thread, a thread about taxes, a thread about fox news, & a thread about Palin… but that is only if you limit it to only the soap box & only within the past month.

^I think that is a perfectly acceptable & valid way to prioritize one's interests. It's America & everyone can care about as many or as few issues as they want, and can prioritize them however they want.

8/9/2009 3:46:38 PM

he's calling you out for being gay.

YOU MUST BE SO ASHAMED.

8/9/2009 3:57:32 PM

^ah, well now he's going to have to come back here all defensive and try to prove that I only care about gay stuff, which isn't true, but even if true wouldn't matter at all. Or he could just say something disparaging about me or what topics I post about, but I'd give him far more credit if he didn't respond at all.

8/9/2009 7:22:33 PM

Not really related to Iowa/Vermont, but still related, ultimately, to Marriage Equality.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5grllk_nt63q2NPIotyM9xpL4hwkwD9A4MNMG1

Quote :

"Obama administration says marriage law unfair (AP) – 8 hours ago WASHINGTON — The Obama administration filed court papers Monday claiming a federal marriage law discriminates against gays, even as government lawyers continue to defend the law. Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The administration's response to the case has angered gay activists who see it as backtracking on campaign promises made by Barack Obama. In the court papers, the administration urges the repeal of the law but says in the meantime, government lawyers will continue to defend it as a law on the books. The government's previous filing in the case angered gay rights activists who supported Obama's candidacy in part because of his pledge to move forward on repealing the law and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. "The administration believes the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler, because it prevents equal rights and benefits. The Justice Department, she added, is obligated "to defend federal statutes when they are challenged in court. The Justice Department cannot pick and choose which federal laws it will defend based on any one administration's policy preferences." The law, often called DOMA, denies federal recognition of gay marriage and gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Obama has pledged to work to repeal the law. Monday's court filing was in response to a lawsuit by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, who are challenging the federal law, which prevents couples in states that recognize same-sex unions from securing Social Security spousal benefits, filing joint taxes and benefiting from other federal rights connected to marriage. Justice lawyers have argued that the act is constitutional and contend that awarding federal marriage benefits to gays would infringe on the rights of taxpayers in the 30 states that specifically prohibit same-sex marriages. Earlier this year, Massachusetts became the first state to challenge the law in court. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved."

I wonder how much the gay community will be bitching at Obama about this one... Not that he has really been doing much for them anyway, but this can't help him.

Either way, I think he was put in a tough place on this one. At least the administration tried to play both sides and did so with credible arguments, too.

8/17/2009 6:54:01 PM

Quote :

"I wonder how much the gay community will be bitching at Obama about this one... Not that he has really been doing much for them anyway, but this can't help him."

It hasn't helped him much. This one represents a step towards being pro-gay rights as compared to the language in the last one, but many in the gay community think he needs to go further still. I'm seeing a range of responses from people still very angry about the last one who believe this one is merely symbolic & meant to cool people down without really doing anything, to people who believe it is a honest yet slow step in the right direction & who believe he will keep making more progress in this area.

8/17/2009 10:11:48 PM

Not that cities have a whole lot of say in the matter, but tonight Durham joined with Carrboro & Chapel Hill who have already passed resolutions supporting marriage equality with a unanimous vote.

8/18/2009 12:31:44 AM

I thought I'd do an update since this thread was started back in April half devoted to discussion of Vermont's decision, and that decision goes in effect today (it has been in effect since midnight).

"First Couple Weds Under Vt. Same-Sex Marriage Law"
http://www.wptz.com/cnn-news/20659397/detail.html

Westboro Baptist Church is planning some protests, but gay couples are already getting married as of today.

9/1/2009 2:00:33 PM