D.C. Gay Marriage Legislation Might Force Obama Off the Fence
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
President Obama is being forced, by D.C. legislation on gay marriage that may provoke congressional legislation on the same topic, and by gay rights activists, to get off the fence and come out four-square in favor of marriage for the LGBT community.
According to Boston's EDGE:
A May 6 New York Times article also questioned Obama's lack of outspokenness on recent gains and pending legislation affecting gay and lesbian Americans.
The article noted, "Two of Mr. Obama's potential Supreme Court nominees are openly gay; some advocates, irked that there are no gay men or lesbians in his cabinet, are mounting a campaign to influence his choice to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring."
The article also made note of the fact that Washington, D.C. had adopted a policy of recognizing marriages for gays and lesbians granted in places where marriage equality is legal, even though the district itself does not provide marriage equality.
All I can say is, good luck getting the president to take a stand on this most controversial of issues when he's in the midst of a budget battle with Congress. Mr. Obama has proven himself to be a fence-sitter extraordinaire when he and his image team decide taking a stand on a controversial issue is a battle not worth fighting.
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Tags: Congress | Barack Obama | Washington, DC | marriage | gay rights
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Reader Comments
Obama has enough on his plate already
We really need to give the guy some credit here. It's not like he doesn't already have enough to deal with: 2 wars, trying to turn the economy around, building up US forien relations world wide, healthcare, a green energy program, and on and on. The aforementioned items are extremely important to the future of ALL Americans and should be his priority right now (not that LGBT rights aren't important), but we really need to put things in perspective here. I think Obama will take a stand on the issue when the time is right. Have a little patience people!
OBAMA IS SUCH A LIGHT WEIGHT...
He'll drift where ever the opinion polls blow him. He has given new definition to the term, "vote whore".
And the key words are that
"taking a stand on a controversial issue is a battle not worth fighting". Not for Obama at this time on THIS issue for sure, anyway.
The premier issues of America that we need Obama in office two terms for are these: Education, Energy, Health Care Reform, Wall Street Reform, EFCA, Foreign Relations, Tax Policy, Entitlement Policy, and Supreme Court Appointments.
Gay Marriage is proceeding forward in a few states without Obama---and that's how it should remain AT LEAST until his second term is secured. We just don't need a hot button debate overshadowing everything else. Obama was smart enough to know this, and that's why we elected hime
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