Obama To Adopt Radical Gay Rights Agenda
Days into his first term as President, Barack Obama is already following through on campaign promises with a radical “gay rights” agenda that will delight his liberal supporters and have some reactionaries spluttering over their hash browns.
He has set out an agenda that includes the following:
Repealing the Clinton “don’t ask don’t tell” compromise on gays in the military in favour of allowing gay people to serve their country without fear of expulsion. The White House website says “The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited… The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.”
Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples. Civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples will be permitted and the Defense of Marriage Act will be repealed. Federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status will be extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
Employment laws will be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This will extend protection against discrimination across the entire USA at Federal level for the first time.
The development and implementation of a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Obama will support age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within the prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through the public health system. He also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchanges, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users.
Not all of this will be easy to enact. The religious right will be enraged and no doubt some in the US military will mount a fierce defence of the current position but he has set out his ambitions clearly and publicly. If he is successful these measures will bring the US into line with most other western nations. I think that he is wise to set this out early and seek to implement it while he is in the first flush of post election euphoria. The longer it is left the harder it will be to do. But 10 out of 10 to Obama for ambition and honesty. He deserves to succeed.
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About Richard…
Richard is a Conservative Councillor on Reading Borough Council representing Peppard ward since 2007, having been re-elected in May 2011. He previously represented Thames ward from 2001 to 2004. He is currently the Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport on Reading Borough Council. 
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Good for Obama.
I fail utterly to understand what is “radical” about such notions as granting equal rights under the law to gay Americans, permitting gay couples to marry, prohibiting employment discrimination against gay persons, and implementing other measures to ensure that gay persons and relationships are treated as legally and socially equivalent to heterosexual persons and relationships.
Most of the Western democracies have already prohibited sexual orientation discrimination in employment, housing, and access to places of public accommodation. All of the Western democracies, with the exception of the USA, permit gay citizens to serve in their Armed Forces on equal terms with heterosexual citizens. A growing number of countries accept gay marriage, or the creation of “civil unions” to enshrine into law the ability of gay persons to avail themselves of some, or all, of the rights conferred upon heterosexual persons by marriage.
President Obama knows full well that members of the “religious right” will suffer apoplexy when confronted with his efforts to level the playing field, and to ensure that the US Constitution’s promise of the equal protection of the laws is translated into legal reality. Obama does not care one whit what these pious, mealy-mouthed, self-righteous, and sanctimonious hypocrites think of his efforts. He knew in advance of the election that he would never win their votes – and I believe that, unlike Bill Clinton (who folded like a house of cards when he met with opposition to his efforts to lift the ban on openly gay Americans serving on equal terms in the Armed Forces), Obama will make no effort to placate this rabble. As the author himself observes, Obama is already implementing the measures that he insisted he would authorize once voted into office.
I commend the author for the substance of his column, but am disturbed by his reference to President Obama’s “radical gay agenda”.
PHILIP CHANDLER
Philip – it is the fact that he is doing it that is radical. It will upset many people but I agree with you that it is long overdue and only brings the US into line with most of the rest of the West.
I agree, it doesn’t seem radical from here, but this is the USA we are talking about where Presidents have always avoided such matters for fear of whatever. How marvellous it is to see a President who is ready to turn the country into the place it always should have been.