Open Arms And Difficult Roads

While it is a long time coming that DADT be repealed, I am somewhat concerned that Obama has quite the challenge in front of him with DOMA. But none-the-less, his speech to Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner shows that he is ready to ride the momentum of recent days in the right direction.



Here's something that most people don't realize - both DADT and DOMA were pilars of the first Clinton term. These are also cornerstones of the conservative movement. And while Bill Clinton held onto his moderate/conservative Democratic ( and likely left-leaning Republicans ) in accepting these two pieces of legislation, does Obama really need to keep those same people within his camp? Or, have these two ideals become nothing more than so much fodder for the fringe conservative movement?

Doing away with DADT will merely require an executive order from the President, while repealing DOMA will require more work with both houses of Congress and a plurality vote. The later is going to be quite the struggle, but it is entirely possible if Obama takes this on right now, without pause.

As Think Progress points out, there are those within the conservative movement that are wanted to throw as much cold water and ignorance onto Obama's vision as fast and as often as they can.

Obama also addressed right-wing criticisms being hurled at his LGBT nominees and staffers, such as EEOC nominee Chai Feldblum and Department of Education official Kevin Jennings. Both have been the subjects of extremely homophobic slurs. WorldNetDaily editor and CEO Joseph Farrah said that Obama must find “people” like Feldblum on “Perverts.gov,” and the Traditional Values Coalition wrote that she wanted “the gay agenda to trump the First Amendment and religious freedom.” Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has claimed that Jennings wants to push a “homosexual agenda” in U.S. schools.

What exactly is this mysterious "gay/homosexual agenda"? Are gays and lesbians going to indoctrinate our children to where they will only shop at American Apparel, listen to Beyonce, and color coordinate their living-room decor? Or, is it the people like Congressman Steve King and the fine "Christian" at WorldNetDaily are afraid that gays and lesbians will be seen as equals?

If there is anything that can even remotely described as an agenda by the gay/lesbian community, it's that they want to be able to marry, to get a job without descrimination, to operate in society just like those that aren't gay/lesbian. They want to be equals, period.