Ο ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΣ ΟΜΠΑΜΑ ΣΤΗΝ HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

Αντιγράφω από το Advοcate.

Obama Long On Promises, Short On Specifics
By Kerry Eleveld
In a speech broadcast by CNN and C-Span, President Barack Obama addressed nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign dinner, touting the success of his young Administration’s achievements and promising a future where LGBT people live in full equality.
“My commitment to you is unwavering even as we deal with these enormous problems,” he said, referring to the ailing economy, two wars, and consuming legislative battles. “Do not doubt the direction we are headed and the destination we will reach.”
The speech at the HRC fund-raiser, where tickets sold for $250 per person, closely mirrored the remarks the president made to LGBT guests at a Stonewall celebration at the White House in June. He ran the litany of equality issues -- hate crimes, employment nondiscrimination, repealing the defense of marriage act, HIV/AIDS -- and made his strongest statement of the night on overturning the military’s gay ban.
“I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ that's my commitment to you,” he said.
It was a speech long on promises and short on specifics that will most certainly leave the LGBT community divided as to what it means.
HRC president Joe Solmonese introduced Obama, saying, “We have never had a stronger ally in the White House -- never!”
Meanwhile, the LGBT blogosphere was quaking with disappointment the moment the president finished.
One 22-year-old activist, Paul Sosa, instantly floated an email with the subject line, “Obama’s HRC Speech: FAIL.”
“Of course, it's nice having President Obama speak to us, but that's all it was -- more pretty words,” wrote Sosa, who participates in several grassroots activist groups, including Join The Impact. “It was pretty much a rehash of his campaign promises."
Karen Ocamb, a veteran LGBT journalist and news editor of Frontiers In LA, pecked out a headline for the blog LGBT POV, “Is Obama a sissy?”
Richard Socarides, an LGBT adviser to the President Bill Clinton, said the speech might have made a lot of people feel good, but come Monday, there will be no new marching orders.
“It was a forceful call to action, without any plan of attack,” said Socarides, who attended the dinner but is sometimes critical of the Administration’s progress on LGBT concerns thus far.
Hilary Rosen, a CNN contributor and Washington insider, said having President Obama reaffirm his commitment to LGBT Americans in front of a national audience was worth its weight in gold.
“Every minute the President devotes to restating his goals for progress is a moment he is grabbing and focusing the nation’s attention on our issues,” said Rosen, who was not at the dinner. “The more he talks about LGBT equality, the more empowered congress will feel to act. And the more will get done.”
But Corey Johnson, a 27-year-old New York activist and dinner attendee said he was “extremely disappointed” even as the older guests at his table relished the moment.
“I think there is a very wide disconnect between people that are here at the dinner and the gay community in general,” said Johnson, who also plans on attending the Equality March tomorrow. “It’s an interesting dichotomy between the donor community and average everyday LGBT Americans."
Perhaps the most passionate defense of the Obama Administration came from its highest-ranking LGBT official, John Berry, the director of the Office of Personnel Management.
“This president is with us 100 percent,” Berry said, shortly following Obama’s address. “The point that I think the community needs to remember is that we need to get to 218 votes in the House and 60 votes in the Senate.”
Berry held up the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) as the linchpin to other equality goals at the federal level.
“If we pass ENDA, DOMA will fall in the courts,” he said. “After ENDA, there’s no constitutional read left for DOMA to stand upon. The courts will now see us as a class with higher scrutiny, and under a higher scrutiny standard, DOMA collapses like a house of cards.”
Berry said he does communicate directly with President Obama but declined to elaborate on their discussions.
Asked if Administration officials are engaged on pushing critical pieces of legislation, he said, “This administration is on the Hill working with members of Congress.”
As examples of direct action, he offered up the movement of hate crimes legislation, which will likely be signed into law in the coming weeks.
“On hate crimes, the president was very clear. The president engaged and secured the passage of that,” he said, noting that the measure failed the last time it was attached to Defense Department authorization bill in 2007. “This time it worked. Why? Because the president said, ‘I want this bill; get it on my desk.’”
Berry also said the White House is working to find Senate sponsors for repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“On ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ this administration is talking directly to the Hill -- we are in direct discussions with Senator [Joe] Lieberman.”
He added that the goal is to secure bipartisan introduction.

Μπορείτε να δείτε όλο το βίντεο με την ομιλία του Προέδρου Ομπάμα στο μπλογκ του φίλου xomeritis, πιέζοντας εδώ.

Και από την Καθημερινή.

Ομπάμα: Τέλος στις διακρίσεις ομοφυλοφίλων στις ένοπλες δυνάμεις
Hμερομηνία : 11-10-09
Ο πρόεδρος Ομπάμα υπόσχεται να τερματίσει τις διακρίσεις σε βάρος των ομοφυλοφίλων στις τάξεις των ενόπλων δυνάμεων.
Ο πρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ, Μπαράκ Ομπάμα, υποσχέθηκε σε μέλη ενώσεων ομοφυλοφίλων ανδρών και γυναικών ότι θα άρει την απαγόρευση εκδήλωσης της σεξουαλικής τους ταυτότητας στις ένοπλες δυνάμεις της χώρας, απορρίποντας τις αιτιάσεις ότι δεν τιμά τις υποσχέσεις του να δώσει μάχη για ίσα δικαιώματα.
«Θα τερματίσω την πολιτική: Μη Ρωτάς, Μη Λες. Αυτή είναι η δέσμευσή μου σε εσάς», είπε ο Ομπάμα μιλώντας σε 3.000 ακτιβιστές και ακτιβίστριες για τα δικαιώματα των γκέι, λεσβιών, αμφισεξουαλικών και πολιτών που έχουν υποβληθεί σε επεμβάσεις αλλαγής φύλλου.
«Δεν θα έπρεπε να τιμωρούμε πατριώτες Αμερικανούς που κατατάχθηκαν για να υπηρετήσουν αυτή τη χώρα», συνέχισε ο Ομπάμα.
Όμως δεν καθόρισε το χρονοδιάγραμμα για την κατάργηση του νόμου του 1993, που επιβάλλει στους γκέι και τις λεσβίες να σιωπούν όσον αφορά το θέμα του σεξουαλικού τους προσανατολισμού, που επισύρει ποινή απόλυσης. Από τις τάξεις των ενόπλων δυνάμεων έχουν εκδιωχθεί πάνω από 12.000 άνδρες και γυναίκες που τον παραβίασαν.
Ο Τζο Σόλμονιζ, πρόεδρος της οργάνωσης Human Rights Campaign, που διοργάνωσε το δείπνο στο οποίο μίλησε ο Ομπάμα, έκανε λόγο για «μεγάλη ανυπομονησία» για το θέμα. Αλλά υπονοώντας τον προκάτοχο του σημερινού προέδρου, Τζορτζ Ου. Μπους, είπε πως «δεν πρέπει να συγχέουμε την δουλειά και την πρόοδο των τελευταίων 10 μηνών για το θέμα των δικαιωμάτων των γκέι και των λεσβιών με τις καθυστερήσεις, τις δικαιολογίες και ενίοτε ακόμα και τα κηρύγματα μίσους των τελευταίων 10 χρόνων».
- www.kathimerini.gr με πληροφορίες από ΑΠΕ- ΜΠΕ.

(μία από τις ελάχιστες φορές που το κρατικό κανάλι, η ΝΕΤ σήμερα το μεσημέρι, μετέδωσε εκτενές απόσπασμα από λόγο του Ομπάμα με λοαδ περιεχόμενο - δείτε επίσης την είδηση και από την ιστοσελίδα της ΕΡΤ.)