Obama proclaims June -09 Pride month

[Sentinel]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but I think we should discuss it. On June 1, President Obama of the US proclaimed this month as a 'Pride Month'.

Now, as we all know, he is the president of the United States and first and foremost an agent of great capital. But namely coming from him, one is bound to think it will have at least some positive impact.

Surely a person holding the authority of his office proclaiming support for equal rights regardless of sexual orientation and/or identity must mean something? Personally, I'm just baffled right now, this wasn't something I would ever have expected.

So, what is your opinion, is this nothing but an empty gesture, or could it just be the forces capitalism playing their final progressive role in the history of mankind? Or does it mean anything?

I don't know myself, but this sure feels huge.. Even if it is merely a gesture.

Here is the press release:



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

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

[Pogue]

Wow, guess the LGBT community can go home now that our benevolent leaders have won the victory we were all waiting for.

[Sentinel]

Wow, guess the LGBT community can go home now that our benevolent leaders have won the victory we were all waiting for.As I tried to make clear, I'm obviously not endorsing Obama (DUH), nor do I think he is some kind of actual champion for equality. What I wish to know is if you think this attitude of the Obama administration may have a (direct or indirect) positive impact on the lives of the LGBT community of the US and around the world?

Compared to those of earlier ones etc.

[Dr Mindbender]

I think it's a cynical way of scoring political points among the liberal voters after the hangover following 2 terms of a borderline fascist president.

I doubt theres much sincerity, Obama has a pro-life cleric as his personal advisor for crud sake.

[Pogue]

As I tried to make clear, I'm obviously not endorsing Obama (DUH), nor do I think he is some kind of actual champion for equality. What I wish to know is if you think this attitude of the Obama administration may have a (direct or indirect) positive impact on the lives of the LGBT community of the US and around the world?

Compared to those of earlier ones etc.

I wasn't criticising you.

[GPDP]

Oh god, I can already sense the impending RAGE coming from religious nutballs and other bigots.

[Sasha]

meaningless, let him first make good on his promisses to retract both DOMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act)(defense of mariage act) and the dont ask dont tell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell)policy in the army; then we can start to talk.

the self proclaimed "fiercest advocate for gay rights" has done jack shit when it comes to those gay rights since he was elected, voting fodder thats what the LGBT comunity is to obama

[FreeFocus]

In my opinion, homophobia and the like is little connected to capitalism, and capitalism certainly is not the cause of homophobia.

It's a good gesture, but we all know the social and political context in which it is being made.

[Dimentio]

I think it's a cynical way of scoring political points among the liberal voters after the hangover following 2 terms of a borderline fascist president.

I doubt theres much sincerity, Obama has a pro-life cleric as his personal advisor for crud sake.

On the contrary, I think it was quite brave. Surely, gun-touting homophobes with guns are sadly a more numerous group in America that people actively supporting LGBT-rights.

[Bitter Ashes]

meaningless, let him first make good on his promisses to retract both DOMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act)(defense of mariage act) and the dont ask dont tell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell)policy in the army; then we can start to talk.

the self proclaimed "fiercest advocate for gay rights" has done jack shit when it comes to those gay rights since he was elected, voting fodder thats what the LGBT comunity is to obama
If my understanding of the United States legal system is correct, then the biggest changes need to happen outside of the White House. The dont ask dont tell policy is something that Obama can directly change and he could actualy shower the military in all sorts of anti-discrimination legislation if he wants.

Unfortuniatly, his direct control stops there. I doubt he could make an executive order to repreal DOMA and the individual State laws would require thier individual states to get with the times, or a new federal law to be passed and the federal courts to declare it to take precendent over the state legisalature. In a substantial number of US states, non-goverment employees are still legaly allowed to be discriminated against at work and with employment based on thier sexuality, or gender identity. As for DOMA, that is a federal law and would mean that the senate and house of represenatives would have to agree to repeal it before Obama gets his say to not stall it. And that's about the official limit of his power with regards to federal law. The best he can do is new stall anti-lgbt legislation and wave through pro-lgbt legislation. I dont doubt that he has what we'd reffer to as whips in the chambers of congress to get fellow Democrats voting his way though.

So, lets hope that Congress is singing to Obama's tune too and gets busy with dealing with these issues. Then we may see the changes required for a paving the way for a undivided working class who, not only will live in a fairer America, but also will be capable of uniting and bringing forth direct democracy.

[Sasha]

hapy pride month everybody! gee thanx mister president;

No One Could Have Predicted (http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/12/no-one-could-have-predicted)

Posted by Dan Savage (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/ArticleArchives?author=259) on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 6:56 PM

Folks who read the DOMA brief the Obama administration filed in California this morning—the one that compared gay marriage to incest and child rape and rehearsed numerous anti-gay arguments favored by the religious right—said that it read like it was written by the Bush administration. It went way beyond the half-hearted perforce defense of DOMA that folks were braced for. It was breathtakingly bigoted, like something written by a graduate of Jerry Falwell's madrassa, Liberty University. Well guess what? It was written by the Bush administration (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/who-wrote-the-doma-brief.html).
W Scott Simpson, a Bush administration holdover (http://www.techlawjournal.com/agencies/doj/20050831.asp), [filed the DOMA brief]. You can read a previous decision of his here (http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/Document%2018%20%2810-14-08%29.pdf) (PDF) from 2008. So it becomes clearer. The harsh rhetoric, the gratuitous attacks on our relationships ... they were written by someone who was given an award by Alberto Gonzales for his defense of the Partial Birth Abortion Act. And guess what else? He's a Mormon (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Evagenealogy/about_me.htm).
Do you think the Obama administration is letting Bush holdovers work on healthcare reform? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on Iraq policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on economic policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers manage Sotomayor's confirmation process? Of course not. Because all of those things matter to the Obama administration. They give a shit about healthcare and Iraq and the economy and the Supreme Court nominee. They don't give a shit about gay rights—they don't give a shit about gay soldiers being hounded out of the military or gay spouses being turned away from their partners' sickbeds or binational gay couples facing deportation or the HIV travel ban or gay parents or anything else that touches our lives. Or as the always-cooler-headed-than-me Andrew Sullivan put it...
I suspect that this was a function not of malevolence but of negligence. The truth is: this administration is not hostile to gay equality; it just doesn't give a damn about it.

[Il Medico]

I am not surprised he would declare a LGBT pride month, he is after all a liberal (albeit on the centrist side). Will this actually do anything? I doubt it. Not much more then a gesture, unless he actually revokes Don't Ask Don't Tell.

The right wingers are going to have a cow!

[jake williams]

According to about.com (I haven't confirmed but it looks legit enough) Bill Clinton started this.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/blgaylesproc.htm

[Pawn Power]

It is really just a gesture. I think that a lot of people in the LGBTQ rights movement is pissed at Obama for is inaction involving benefits for partners of federal employees (like no health care for same-sex partners) and don't ask don't tell and since he filed a legal breif which supports the Defense of Marriage Act, even though he said he would try to repeal it. I think many LGBTQ activists though that he was their man and are now finding out he is softpedaling gay rights issues.

[Jimmie Higgins]

meaningless, let him first make good on his promisses to retract both DOMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act)(defense of mariage act) and the dont ask dont tell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell)policy in the army; then we can start to talk.

the self proclaimed "fiercest advocate for gay rights" has done jack shit when it comes to those gay rights since he was elected, voting fodder thats what the LGBT comunity is to obama

Right. First of all, June is already when San Francisco has its Pride march, so he's not doing much with this proclamation. He has also made it clear that he has no intention of repealing DOMA. He has said that he will repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.

As to the original question about having a liberal president and the impact on attitudes: well at the antiprop 8 marches I went on it was common to see people wearing rainbow-flag Obama t-shirts. People definitely felt that the election of a black president was a blow against racism and a signal that other bigotry could be fought against too. But I think this honymoon is reaching its end as gay activists have repeatedly appealed to the President and recieve a very public cold-shoulder.

Also, this new movement seems happy to get rid of the liberal LGBT groups of the past - this kind of impatients with liberal leaders of the movement and liberal politicians is a good sign for American protests.

[Il Medico]

But I think this honymoon is reaching its end as gay activists have repeatedly appealed to the President and recieve a very public cold-shoulder.

This is very true. Obama seem quite prejudiced against the LGBT community, whether he will say it or not. I think he accepts us, but doesn't like us. I really don't get why people assume that Obama can have prejudices because he is black, it makes no sense.

[Jimmie Higgins]

This is very true. Obama seem quite prejudiced against the LGBT community, whether he will say it or not. I think he accepts us, but doesn't like us. I really don't get why people assume that Obama can have prejudices because he is black, it makes no sense.

I don't know what his personal feelings are, but he definitely seems to want to keep the "genie in the bottle" and not allow social movements to gain momentum. I think he's smart enough to realize that a very large and vocal percentage of the population (including straights) wants full LGBT equality now and will no longer put up with mainstream politicians telling them to "be patient". If he gives in, then what's to stop black people from demanding prison reform? Arabs demanding an end to anti-arab racial profiling? Immigrant amnesty and full rights?

He's right and that's why we need to push hard for LGBT marriage equality (aside from the obvious benifit for the couples who want to marry)! I believe defeating the right wing here will open the floodgates for reforms.

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

I'm skeptical of his motives as I'm skeptical of any politician's, but at the same time I don't think it means nothing. In fact, it's actually a risky gesture - never underestimate the number of crazed, right-wing homophobes in the USA. And wasn't there something about him including a gay, black man in some council thing? Tokenism or not it's still going to have an impact.