Evolving?
He has to 'evolve' to equality? He's not already on board with that?
This is the man who gave a big F-YOU to the LGBT community in 2007 by putting 'ex-gay' Donnie McClurkin on stage. And, as Kevin Alexander Gray and Marshall Derks (Black Agenda Report) explained, it wasn't just one homophobe put on stage by Barack at that event: "The gay bashing headliners included Reverends Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Pentecostal pastor of Brooklyn mega-church, the Love Fellowship Tabernacle and Mary Mary (a sister act duo)."
What exactly has Barack Obama done for the LGBT community?
A lot of whores love to insist he's done amazing things. He's not done a damn thing. He gets credit for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell . . . except it hasn't been repealed yet. It hasn't been repealed yet. Barack made that a campaign promise and then went on to dither and ignore it. Under criticism, he finally made a few moves. February 2, 2010, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm Mike Mullen appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: Last week, during the State of the Union address, the president announced that he will work with Congress this year to repeal the law known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He subsequently directed the Department of Defense to begin the preparations necessary for a repeal of the current laws and policy. I fully support the president's decision. The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we must -- how we best prepare for it. [. . .] To ensure that the department is prepared should the law be changed, and working in close consultation with Adm Mullen, I have appointed a high-level working group within the department that will immediately begin a review of the issues associated with properly implementing a repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The mandate of this working group is to thorougly, objectively and methodically examine all aspects of this question and produce its finding and recommendations in the form of an implementation plan by the end of this calendar year.
"The end of this calendar year" would have been December 2010. It's June 2011 and Don't Ask Don't Tell still hasn't been repealed.
That year-long study was seen by many as a delaying tactic. When November 2010 rolled around, and suddenly Democrats no longer controlled the House of Representatives, Congress finally felt a rush to act. December 18, 2010 (a Saturday!), the Senate took their vote. We'll note this from Senator Joe Lieerman's office:
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Senate, by a vote of 65-31, today passed legislation that will repeal the discriminatory policy barring homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the lead sponsor of the "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Act of 2010," issued the following statement:
"Repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is the right thing to do whether you're liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, or independent. It is the right thing to do for our military and the right thing to do for our country. The sixty-five Senators who voted to correct this injustice showed that we're still able to come together in a bipartisan way to fight for America's best interests."
And with the House of Representatives having also passed it, done deal, right? A done deal doesn't require the following.
US House Rep Niki Tsongas: But just to reiterate why we moved to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Since 1993, more than 14,000 gay service members have been discharged under the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. And of these discharges, nearly 1,000 were specialists with vital mission critical skills -- Arab linguists, for example. We hear those figures over and over again. I have always believed that this policy actually threatens the readiness of our military by discharging hundreds of military personnel critical to our national security and shutting the door to thousands more. And it's also unconscionable to maintain a policy when at least 24 other countries including allies such as Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Israel already allow open service by lesbian and gay service members. And that's why I've always strongly supported repeal of this policy. And I concur wholeheartedly with Adm Mike Mullen's distinguished leadership about this issue, his assessment when he stated in his testimony before the Armed Services Committee last year that this policy "forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens." Undermining a basic tenet of military service which is to be honest.
That was Tsongas reminding her Republican colleagues (and at least one Democratic one) on the US House Armed Services Committee April 1st what was what. And she was required to do that because the Republicans who now control the Committee were making it clear that they were not in agreement with repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In the Senate, John McCain is gearing up for major opposition to the repeal.
Hopefully, repeal is coming but let's not pretend it's already arrived.
Members of the Cult of St. Barack insist that Barack's done so much more than Bill Clinton. Let's forget for a moment that the claim is false and let's instead note that when Bill Clinton tried to end expulsions of gays and lesbians from the military, when he fought for them to serve openly, not only was he opposed by Colin Powell and many other sex fiends, he was also taking a position that was controversial. He did so because it was the right thing.
Barack Obama shows up in the White House eight years after Bill's out and when the majority of the country favors marriage equality and allowing all Americans with a desire to serve to serve in the military. He's not a leader. Even now when the public supports these changes, Barack can't lead.
