The "fierce advocate' for the gay and lesbian community strikes!
President Obama hasn't had the best relationship with the GLBT community since taking office but today he builds a little "street cred" with providing SOME federal benefits to the domestic partners of SOME gay and lesbian federal employees. Read below from AFP:
President Barack Obama will Wednesday extend some federal benefits to same-sex partners of US government workers, in a nod to an increasingly restive gay and lesbian community.
The president will sign an executive order in the Oval Office making the change, an administration official said on condition of anonymity, noting that the move would not extend to total health benefits.
Gay and lesbian rights groups have voiced increasing dismay that their high hopes for the Obama administration remain unfulfilled so far.
The president has yet to follow through on a White House promise to end the ban on gays serving openly in the US military.
Gay groups also recently slammed the Obama Justice Department for backing the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to same-sex married couples.
Obama has also said he believes marriage is a sacred union between a man and woman, though supports same-sex civil unions, and that he is a "fierce advocate" of gay and lesbian rights.
More from The White House here on what the Executive Order will do.
In a way, the gay community is starting to find out what it's like to be an Evangelical Christian from a political standpoint. Follow me here:
Evangelical Christians were always looked upon as a reliable GOP vote just like most gay and lesbians are typically a reliable vote for the Democratic Party. But once Evangelicals vote for a GOP President, they become toxic because if a Republican President goes overboard courting and giving Evangelicals everything on their political wish list, a Republican President may alienate the key moderate swing voters. Same thing with Obama. If he all of a sudden comes out in support of gay marriage, he risks a political backlash from moderate swing voters in the heartland. (Indiana and North Carolina) If he is seen as actively moving a GLBT agenda, the country is not ready for that and it'll cost him politically. Plus, big arguments over DOMA, gay marriage and Don't Ask Don't Tell are political poison for this administration. You don't think he knows that? C'mon.