Obama is all talk and no action when it comes to LGBT issues

San Francisco Bay Times
http://www.sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=10671

Of course I still like and respect Barack Obama. And I thought he was pretty funny at the White House correspondents’ dinner the other night. But when it comes to LGBT issues, the man is a total wimp.

No, I don’t expect him to make controversial stands on principle at a time when he needs political consensus to fix the economy, reform health care and fight the Taliban. But I do expect him to do something. Just something. Anything.

Let’s take military service. Americans now overwhelmingly support openly gay service. In particular, Americans support the personification of counter-productive military discrimination: the openly gay Arabic translator. Since Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is an act of Congress, the policy cannot be repealed with a stroke of the pen. But as some of our advocates are pointing out, a stroke of the pen can nonetheless issue a stop loss order, suspending the policy when it comes to, let’s say, Arabic translators.

It would just be a gesture. And it would probably heighten calls for an order to suspend the policy for every gay service member pending a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. But it would be something.

In late April, Lt. Dan Choi, West Point graduate, Iraq veteran and yes, an Arabic linguist, was booted out of the Army after coming out of the closet.

Since his discharge, he has held several TV interviews and written an open letter to Obama. His termination letter, wrote Choi, felt like a slap in the face.

“It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers….

“As an infantry officer, I am not used to begging. But I beg you today, do not fire me.”

But Obama did fire Lieutenant Choi, his spokesman Robert Gibbs telling the press that the president will not intervene in military personnel issues, but will work to forge a “durable legislative solution” at some unknowable point in the future.

Earlier, Obama hand-wrote a sweet little note to another ousted soldier, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao, calling her “an outstanding American,” and insisting without any specifics or schedule that he was “committed to changing the policy.” That was sort of nice, but not exactly helpful to anyone but Lt. Tsao’s great grandchildren, who can sell the letter on E-Bay a hundred years from now for big bucks.

On Sunday, Obama’s national security advisor, General Jim Jones, told George Stephanopoulis that he “didn’t know” if Don’t Ask would be overturned, and that it wasn’t an immediate priority because “we have a lot on our plate right now.” Jones thus echoed the comment we heard awhile back from Defense Secretary Gates, who told someone on TV that the issue of gay service would be “kicked down the road a little bit.”

And finally, last month, the White House Web site revised the official policy on gays in the military from a pledge to “repeal” Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to a vague plan to “change” the current law “in a sensible way.” The original language was quickly restored after LGBT bloggers and activists went ballistic.
You get the picture. On this issue, and on every other question of gay civil rights, the Obama administration is literally all talk and no action. All I’m asking for is a lot of talk and a teeny bit of action.

I understand strategic priorities, and like you, I can close my eyes and summon up the sound of our president intoning the mantra he applies to virtually every national dilemma: “It won’t be easy. And it won’t happen overnight.” Well, fine fine fine. I’m not looking for overnight results, and I don’t expect that Obama will tackle a “hard thing” on our behalf right away. But for God’s sake, man, do something. Something easy. And for the record, that stupid joke about marrying David Axelrod in Iowa was not particularly clever.

“As an infantry officer, I am not used to begging. But I beg you today, do not fire me.”
But Obama did fire Lieutenant Choi, his spokesman Robert Gibbs telling the press that the president will not intervene in military personnel issues...