The Obama Family is not threatened by our families. Now we have partners to work with. Finally, LGBT families are gaining credibility and respectability at the level of the White House.
At the very moment that Barack Obama legally became president, 12:01 p.m. on January 20th (even before the swearing in), the Obama administration website went live. Support for our families is there.
So as Rick Warren prepared for his moment in the sun, the Obama administration was demonstrating real support for us. It’s worth checking out the White House site, but here are some highlights:
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
• Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
Now it’s time for us to keep up the pressure and get the rights our families deserve. We’ve never had a better friend in the White House. We should not give up the struggle for full marriage equality. For now, it’s important to achieve social and economic justice.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Aaron Toleos // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:36 pm
He IS afraid. Otherwise, he would abandon his support for marriage segregation — an obscene position for someone with his background to take.
As MLK says, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Supporting civil unions means he is willing to give you your rights, but not your dignity.
2 Ron // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Where is his commitment to ending non equality on DOMA and how it pertains to immigration rights?
3 Nathan Leo Braulick // Apr 18, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Has Obama made any statements supporting LGBT rights during the last few months, during the events in Hawaii? Iowa? Vermont? etc.?
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