Don't expect Obama to act on gay rights anytime soon

June 15, 8:25 PMInternational LGBT Issues ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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  Photo: AP/Damian Dovarganes

John Berry,  director of the Office of Personnel Management and the highest-ranking openly gay official under President Obama, told The Advocate that the administration plans to take action on both DOMA and "Don't Ask Don't Tell" as well as an employment nondiscrimination bill, "before the sun sets on this administration."

Asked if that timeframe included a second term, Berry said, "I say this in a broad sense -- our goal is to get this done on this administration's watch."

In other words, don't expect any action anytime soon.

Anger toward President Obama is starting to boil over in the LGBT community due to his recent reversal on DADT and his strong defense of DOMA.  

CBS News says,

"The president, who is wary of opening up a fight over social issues that could endanger his ambitious agenda on health care and other issues, has not asked Congress to [take action on DADT or DOMA]."

Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese, who has previously been enamored with Obama, sent him an angry letter for filing a brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which the president had promised to repeal. The letter reads,

"Last week, when your administration filed a brief defending the constitutionality of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours.  I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you.  I cannot overstate the pain that we feel as human beings and as families when we read an argument, presented in federal court, implying that our own marriages have no more constitutional standing than incestuous ones."

CBS noted that there are efforts on behalf of gay Americans in the works.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday he is looking to pass hate crimes legislation before the August recess, and the extension of benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees is said to be on the way. But these are widely viewed as significant but relatively minor potential victories, and are not likely to quiet the growing anger among gay advocates even if they do go through.

What has happened to "Yes, we can"?  Where is the change we can believe in?  Where is the hope?

Bill Maher said on his show this past Friday, "This is not the president I elected." 

That sentiment rings particularly true among LGBT Americans.  The president needs to take action sooner rather than later, or face one of the biggest and most visible backlashes in the nation's history.

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