Obama has been under a lot of heat for not carrying out his campaign promises to the LGBT community. According to PolitiFact.com, Obama made five promises about gay and lesbian rights:
1. Push for the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act. (promise kept)
2. Include sexual orientation and gender identity in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (not yet)
3. Encourage states to treat same-sex couples equally when it comes to family and adoption
4. Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (reports as "in the works")
5. Work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (not yet)
Out of the five, he's only fully carried out one, and the LGBT community and their supporters are not very happy with him.
This article, though, explains why Obama might be more hesitant to forcefully and enthusiastically support minority rights. It says that in the past, presidents would have faced major consequences for supporting minority rights; they would not be reelected or would lose party seats in Congress. FDR, for example, refused to support anti-lynching laws and anti-poll tax laws because he didn't want to lose support in the South.
In class, we just read about how Clinton made numerous statements of support for the gay community, promising that with him, they'll get the rights they deserve. When he was finally elected into office, though, it took a long time for him to act, and when he did, he compromised with his opposition and upset his gay and ally supporters. After reading the chapter about him in Out of the Past, we learned that he did so because he knew that it was politically impossible for him to fully carry out his promises. Congress was becoming increasingly likely to override his executive order due to the overwhelming opposition.
Obama seems to following in Clinton's footsteps and is deciding that to fully branch out in support of the LGBT community would be too risky.
My question is how does this knowledge about Obama's failure to deliver on his gay rights promises make you feel about Obama himself?
ReplyDeleteThese 5 promises by PolitiFact are the bare minimum of promises Obama made, in the LGBT community's mind. During the long fight for the Democratic nomination, there were very many forums and Obama made explicit endorsements for increasing AIDS funds, including same-sex couples in immigration reform and a long list of other issues.
That being said, most of the stuff that the LGBT community wants needs to go through Congress, and if it doesn't pass Congress, the President can't sign it. The other response is that not much passes Congress UNLESS the President vocally supports it, and President Obama has not been what he said he was going to be, "a fierce advocate" for gay and lesbian rights.
I am inclined to agree with Professor Buckmire in that President Obama has been supporting LGBT Rights.
ReplyDeleteNow, we should keep in mind just how powerful the executive office is and the answer is simple: the President holds no real power. What the LGBT community is trying to accomplish needs to go through the Legislative Branch and it is Congress that has not been supportive of gay rights. The President is only as powerful as his persuasion holds over Congress.
You have argued that the President has not been supportive enough of LGBT rights. Well, many will argue that the President has "more pressing" issues to attend to such as the ailing economy, Healthcare, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, education, immigration, DADT, and energy and environmental conundrums. With that said, I think Obama has a plate full of issues and that there are so many of these problems that not all will receive the same amount of attention.
Could Obama's Presidency be in jeopardy if he becomes a "fierce advocate" for the LGBT community? Potentially. Remember, while most of Congress are Democrats, the Democratic Party is divided on their stance in the LGBT community. The unsupportive Democrats within, joined by fully unsupportive Republicans, will not support Obama and could cost him a re-election (which is and always has been a top political priority for politicians). Could Obama do a lot more with the LGBT community? Most definitely. But my question is, can he do it with all of the other issues left over by an incompetent Bush Administration and an unsupportive legislative branch?