|
|
Obama answers same-sex marriage question in Tampa
News update, Jan. 28, 2010
2010-01-27
|
|
This article shared 2587 times since Wed Jan 27, 2010
|
|
The following is a question posed to President Barack Obama after his speech at the University of Tampa in Florida, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, the day after Obama's State of the Union speech. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoke together and took questions from the crowd. Below is the Don't Ask, Don't Tell question and Obama's answer.
Q All right, I'm Hector and I'm a student at UT. ( Applause. ) And my question is, last night you talked about repealing "don't ask, don't tell," and my question is what are you doing now to put in motion so that same-sex couples and homosexuals are treated as equal citizens of the United States, i.e., same-sex marriages and the thousand-plus benefits that heterosexual couples enjoy after marriage? ( Applause. )
THE PRESIDENT: Look, as I said last night, my belief is, is that a basic principle in our Constitution is that if you're obeying the law, if you're following the rules, that you should be treated the same, regardless of who you are. ( Applause. ) I think that principle applies to gay and lesbian couples. So at the federal level, one of the things that we're trying to do is to make sure that partnerships are recognized for purposes of benefits so that hospital visitation, for example, is something that is permitted; that Social Security benefits or pension benefits or others, that same-sex couples are recognized in all those circumstances.
I think that we've got to -- we actually have an opportunity of passing a law that's been introduced in Congress right now, and my hope is this year we can get it done, just for federal employees and federal workers. A lot of companies, on their own, some of the best-run companies have adopted these same practices. I think it's the right thing to do and it makes sense for us to take a leadership role in ensuring that people are treated the same. ( Applause. )
Look, if you are -- regardless of your personal opinions, the notion that somebody who's working really hard for 30 years can't take their death benefits and transfer them to the person that they love the most in the world and who has supported them all their lives, that just doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. ( Applause. ) And I think it's the right thing to do.
|
|
|
|
This article shared 2587 times since Wed Jan 27, 2010
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08 - Hanania Ben-Shimonthe gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recentlypublished a post in which he pleaded that his ...
|
| | NATIONAL Chuck Schumer, anti-marriage bill, drag event back on, military doctor 2024-02-23 - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)and, as a result, several LGBTQ+-advocacy organizations dropped their opposition to it, The Hill ...
|
| | Col. Jennifer Pritzker comments on military museum move 2024-02-13 - Local transgender philanthropist Col. Jennifer Pritzker commented to Windy City Times about the impending move of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library (PMML), which she founded in 2003, to Wisconsin. "At the end of the day, ...
|
| | Pritzker Military Library to close in July, move to Wisconsin 2024-02-08 - On Feb. 7, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library announced that it is closing its downtown Chicago location on July 27 and moving to an archives center in Wisconsin later this year, according to The Chicago ...
|
| | PASSAGES Paris Johnson 2023-12-29 - Paris Johnson, 29, of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly Nov. 28. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday Dec. 20. Born into a military family in Sacramento, California, Paris moved often in his youth, ...
|
| | NATIONAL Women's college, banned books, military initiative, Oregon 2023-12-29 - After backlash regarding a decision to update its anti-discrimination policy and open enrollment to some transgender applicants, a Catholic women's college in Indiana will return to its previous admission policy, per The National Catholic Reporter. In ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Music awards, military film, Tom of Finland, Yo-Yo Ma, 'Harley Quinn' 2023-11-17 Video below - Brothers Osborne—a duo that includes gay brother TJ Osborne—won Vocal Duo of the Year for the sixth time at the recent CMA Awards, per a media release. Backstage, TJ told reporters, "I did not expect us ...
|
| | AVER celebrates LGBTQ+ veterans at annual Veterans Day dinner 2023-11-12 - Writer and historian Owen Keehnen was keynote speaker at the the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) Chicago Chapter's 32nd annual LGBTQ Veterans Day Banquet held on Veterans Day at Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont. Keehnen ...
|
| | South Korean court upholds military 'sodomy law' 2023-10-28 - For the fourth time, South Korea's constitutional court has upheld two anti-LGBTQ+ lawsincluding the country's notorious military "sodomy law," The Guardian reported. By a vote of five to four, the court confirmed the constitutionality of ar ...
|
| | WORLD Couple's win, attack in Beirut, German military, gay ski week 2023-09-08 - In Strasbourg, France, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Bulgaria violated the rights of a same-sex couple (Darina Koilova and Lili Babulkova) by not recognizing their marriage abroad, RFE/RL reported. Rights groups lauded the ...
|
| | 'We've had a ball': Prominent activists Jim Darby and Patrick Bova celebrate 60th anniversary 2023-09-07 - One of the first couples to be legally married in Illinois is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Jim Darby and Patrick Bova fell in love decades before they became the lead plaintiffs in Lambda Legal's ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Military drama, Janelle Monae, Conan Gray, Dylan Mulvaney, Whoopi 2023-08-31 - The LGBTQ+ military drama Eismayer (from Dark Star Pictures and Golden Girls Film) will be out in theaters on Oct. 6, and on DVD and Digital on Oct. 10, per a press release. The plot is ...
|
| | FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act would undercut equality, Modern Military Assoc of America comments 2023-07-14 --From a press release - Washington D.C. - Anti-equality House members are using the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act to pass dangerous amendments targeting healthcare, gender-affirming care, education, and LGBTQ+ friendly services and resources. The ...
|
| | WORLD Pride celebrations, puberty blockers, British military, killer sentenced 2023-06-16 - Gay Pride Buenos Aires is slated to take place Oct. 27-Nov. 4, according to GayTravel4U.com. More than 30 organizations and groups host activities that will begin a week before the parade (which is on Nov. 4). ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT War in the 21st Century: mercenaries, private military companies, private armies 2023-05-20 - In 2022, $407 billion of the Pentagon budget—representing half of that year's funding —were obligated to private contractors, of which a significant number were Private Military Companies (PMCs) involved in ...
| |
|
|