This is undoubtedly a difficult election for the LGBT community across the country. Like much of the progressive community, LGBT activists were hopeful after Barack Obama's stunning victory in November 2008, to become the nation's 44th president. But reality hit the gay community hard and fast even before Obama was sworn in, when his inauguration committee selected anti-gay pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation on that historic day.
I wrote the book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage, to showcase Obama's trajectory on LGBT rights, from the good and the bad, to the confusing and frustrating. Unfortunately, those frustrations continue as Obama's Justice Department defends Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, even as some courts are ruling against those laws.
The news from the first two years of Obama's presidency is not all bad. In fact, major progress has been made on small and large issues. But unfortunately for Obama, the LGBT movement is much further along than when Bill Clinton occupied the White House. The bar is much higher to measure success, and after the defeat of gay marriage in California in 2008, the gay movement is less patient with promises and platitudes, and more focused on actual large-scale success.
The LGBT community, however, is not monolithic. While some are boycotting the Democrats this election cycle, by withholding both money and votes, others are enthusiastically giving and voting for key Democratic allies, even if they are upset with the party. After all, nearly 100 percent of the Democrats in the Senate voted to get rid of DADT, and not one Republican did. So it's like your family ( if your family loves you ) : sometimes they disappoint you, but they are still your family. It's better to keep pushing them to do better, than to throw them out of the house and replace them with those who actually loathe you and will set you back.
I am not saying that all the Democrats are great, and all Republicans are bad. However, in this midterm election, if Obama is to have even a slight chance of moving forward on our issues and finishing his agenda, he needs Democrats as partners. The Republicans have been against everything he has done, and if they control the House and/or Senate, we will have a paralyzed government and a frightening time for our movement.
While there is no way one politician, whether president or mayor, could ever satisfy the movement entirely, that is no excuse for Obama's failure to recognize that the policy changes so far are simply not enough. What the movement wants is for Obama to fulfill his promise on the primary four-letter words of the gay agenda: DADT, ENDA, DOMA, and the Uniting American Families Act for immigration reform. These are the federal laws that most gay communities, most of the time, agree mark the "end game" goals to measure success.
There is no doubt that Obama came into power with perhaps the biggest mess any president has ever had to face. Coupled with a country divided, Obama has had no easy tasks in the first half of his term. He has alienated much of his liberal base ( on war, Guantanamo Bay, the environment, and more ) , not just gays, and many of his supporters are frustrated with his attempts to build bridges to filibustering Republicans who are likely never going to support hisor ouragenda.
Part of the problem may be with Obama's advisers. Some suggestions for Obama to improve that situation include appointing a White House person dedicated full-time to gay issues only; giving a speech on gay rights, to take control of this arc of justice before it touches down without him; holding open and public meetings on gay issues, pulled together by the White House; and conducting more interviews with the diverse array of gay media.
What Obama does by equivocating on gay issues, and by standing on the sidelines, is demotivate his base. He wins no more votes, but loses his integrity as a believer in civil rights. And he upsets not just his LGBT base but also his progressive base, because gay issues are not just gay issues anymore.
To those who are tempted to not vote, either to make a statement or because of disappointment: Remind yourself that by staying out of the voting booth, those of us who favor true equality for LGBT citizens may inadvertently punish our friends by helping the opponents get elected. Without us, there will be no legislative gains, and we may even put at risk the small gains we have achieved so far.
One of Obama's famous sayings during the presidential campaign was, "I got this." Meaning, he had the confidence to rise to the occasion and win a debate, or the whole race. We can have the expectation that Obama can "get this" on gay rights, but also we can believe in ourselves and have the confidence and the conviction to say "we got this," tooby showing up in the voting booth and at the protests, and by pressuring our elected officials to fulfill their promises.
We will never win by refusing to play the game.
This essay was adapted from the new book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage, now available from Women & Children First and Unabridged bookstores, and on Amazon.com and Kindle.