Gay leadership guarded after State
of Union speech
, Keen News
Service
01.28.2010 9:12am EST
Gay
leaders offered only a lukewarm reception Wednesday night for President Obama’s
statement in his State of the Union address that he would work for the repeal
of the military’s discriminatory policy against gays.
“This
year,” he said, “I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal
the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love
because of who they are.” Even
before the president finished the sentence, a cheer broke out from somewhere in
the chamber and some members of Congress rose to applaud. Television cameras
flashed on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who were sitting with considerable
stoicism, as they did throughout the speech, though Defense Secretary Robert
Gates was standing and applauding. The
reaction of gay leaders fell somewhere in-between. The
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network issued a statement applauding the
president’s remarks, calling for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “We
very much need a sense of urgency to get this done in 2010,” said the group. “We
call on the President to repeal the archaic 1993 law in his defense budget
currently now being drafted, that is probably the only and best moving bill
where DADT can be killed this year. “ The group also said that both “more
attention and leadership” are needed to win repeal.” Human
Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese posted a statement saying the president
sent “a clear message” against the policy. He added - as did
Servicemembers Legal – that the issue “will required continued leadership” from
President Obama and Congressional allies. Kevin
Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, issued
a statement saying “We have heard promises before about ending ‘Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell.’” While Cathcart said Lambda was happy to hear President Obama’s
remark, he added that “the time has finally come to fulfill that promise.” Rea
Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said “the
time for broad statements is over.” “He
must provide a concrete blueprint for his leadership and action moving forward
— this includes his willingness to stop the discharges happening on his watch
until Congress can fulfill its responsibility to overturn the law.” “We
wish we had heard him speak of concrete steps tonight,” said Carey. Richard
Socarides, a longtime Democratic activist who worked in the White House of
President Clinton, said he found the lack of a game plan and timetable on the
issue to be “extremely troubling.” Charles
Moran, a spokesperson for Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay political
group, was much more harsh. “President
Obama is more concerned about protecting the rights of terrorists,” said Moran,
“than he is about the rights of gay and lesbian Americans who are putting their
lives on the line every day fighting to preserve peace and democracy in Iraq
and Afghanistan and operate small businesses that are the backbone of the
American economy.” MSNBC’s
Rachel Maddow asked Valerie Jarrett, a senior policy advisor to the president,
when and how the president planned to follow through on his promise regarding
Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell. Jarrett said the president would “begin the process right
away” and that he was “very clearly” committed to the promise. Jarrett said she
was also “very heartened” by the applause in the chamber in reaction to the
president’s statement of commitment. The
president’s statement was no surprise. News of his intention to express support
for repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” filtered to news media from Senator Carl
Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Levin said he
heard of the plan from “the Pentagon.” In
his speech, President Obama made note of the nation’s “incredible diversity”
and on the Constitution’s “notion that we are all created equal, that no matter
who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be
protected by it; that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated
no different than anyone else.” He
said his administration is prosecuting civil rights violations and employment
discrimination and noted, “We finally strengthened our laws to protect against
crimes driven by hate.” That
statement referred to the law long sought by national gay political groups to
enable the federal government to help fund prevention of and prosecution for
crimes that target victims for sexual orientation or gender identity, among
other things. The president signed that law in October. There
was quiet inclusion of gay people in another way during Wednesday night’s
event. A gay businessman from Indiana was seated in the balcony with First Lady
Michelle Obama as one of her guests. According
to the the Indianapolis Star, Trevor Yager was one of 23 citizens invited by
the White House to sit with the First Lady during the speech. He told the paper
the White House invited him at the suggestion of the National Gay and Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce. A White House press release that went out identifying the
guests did not identify Yager as gay. Yager,
a native of Michigan, operates a small advertising firm in Indianapolis that he
says has benefited from President Obama’s stimulus legislation. His own
company, Trendy Minds, has added seven employees in the past year and taken on
four new accounts, according to the Star. The
company’s website indicates it does “branding consultation” for Penguin Group’s
The Complete Idiot’s Guide series and work for NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick’s
website. Republican reaction The
Republican response to the Democratic president’s State of the Union came from
Virginia’s new governor Bob McConnell. Rather
than the folksy, at home delivery of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – which
did not play well last year – McDonnell staged his speech in the State House of
Virginia, with an enthusiastically applauding chamber, creating a sort of
miniature State of the Union look. Standing
behind McDonnell, visible to the camera trained on his podium, was one black
woman, one Asian man, one white woman, and one white, male service member in
uniform. Former
Republican presidential candidate John McCain issued a statement following
President Obama’s speech reacting specifically to the call for repeal of Don’t
Ask Don’t Tell, calling it a “mistake.” “This
successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years,” said McCain’s
statement, “and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our
military at all levels. … At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and
sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.” This
is not the first time a president has expressed support for a gay civil rights
issue during a State of the Union. Democratic President Bill Clinton called for
support of hate crimes legislation during his 1999 address. “Discrimination
or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation is wrong and it ought to be illegal,” said Clinton during
the address. “Therefore, I ask Congress to make the Employment Nondiscrimination
Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.” The
hate crimes legislation passed 10 years later. Full
text of the State of the
Union address here. 
But other reaction was guarded.