Fierce Urgency of Now

Mayme Donohue
August 24, 2009

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obama
Remember this guy?
He was presidential candidate Barack Obama. He used phrases like “fierce advocate” when describing his relationship to Gay and Lesbian rights and even wrote open letters to the LGBT community that included lines like,
I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Federal law should not discriminate in any way against Gay and Lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system…
… If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones.

Obama Pride

Candidate Barack Obama was our guy, falling to the left of Clinton on LGBT equality and without question favorable to McCain on LGBT issues. He wanted our votes and our support and he got it. Polls showed that over 70% of the LGBT community voted for Obama. Candidate Obama was even kind enough to mention us in his acceptance speech, truly an historic moment for all Americans.

Yes, candidate Barack Obama, he was our guy!
Allow me to introduce you to President Barack Obama, who in his time in office has only spoken the word ‘gay’ 13 times. President Obama wants to “change” Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies unlike candidate Obama who pledged to “repeal” them. In an opinion piece in the most recent AdvocateDan Savage notes that over 265 Gays and Lesbians have been discharged during President Obama’s watch. 
President Obama is also responsible for the U.S. Department of Justice’s incredibly offensive and aggressive brief in support of DOMA that was released right in the middle of Gay Pride Month this summer. The Supreme Court case Smelt v the United States was the topic of the brief and it is important to note that the Justice Department releases briefs on all cases brought against the Federal Government.
Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer

Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer

In Smelt v U.S.,the plaintiffs are a same-sex married couple seeking federal recognition of their California marriage, as well as the recognition of their marriage in other states. The case directly questions the constitutionality of DOMA which is precisely what the Obama administration defended in that brief. The blogoshpere lit up in an uproar after the brief was released on June 11th and the Obama administration tried to clarify their position that they believe DOMA is discriminatory. Now it seems clear that the brief was written by a Mormon attorney leftover from the Bush administration and was either not reviewed or not taken seriously by the higher ups in the department who signed off on the brief. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the release of the brief, the language and tone of bigotry against the LGBT community was biting and a slap in the face from the very administration that fought so hard for our votes by making promises of “fierce advocacy.”

The June brief has been followed up by yet another brief on the caseby the Justice Department that was released last week. This time, the brief made clear that the Obama administration thinks DOMA is discriminatory and should be repealed, however it does not go so far as to say that the legislation is unconstitutional.
This is a discussion from CNN yesterday about this case and President Obama’s overall ability to live up to his campaign promises to the LGBT community.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0fxF9-If48]
FIERCE!

FIERCE!

Listen, I am sure President Obama has his hands full, but what happened to our “fierce advocate” who referenced Dr. King when he spoke of the “fierce urgency of now?” Was he just trying to relate to us by using our language?
While Obama keeps himself busy trying to define the “public option” of his health care plan to the crazy town hall patrons carrying assault rifles and shouting Nazi references, gay youth are still being harassed in schools, hate crimes are happening against LGBT people around the country, gay and lesbian soldiers are being discharged from the armed forces, and in 29 states, including this one, LGBT people are being fired from their jobs simply because of who they are. These among other injustices happening daily seem to me like urgent and pressing matters.
September 2009 Issue of The Advocate

September 2009 Issue of The Advocate

But do the bloggers and activists have it all wrong when they point their finger at the President and demand action?
This month’s cover story in the Advocate engages a discussion of Obama’s presidency and his unfulfilled promises, but in the piece, Michael Joseph Gross turns the focus of his criticism towards the LGBT movement as well as the President.  He points at the complete lack of radical grassroots action.
Since ACT UPwe have done nothing on a mass scale to exploit the potential of passive resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience, the most effective, proven techniques of social action refined in the last century. Aside from a few rogue players who’ve applied for marriage licenses and small bands of activists like Soulforce (who’ve been arrested for trespassing on Christian college campuses where they try to instigate conversations about homosexuality), we have not even tried. When gay soldiers get kicked out of the military, why don’t they refuse to leave? Why don’t the rest of us go to support them? Why haven’t we tried?
If we don’t pursue our civil rights and equality with a sense of do or die urgency, why should the President or Congress or ANYONE else? No civil rights movement has ever succeeded simply by electing politicians who claimed to be sympathetic to the cause. Think back to Bill Clinton’s presidency during which the Gay Rights movement was extremely well behaved and waited patiently for our social justice while Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA were both passed.
Has President Obama been a far less compelling champion for LGBT rights than Candidate Obama? Yes, clearly, and there is no excuse for his inaction. But that doesn’t let us off the hook in the writing of our own destiny. If we hold Obama to account for his promises with aggressive and courageous advocacy on our own behalf, if WE fight with a fierce urgency of now, we just might find that Congress and the White House have the courage to fight for us as well.
How do GayRVA.Com readers feel about taking one for the team? Are you willing to get locked up for your rights?
[polldaddy poll=1911938]
Mayme Donohue is a Richmond native and Master’s Candidate in Political Management at George Washington University. She’s a rockstar and you can catch more of her thoughts and musings on gay politics and lesbian gossip at Maymes.
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