Hope. Change. Yes We Can.
These are the phrases that inspired the majority of a nation to unite under one common dream of a brighter tomorrow, and fight for the one man who was promising it all. Now that tomorrow is today, many Obama supporters wait with baited breath for their President to fulfill his campaign promises to them. The trouble is, each promise comes along with its own set of political, moral, and religious implications. Suddenly it becomes evident that keeping a promise to one group of people could come at the price of breaking a promise to another.
One faction of Democratic campaign supporters that have been getting a lot of press recently for their disappointment in President Obama’s lack of follow through with campaign promises is the Gay and Lesbian community. I whole-heartedly believe that Obama has every intention of following through with his promises to repeal the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy, as well as overturning the Defense of Marriage Act. However, I also believe that timing these major changes appropriately could be key to keeping the political ball rolling on accomplishing other pertinent policy goals.
Gay rights is a point of great contention for many members of the conservative party, who believe it directly conflicts with their moral and religious beliefs. As much as I’d like to see President Obama throw out a big ‘screw you’ to the right aisle, exploit the privilege of the filibuster-proof Democratic majority in Congress, and sign every liberal bill into effect that he can, I know, as well as he does, that politics is a game that must be played strategically to win. To follow through with all of his promises to the Gay and Lesbian community at this point in time would almost certainly ostracize both conservative Republicans as well as moderate liberals, both of whom we desperately need cooperation from in order to pass any kind of healthcare bill. At the same time though, neglecting supporters to placate the opposition could not only lose President Obama the support of his base, but also lose him a chance at re-election. So, this is where the balancing act comes into play.
Imagine a three-ring circus where the ringleader is President Obama walking a tight rope high above the action. He must be cognizant of the needs and wants of each ring, but also not pay too much attention to any one ring, or he will fall off the rope and plummet down into the lions.
Extended metaphors aside, President Obama showed us this week that he was fully aware that his neglect for fulfilling promises to the Gay and Lesbian community was nearing dangerously close to irreversible. Yesterday, he signed a bill that would extend the legal repercussions of hate crimes to include those committed with a specific malevolence against Gays or Lesbians. This bill also extends the law to crimes motivated by gender identity or disability. The bill has great significance for the Gay community. Officially titled the Matthew Shepperd & James Byrd Jr. Hate Prevention Act, the bill is named after 21-year-old Shepperd, a college student who was brutally murdered from a homophobic attack over a decade ago.
Signing the hate crime bill was the small pat on the back the Gay and Lesbian community needed to know that Obama hasn’t forgotten about them. Meanwhile, punishing people for hate crimes, no matter what kind of person they are committed against, is a topic very few people who generally oppose Gay rights would contest. The bill is a good place to start for what will hopefully be a full-fledged, but potentially long-fought civil rights movement towards gay-equality.
