Gay icon?

Many American gays want Barack Obama to speed up his plans to improve their lot

 

 

THE charge that Barack Obama delivers soaring rhetoric but little action is in the air these days. America's gays, for example, are discussing the matter. on Saturday October 10th, Mr Obama spoke at a dinner arranged by the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest gay organisation. He presented a list of policies he wants to change on behalf of gays, including repealing the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the armed forces. His commitment to these issues, he promised, is “unwavering”.

 

Yet wavered he has. Since taking office, he has failed to pursue any big policy changes on minority rights. He campaigned on the promise of repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and DOMA. He has not touched the former and his Justice Department issued a brief defending the latter. He has appointed a few gays to positions in his administration, and he also granted partial benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. Yet many had hoped to find a more steadfast ally in the White House.

 

Mr Obama has made clear his sympathy for demands for equal rights. In his speech, he compared the plight of gays to that of blacks during the civil-rights era. “It’s not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago”, he said. That undoubtedly pleased his audience, who often struggle to convince conservatives that their political demands, such as for equal protection and benefits, should count as rights.

 

Mr Obama has promised to sign into law a bill that the House recently passed (and the Senate is expected to approve as early as this week), defining violence against people because of their sexuality as a hate crime, worthy of harsher punishment. This is a victory that gays have long sought. Now assaults such as the murder of a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, in Laramie, Wyoming, 11 years ago can be prosecuted federally. And Mr Obama will be able to claim that a significant step for gay rights has been taken under his leadership.

 

So far there has been little other progress. Mr Obama’s speech drew ire as well as cheers. He could not say how long it might take to deliver on plans to repeal controversial policies such as “don’t ask, don’t tell”, which is deeply ingrained in American military culture, and DOMA, as conservatives would fiercely oppose its overhaul.

 

Yet he is making more promises. He wants to pass a bill that would make it illegal to fire someone because of his or her sexuality, increase funding for services for those who are HIV-positive and change an immigration rule that currently bans entry to anyone with HIV. This would amount to an ambitious reshaping of the status of America’s gays, but Mr Obama has given no indication of when these planned initiatives would be acted upon.

 

Some activists are calling for patience. After the speech, the head of the Human Rights Campaign told supporters that Mr Obama’s accomplishments on gay rights should be judged in 2017, after he finishes a second term. But others believe that Mr Obama has now raised expectations that changes would come quickly.

 

A rift has opened between those who want to agitate for immediate action and those who want a sunnier relationship with their president. on Sunday tens of thousands marched for gay rights in Washington, bellowing calls for rapid, not incremental, change. It was not unlike rallies a year ago, when a young black man was running for president and urging people to rise against the status quo to usher in a different sort of change.

 

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14634092&source=features_box3