White House releases details of tonight's Presidential Memo

condensed down...we got nothing, and you're P*SSED OFF

They don't even know what teeny tiny olive twig they are trying to offer.

TOTAL BULLSH*T, i hope the boo him off the stage.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:48:43 AM CDT

No GI mention...

color me underwhelmed.  

---

by: Marti.Abernathey @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:48:47 AM CDT

Too Little, Too Late?

I would have loved seeing this a few years ago.

But now? From our "fierce advocate"? Not so much.

Why the hell isn't he saying anything about starting to repeal DOMA and DA/DT?

A few small crumbs for some federal employees (who, presumably, will have to pay taxes on whatever they get, unlike straight marrieds who get tax-free bennies) is nice. But what about everything else for everybody?

---

by: S1 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:49:15 AM CDT

Hrmmmm

So, he's basically saying that he's following Hillary's lead at State and saying she can go ahead with her plan to extend benefits to her staff, and oh, let's see if anyone else wants to join in the fun.

Meh.  Not impressed.  

And they say we're "light in the loafers".  He's treading so softly on this issue, we ain't got nothin' on him!

---

by: waddling @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:50:52 AM CDT

Hillary

He was following Hillary's lead on pride proclamations too. The state department's went out before the president's.

---

by: cbear @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:55:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hillary '08 is a Dead Horse

Stop beating it. The biggest problem with the Obama Administration is it's being run by ex-Bill Clinton staffers like Rahm Emanuel.

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:15:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rahm isn't the only problem, though he's sure a part of it.

Obama claims he consults with his gang of five "spiritual advisers," four of whom are on record as being severely anti-LGBT, before making important decisions.  Guess what "spiritual advice" they give him on LGBT issues.

Language about incest and child rape didn't come from the Clinton administration.  It's pure Christian right.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

---

by: QScribe @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:03:42 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

One is Bishop T.G. Jakes

Has a gay son and calls homosexuality a "brokenness".

Same-Sex Marriage is good for the economy.

---

by: CharlesMerrill @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:16:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And because one of his departments did something before another one doesn't mean the President is following that department's lead, for heaven's sake.

Clinton isn't some rogue force for good in a world that wasn't ready to accept her, still fighting to bring justice to the unworthy masses.  She's an employee who follows orders.

---

by: diablorobotico @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:49:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yep, Toothless

No FMLA. No pension benefits. And the biggie, for a man who keeps talking about how good the federal employees' plan is and how it's a model for what all Americans should be able to get, no access to healthcare -- unless you're overseas.

Big deal.

Calculated, limited, insulting.

(And, quite likely, limited not just because they only wanted to throw a small bone, but because under DOMA, the apparently beloved DOMA, they can't do more.)

---

by: TR @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:51:07 AM CDT

meh..

...within the confines of existing laws and statutes.

How about changing some laws and statutes?  

This is missing a lot of everything :/

---

by: flyerfier @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:51:07 AM CDT

Michelangelo was on MSNBC earlier and said what a mess they've made

A young Black commentator, didn't get his name, was an obvious Obama apologist, and equally obvious was why they sent him out to talk to the FAMILY

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:52:11 AM CDT

His name's Jonathan Capehart.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

---

by: QScribe @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:04:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Jonathan Capehart is a good guy

Don't bash him. I saw the exchange, and Capehart was not shilling for Obama. He's more moderate than Michelangelo (whom I love), but Capehart made some tough points too. He said, for instance, that today's announcement would have been greeted as a modest victory if it weren't for the hideous DOMA brief. He blamed the administration for grossly mishandling its relationship to the community. You might think he should be more critical, but don't bash him. He spoke out against the Rick Warren pick has put gay criticism of Obama in the Washington Post, where it is not easy to get the perspective of the gay community reflected.

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:03:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The point is...

it wouldn't have been an issue whether or not it was a modest victory TODAY, if Obama had correctly done this in the immediate days after he took office.  The issue is not that this move is bad for the LGBT community, it's that it's a transparent bone we're being thrown.

---

by: Bruno @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:59:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I critiqued what he said

I didn't bash him.

Seriously, cut the hyperbole, when I bash someone, I don't mince words....see below Matt Drudge, Ken Mehlman image

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:15:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's insulting

This should have been done almost immediately. To do it in reaction to what's going on is insulting to our intelligence.

---

by: kathygnome @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:53:15 AM CDT

Just WTF

is a "non-biological, non-adopted" Child?

---

by: ggw59 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:53:25 AM CDT

never mind

I get it. Bizzare wording. This whole thing is a joke.

---

by: ggw59 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:59:48 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Do something about it.

So what I'm hearing is, "I'm doing all I can, but my hands are tied."

Untie your hands.

---

by: bruces @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:54:32 AM CDT

I was wondering...

I figured if health benefits weren't included that most of the really important benefits wouldn't be either.  For MOST federal employees it basically means when you're partner is sick and you need to stay home - you can say it's him and not lie that it's you.
Wow...

---

by: Robguy @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:57:11 AM CDT

oh yeah

and for the employees that will see the difference - foreign workers' spouses, who can get language training, emergency evac, anti-terrorism training... Hillary Clinton already did all that for her people.  

---

by: Robguy @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:00:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

how would Obama feel

This is kind of like the gay version of "you can clean the toilets at my exclusive country club but you can't actually play golf beside me."

At one time Obama would have been the one shuffled aside to clean toilets, now he's doing to us what's been done to him.

This is just sickening!

---

by: callie @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:00:12 PM CDT

a matter of simile

It's more like, "We'll recognize the fact that you two sleep together, and maybe even make some concessions so you keep being a productive, happy underling, but don't expect us to respect you as a family."

Still an insult.

This would have been a bold gesture, around, oh, 1975. Now it's de minimis.

Equality, I spoke the word, as if a wedding vow,
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.
-- B. Dylan

---

by: coram nobis @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:20:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

WTF ever

---

by: indigo32 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:00:21 PM CDT

instead of the tired line...that's SO gay

We should make an equally insulting and dismissive line of:

"that's SO fierce"

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:00:23 PM CDT

I'm assuming the last paragraph means...

...will mean transgender employees, and potential transgender employees, will be added into guidelines.

Interesting -- the WH can't seem to say or write the words "transgender" or "gender identity and expression." The word must now be perceived as too much of a distraction; too much of a potential land mine for them.

Should I be happy they can't seem to say "transgender" or "gender identity and expression," even if they are going to protect my peers?

-----
~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

---

by: Autumn Sandeen @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:00:41 PM CDT

Inadequate

Autumn, it sounds completely inadequate to me. The protection against sexual orientation discrimination is codified in an executive order. This won't be. Nor, it seems, will it even use the words "gender identity." Lastly, this isn't even NEW, as they've already said they had adopted an internal policy against anti-trans discrimination.

Pathetic!

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:18:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Internal policy is great...

but what about for those folks that work... say at DHS?

---

by: Marti.Abernathey @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:26:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Internal

By internal, I just meant a policy of the whole federal government, just not announced widely. Today's announcement doesn't seem to do anything new was my point--or even make it very high profile or codify it as an executive order. I'm saying today's announcement will be insufficient.

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:05:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't know Autumn...

Better ask Barney... he seems to be the boss now.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

---

by: Orion45 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:52:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm suprised they didn't say

etc....or others

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:09:48 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Puts the "Ick" in Pathetic

You've got to be kidding me, right? I mean, this has got to be a joke. These benefits - THESE "BENEFITS"! - are supposed to make us feel all warm and fuzzy about the Democrats and NOT protest their fundraiser?

We get to add beneficiaries to LTC insurance? Take time off to be with our families? Oh, and if you're in the foreign service, you also get to get adequate housing and medical care? Gee, how would I respond to this? How about: EPIC FAIL.

This is worse than doing nothing - it is a pitiful slap in the face to the LGBT community. The administration literally believes we will be satisfed with not only crumbs, but crumbs even the mice would not want. Add to that the haphazard way this was put together and the total lack of any other leadership, and it's just sad.

I really had high hopes for this administration, now I know they never had any plan for responding to our community. They were ready and willing to ignore us from Day One. Well, I don't think that's going to happen. We now know that we can get their attention by turning off the dollars. We can't stop here.  

---

by: CPT_Doom @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:02:11 PM CDT

Not adequate Health care at all.

It simply states they will have access to the facility.  That DOES NOT mean they are covered for the visit.  They will still have to pay the costs of the visit in real dollars, not the free services heterosexual spouses and families receive.

including the use of medical facilities at posts abroad, medical evacuation from posts abroad, and inclusion in family size for housing allocations.  

The trollish sounding blogger formerly known as BURNSEY

---

by: R.K. Wright @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:11:56 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Obama

if you gave us these cr*ppy non benefit benefits, a drag review singing AT LAST on the White House roof, and a g*d damn PUPPY.....we'd still be spitting nails.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:03:53 PM CDT

Sick leave and long term care

Woo hoo...not.
Hilary's action at the State Dept more impressive and inclusive of equal benefits.

---

by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:04:34 PM CDT

re: sick leave and ltc

Not really. Most benefits of the fed benefit package is covered by DOMA. Due to the peculiar nature of foreign service travel and station needs, they have additional benefits that I believe are more policy rather than statutory (ie, not covered by DOMA). Those are the things that Hillary has added (and that's good) but they don't apply to most run of the mill fed employees even if Obama had included them. Ironically, Hillary has finally made domestic partners equal to the family dog. FSO pets have always had their relocation expenses paid while domestic partners just had to shlep along on their own dime.

It may be the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.

---

by: sandushinka @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:26:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

all of this xcellent talking points

You've nailed it as to the Still Inferior, Reasons Why points and comparisons. Worth repeating in other threads and forums.

Thank you!

"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow,
Ah but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.
-- B. Dylan

---

by: coram nobis @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:21:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

how embarrassing

that they even bother with a press release, let alone a signing photo-op.

---

by: ggw59 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:06:41 PM CDT

Soooooooo...

Okay, it's a crumb -- as is Barney's promise on ENDA and Reid's statement on hate crimes -- but at least we've got them doing something.  I'm still not hearing anything on DADT (who's going to make that announcement?) nor an apology for the language on the DOMA brief.

This is obviously a panic buy.  If they followed it up with an apology and a plan (I'd rather have a timeline, but I'm willing to be a little loose on that) I'd be a whole lot more willing to reconsider my support.  

As it is I'm still back at no gay rights, no gay $$$.

---

by: BobbiCW @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:09:41 PM CDT

He thinks this will calm us?

I'm starting to wonder if after election night someone came and switched the real Obama with a robotic duplicate. It's mind boggling that he can be this stupid.

I am the lizard queen!

---

by: RainbowPhoenix @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:11:30 PM CDT

Well--They did make one for the "Hall of Presidents" at Disney./snark

---

by: gayjaybird @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:21:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

actually, they did

Apparently robot O-44 is up there with the other 43. Very lifelike. Disney is very good at that sort of thing.

(snark) I imagine that robot W-43 has voicebox malfunctions and keeps falling over. (/snark)

---

by: coram nobis @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:24:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Never let it be said:

that Obama didn't do the least he could do, the absolute least.  This is less than Bill Clinton delivered and Bush took away.

This woman says it all:
http://radicalbitch.wordpress....

---

by: Rev. @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:12:14 PM CDT

Barack

Bab's is MORE fierce when they put the wrong shade of rose petals in her toilet.

MAN UP

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:12:50 PM CDT

This just blows. Period.

Do they think we are that stupid. Absolutely none of the really important benefits can be granted because of DOMA. And they just defended DOMA with such zealotry that it just boggles the mind.

I guess we need to keep contacting the sponsors and attendees of the fundraising event to let them know this will not placate us. It's TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE!

Keep writing those letters to the White House too.

---

by: rickwla @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:15:22 PM CDT

unfortunately

they think we're that stupid.

---

by: ggw59 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:19:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Equally unfortunately

we always have been.  Crumbs--and tiny, minuscule crumbs, at that--have always been enough to keep the gay community feeding the Democrats money and votes.  I only hope this current wave of anger doesn't peter out before the midterm elections.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

---

by: QScribe @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:12:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

SUKS

---

by: Mike in Texas @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:16:35 PM CDT

I hope this is the most embarrassing moment of Obama's life.

---

by: Mike in Texas @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:17:38 PM CDT

It's not possible for him to be embarrassed by anything

He just doesn't fucking care.

---

by: David Ehrenstein @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:35:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

We need to protest at every adminstration event

til they give us what is our due and birthright: equality

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:37:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I agree - bring back the ZAPS

Our predecessors in the 1970s faced tougher odds than we do, so did our predecessors in the 1980s fighting AIDS indifference. They took to the streets, with carefully orchestrated "zaps" against politicians who were maybe sympathetic but not doing enough.

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:09:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And yet another crumb

We won our first DOMA case.

For a name change on a passport.

Whoopee, the more the Obama Administration drip drops this crumby shit, the angrier I get.

http://www.advocate.com/news_d...

---

by: kevinchi @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:18:16 PM CDT

How about everyone getting a federal job??

Here's an idea... Why not have everyone apply for the same federal job listing... Without any real intention of getting the job it would create some sort of statement, right??

Someone would receive hundreds (or even better thousands) of job applications from people seeking the few benefits it provides.

Perhaps a dumb idea, perhaps not...

---

by: Fred @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:36:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Does anybody know if Rea Carey (director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force)

has bowed out?  Haven't heard anything from her.  

---

by: exfundie @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:20:20 PM CDT

She better

if she wants to be credible.

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:21:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pathetic!

My partner and I won't be raising another $50,000 for Obama in 2012 like we did in 2008.

NO COLLABORATION WITH THE FRENEMY

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:20:32 PM CDT

that's SO fierce

here's an image I made

  http://img.villagephotos.com/p...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:28:46 PM CDT

Wow!

I, for one, am thrilled to have a Constitutional scholar president who comprehends that the most pressing civil rights issue of the day can be adequately addressed by giving a few of his employees a banana sticker and a seat in the back of the bus.

Look folks, the federal government has officially expressed a commitment to evacuate American homos from dangerous situations abroad! What else can they possibly do to make you people happy?

At long last, in no small part due to the tireless efforts of loyal gay Democrats, your party controls the Executive and Legislative branch. In gratitude for that longstanding commitment, a few of you can enjoy some shiny trinkets on a guaranteed temporary basis.

Kids, if you can't feel like the war is over, you just can't feel anymore.

---

by: thecrustybastard.blogspot.com @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:34:11 PM CDT

Well!

This changes everything!  If I were a civil servant, I could now take family leave time for my sick kids (though my insurance still couldn't cover my partner)? Sign me up!

Clearly this administration DOES have our best interests at heart after all!  Come, let us donate all our money to the DNC immediately!  O happy day!  Thank goodness, they realized this struggle was really all about sick leave for gay civil servants!

---

by: popebuck1 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:41:37 PM CDT

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

THIS JUST IN ON THE TELETYPE:

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. The Obama Administration announces the new benefits for homosexuals will include a tax credit for home renovations.  Any homosexual that remodels or adds a closet to their home will receive a rebate from the federal government.  This does not include costs for hangers, shelves or shoe trees.  It will cover soundproofing so we don't have to hear their whining anymore."

---

by: Smartypants @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:48:39 PM CDT

It gets better...Introducing

House Faggot Extraordinare...Joe Solomnese

"Today's Presidential memorandum committing to a federal workplace free from discrimination, including the extension of some benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers, is a welcome and long-overdue step toward bringing the government's policies closer in line with what America's largest companies understand is good for business. Today's presidential signature is the first brick in paving what is a long path toward equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.  We commend President Obama and his administration for taking this beginning step to level the playing field but we look forward to working with him to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, overturn 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and guarantee the entire American workforce is free from discrimination."

WTF!?!?

Cut off all funding to HRC. HRC, DNC, same fucking difference.

---

by: kevinchi @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:52:33 PM CDT

HRC ..UGH!

I switched my giving from HRC to NGLTF years ago.  HRC is the Steppin Fetchit of national gay organizations.

---

by: Smartypants @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:57:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agreed about NGLTF

However, as posted above, have not heard if Rea Carey is still attending the DNC fundraiser. This will be telling.

---

by: exfundie @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:04:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You know, that statement

did not even demand an apology for that shit in that DOJ brief.

---

by: kevinchi @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:09:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

DONE.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

---

by: Orion45 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:57:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Help me out here

Solomnese is to Curly and Frank is to Moe as_______________

---

by: ggw59 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:06:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

He's just doing his job.

As I've said before, HRC is not an LGBT organization.  It is a DNC operation designed to keep our community squarely behind the Democrats.  Poor Joe obviously thought that letter he sent would be enough to keep us with him.  Now it's back to business as usual--kissing Democratic ass and claiming to represent us.  I won't be the least bit surprised if HRC changes course and backs the DNC fundraiser after all.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

---

by: QScribe @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:21:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You mean Joe is embracing the pandering as progress?

This is weaker than CLinton's ex-order.
And more importantly, this is an attempt to shut us up.

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:39:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

DONE, as well

cancelled my membership in and funding to HRC. I practically threw up in my mouth when I read Solmonese's response to the "benefits" the White House has deigned to toss out its back door to us.

"You can't teach an old dogma new tricks."--Dorothy Parker

---

by: Andi @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:54:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A little late... to this dance.

...but so far you guys are doing just great... on the commenting.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

---

by: Orion45 @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:54:33 PM CDT

Show them it's more than just "us."

We're finally being heard by those in power, as evidenced by the administrations lame attempt to placate us.

To make our voices even louder, those of you with supportive families and straight friends, please ask them to help us. Ask them to contact their representatives, and the White House, to show it isn't just our "10 %" they will be losing financial support and votes from.

We have more strength when the power elite sees that it isn't just us, but also millions of other Americans who believe in civil rights for all, who will withhold money and votes to support us.

---

by: fool me once... @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 12:54:42 PM CDT

<b> FUCK THIS INADEQUATE, LIMP-DICK HORSEHIT.</b>

Gee golly whillickers, kids, if you're a federal employee you STILL can't cover your partner under your health insurance! But you sure can take time off to sit at home with him/her worrying about how you're going to pay out of pocket for the doctor bills since The Messiah took single-payer away as an option! And look! Since it's in memorandum format and not Executive Order, you even know the expiration date on this exclusive, fag-segregated limited-time offer! WOW, HOW GENEROUS!!

Suck my left nut, Barry. The right one is for Rahm.

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

---

by: Keori @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:00:40 PM CDT

If it walks like a duck...

This whole thing looks like a pile of crap and stinks like a pile of crap.

Choose your own sound-effect to go with it.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

---

by: oldbrit @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:10:25 PM CDT

Sorry, I left the most imporant part out!!

Click Here

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

---

by: oldbrit @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:16:26 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A simple primer on FIERCE for Obama

     http://img.villagephotos.com/p...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:15:59 PM CDT

btw Larry Kramer happened to have a column at HuffPo and he published this

It was nice to thank the man who saved my life, and millions of others.
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

I also posted it to AmericaBlog and another HuffPo column

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:46:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I love it, but...

I have to say that I don't recognize the NOT FIERCE guys.

Plus, I'd add Frank Kameny to the FIERCE column. Picketing the White House in 1965; now that was FIERCE!!

---

by: uh_huhh @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:15:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ken Mehlman ex head of the RNC,(and "friend") and Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:45:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I considered both Autumn, and Miss Pam the blogstremist

there are other lesbians and gay men, Michelangelo Signorele, Dan Savage, Randy Shilts, Paul Monette, Harvey Milk, Irshad Manji, Hillary Rosen, Chrissy Gephardt, Rachel Maddow, Rosey O'Donnell

I can make variations of the Fierce and not fierce, Ted Haggard, Mark Foley, David Dreier, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnel...make the not list.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:55:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's like he went out of his way

to make this the most meaningless thing possible.  He issued a memorandum to give us relocation costs as long as he's in office.  Please.  I don't know if he could have made this any more worthless.  

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by: sdv @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:16:08 PM CDT

... and he did

I don't know if he could have made this any more worthless.  

Well, he did issue an Official Proclamation!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_...

I love the part where he talked about how "My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community ..." Oh, the irony. Unfortunately, the best commentator on this sort of thing is traveling right now.

Paging Mr. Rude Pundit, courtesy telephone please!

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by: coram nobis @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:32:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh yeah, Obama can actually dig himself DEEPER

Can we say ONE TERM PRESIDENT?

"Where are we going to go?" is no longer working.

He keeps this shit up, we will no longer give him our time, our money ... or our vote!

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by: Juan @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 13:58:13 PM CDT

My advice to you, Mr. President

When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

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by: Naperville Mom @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:14:28 PM CDT

Power

I'm ambivalent (at best) about marriage equality (I would prefer my survival not be based on whether I have a partner) and I am extremely critical about and turned-off by the "marriage equality" movement.

That said, the DOJ brief raised a red flag for me. Gut-level red flag.

Barack Obama knows that the right/Christian fundamentalists use us as scapegoats for their political purposes. He understand the dynamics of this kind of political scapegoating. I heard him talking about the way that some groups get scapegoated like this, during the campaign. He gets that.

That he did not make a statement against what his DOJ said ... it says something to me. Says that this is entirely and completely a matter of power and leverage. He has no feel at all, and no one around him providing this feel, about the kinds of things that raise the risk of violence toward us.

Because that is how I see the DOJ brief -- a government product that with its words, raises the risk of violence against us. I don't expect President Obama to have stopped it. I would and do expect him to speak out against it. Because that kind of language raises the risk of violence against us.

So, hey. A heterosexual person in power who doesn't care if we are harmed. This is not new. This is what we have always faced.

President Obama doesn't get that we are are human beings facing risk of violence in a homophobic society.

All along I have found the calls for him to provide "leadership" for GLBT rights to be ridiculous. He is a heterosexual. He is not the leader of any GLBT movement, nor should he be. And no, he doesn't have some sort of special concern or care for us. he is a heterosexual in power, no more or less than any other.

What he gets is this: the operation of power. Community organizers are extremely aware of types and levers of power.

The "marriage equality" movement has been terrible at organizing and has alienated a lot of people in "the community" - including myself and my gf.

So I don't know what is possible in terms of sustained battle related to levers of power. I don't think we should shoot ourselves and everyone else in the country in the foot trying to get rid of the president's second term. But short of that -- what levers of power can we wield and what do we do to get organized enough to really do well in a sustained battle?

I don't have the answers. But I will say that the DOJ thing and the president's silence about the language, combined with this clearly BS federal employees thing which is so obviously a move to disorient/reclaim the narrative .... eh. It's all about power.

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by: michelle @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:40:25 PM CDT

I'm sorry you feel alienated

I don't even have a boyfriend, mostly because I'm way too shy to even talk to anyone.  I still don't feel alienated by the same-sex marriage crowd.  Instead, I've got some really awesome friends who I would love to see married and protected just like my straight married friends.

There are also some really good straight people allied with the GLBT community in the fight for our civil rights.  They don't have much to gain personally, it's more that being involved in helping others achieve justice is its own reward:  somehow the sum-total of good in the world can be increased.  I don't believe we can win this fight without those good people--there just aren't enough of us.

# Duty, duty -- honor is, is --
Honor, Creideiki -- alertly
# Shared, is -- Honor #

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by: MileHighDawg @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:19:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

the "helping others" thing

MileHighDawg,

You wrote:

There are also some really good straight people allied with the GLBT community in the fight for our civil rights.  They don't have much to gain personally, it's more that being involved in helping others achieve justice is its own reward:  somehow the sum-total of good in the world can be increased.  I don't believe we can win this fight without those good people--there just aren't enough of us.

I would just say, please be careful how far you go in focus on the heterosexual allies, because there are points at which orienting to them makes some of us invisible and thus more easily harmed as deviant.

Look at oldbrit's reply to Peteypornpig, below in this thread.

I wrote a reply to her, and then wrote some more. On reflection, I am posting the rest of it in response to you here FWIW (or isn't)

Here's what I wrote:

===========================

Oldbrit wrote (to another person):

"Sounds like you don't value the right to marry, so you're not going to do anything to help others achieve a right they value.

I'm a heterosexual woman. I can marry and have been married for many years, so I guess I should just shut my mouth and stop advocating for rights that don't benefit me."

As a heterosexual person, oldbrit supports LGBT rights to "help others." By definition. From this privileged space, she assigns value to benevolence toward others -- rather than survival in a society that targets us in concrete ways for being "deviant"  -- as a reason to act

She does not appear to get that we who are not heterosexual have to live this every day. She does not appear to get that some of us are really focused on marriage and others of us are not, and we are ALL dealing with matters of survival in a society that targets us as deviant. That when a LGB and/or T person talks about this stuff, we are often talking about our own lives because we experience this oppression in our own lives.

When some gay people get all intense about marriage as THE issue, they are often talking about their own lives too, using that as a starting point. It is no noble abstract thing. It is our actual lives.

And some can get a little over-focused on their particular concerns to the point of believing their own hype. Some gay people start to believe their lives are more real, their pain is more real, than LGB and/or T people who don't experience the world just as they do or have a focus just like theirs when it comes to the oppression we all experience in a variety of ways.

So what is it that is so compelling to self-righteous hetero "allies" about this single-issue marriage equality movement?

Well, first, its gay proponents have defined their own lives as universal, thus making abstract what is in fact specific. Hetero allies can get into this, because for them, it is abstract.  It is some noble "helping others" thing and not a specific set of experiences and concerns about their own lives. They transform into the epitome of the noble unselfish special unicorns.

And when a gay person who doesn't agree with this false universalization and abstraction comes along, a straight person is empowered to argue that that person should care more about others.

Because "helping others" is their reason for being involved and they are accustomed to being at the center. Why wouldn't we be just like heterosexual people? They are the ones who are normal (human template), and so they can assess us just as they would assess their own selves or another heterosexual person.

Another reason I think that the marriage equality movement's approach is appealing to some heterosexuals as THE gay rights issue is that it says that we (all) want to be just like them.

It says that the peak of the gay person's life is to get what the heterosexuals have. To use their relationships like a model for our own, to show ourselves to be human by emulating the heterosexuals. I bet that feels real good to our straight allies. To be the model for relationships? To see others wanting to do it how they do it? Must feel good to be the model template for others' relationships.

And sure, some gay people want this, and I say more power to them. As long as they don't claim to speak for all of us, I'm ok with that.

But I myself am not a lesbian because I want to emulate heterosexuals. That is not why I chose to be this before I was born, and it not why I continue to choose this now. I am a lesbian because at the intersection of the physical, emotional and spiritual, there are specific paths and doors open to a woman who connects on multiple levels, including sexually, with specific other woman.

I don't even have words for this. For what my "sexual orientation" is, because there is so much pressure out there to define it as "we are just like heteros."

I am not what the marriage equality advocates say we all are. And for me to emulate heterosexuals would be to deny what I am, and why I am, as a lesbian. And my pain and survival struggles (both the material level and other levels) are real too - not universal, but specific and real.

I am a lot less appealing to the ego and vanity of the heterosexual allies than those who define marriage as the goal for "LGBT rights." The marriage focus strokes the egos of the straight people, says that their relationships hold and model all that is really desirable about human emotional/spiritual/sexual relationships, and the only difference is the gender of the participants.  

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by: michelle @ Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:43:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sometimes the focus on same sex marriage gets a little heavy handed

I made a correction on another thread discussing Dan Savage's civil disobedience plan, and someone stated ALL same sex couples could participate. Well not all same sex couples would choose marriage, we wouldn't, and we've been together 6 years. I would have married my previous partner who died 19 yrs ago, and my first lover and I had Holy Union at MCC...but I've changed now.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:29:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I strongly support the RIGHT to Marry

but not for me, and mine

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:31:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sounds like...

Sounds like you don't value the right to marry, so you're not going to do anything to help others achieve a right they value.

I'm a heterosexual woman. I can marry and have been married for many years, so I guess I should just shut my mouth and stop advocating for rights that don't benefit me.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

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by: oldbrit @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:53:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

@oldbrit

IMO:

We -- not you, unless you are transgendered and didn't mention it (in which case ignore my whole comment please, that's a different discussion then) -- we are the ones who have to actually live day to day with what it is like to be L, G, B and/or T in this society.

We have a wide range of concerns that are not all encompassed by what the marriage equality movement is putting forward as THE concerns.

For example, in the comment that started this discussion, I mentioned risk of violence.

IMO, the first thing you need to understand as a straight person speaking publicly on this issue is: how to listen to actual LGBT people as if we are actually humans who have actual experiences that you don't and will never have.  Even when our experiences and related opinions differ from what your political stance is, or your personal feelings about marriage, or from the experiences/opinions of other LGBT people you know, or what the movement incorrectly defines as what they claim is most important to all of us (the movement doesn't speak for all of us no matter what anyone claims).

The second thing you need to learn how to do is ... listen to LGBT people as described above.

That's the third thing too.

Now, once you have learned how to treat us with that basic respect of knowing we are not monolithic and knowing how to listen, you might want to check your own self to find out why you developed a knee-jerk response of trying to argue rather than trying to understand in a discussion like this.

You need to listen better in these discussions. Listen so you can come to understand why some of us may not be in line with the approach of the marriage equality movement as it has been operating.

Not lecture, not argue with us. Argue with the other heteros, ok?  We don't need educating from straight people.

IMO: I speak only for myself and I have no idea if the person you are arguing with would disagree or agree with me. IMO, this kind of arrogance from straight allies is in part a product of the problems in the movement, and in part a product of the usual heterosexual privilige.

And the thing that gets me is that the only part of what I wrote that anyone responded to was about the problems in the movement. As if that hasn't been rehashed eighty million times in eighty million discussions and as if the real focus of what I wrote wasn't on President Obama (it was on him).

And then whole thing ended with a hetero person arguing with a gay person like oldbrit did.

Ugh. Just ugh.

Yeah, these heterosexual allies are great! /sarcasm

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by: michelle @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 18:50:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Aravosis is saying that there's nothing new - check this out

http://www.americablog.com/200...

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by: Scott_NC @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:42:54 PM CDT

It's a crumb

It's worse than standing by The Obama Brief.

At least with George Jesus Boy you know where you stood.

Primary his sorry middle of the road ass.

What a day, what a day for an auto-da-fe

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by: revbob @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 14:47:32 PM CDT

Too little, too late...

With friends like this, who needs enemies?  Here Mr. President, let me bend over so you can keep giving it to me.  Enough is enough...is there any politician with backbone left to do what's right?

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by: SpireaX @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:01:20 PM CDT

Just lovely

He's giving us partners of federal employees "rights" we already have.

What's behind door #2?

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by: BobbiCW @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:02:52 PM CDT

It's a minimalist and incrementalist approach

The administration is seeking the minimal move that will keep the GLBT and ally community in the fold.  They probably didn't even realize that they overstepped the bounds of what would push us away--instead, they pushed a little through inaction.  We stayed.  Then they pushed a little more with DADT separations.  We stayed.  Then they pushed a little more with the DOMA release.  

Right now they're realizing that not enough of us will stay for them to retain power.  So they're trying infinitessimal moves to attempt to bring us back into the fold.  There are so many that are attempt to browbeat or cow enough of us to stay so that they can maintain power.  It's not about doing the right thing by the GLBT community.  It's just about power.

# Duty, duty -- honor is, is --
Honor, Creideiki -- alertly
# Shared, is -- Honor #

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by: MileHighDawg @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:25:02 PM CDT

It is as though they don't understand trust

Once broken it is very difficult to get back.

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by: pgraydon @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 16:10:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No New Benefits

IT JUST GETS WORSE!

According to Aravosis, the benefits being announced tonight are already available to federal employees, although this memorandum will require agencies to provide them (as I understand it, prior to this it was discretionary).

We all now know that President Obama this evening will give some federal agencies the right to give some federal employees some benefits at some time in the future. The problem, as one reader writes, is that federal agencies already have that right, and in fact, are already providing the benefits. So what is President Obama actually giving us?...

UPDATE: The answer is "yes." I just asked OPM Director John Berry, on a White House media conference call, whether in fact federal agencies already have the right to give these benefits to gay employees. The answer, "yes." So what's new about tonight? Obama is going to "tell" the agencies to give the benefits - as if any agency in the Obama administration would dare tell a gay employee no to a request for time off to attend their partner's funeral?

Just pathetic...

http://www.americablog.com/200...

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by: CPT_Doom @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:34:26 PM CDT

And so he's getting ready to lie

to the american people and say "My Administration" did such and such.

And still, he's shucking ansd jiving around that damned apology.

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by: kevinchi @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 15:38:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well, are we ready to disrupt and embarrass the Administration

by protesting at every event that they hold, or outside of them?

Are we ready to have hit and run protests, tying uup streets and disappearing?

Are we ready to close in on that fundraiser and block the streets til the police use tear gas to cler us out, providing news footage of just how fiercely our government advocates on our behalf?

I am.

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 22:20:56 PM CDT