We’re not quite ready to call Barack Obama‘s personal stab at health care reform a failure, because even we recognize it’s too early to tell. But the bad news is that the White House’s brand of merging the House and Senate’s bills leaves out all those pro-gay provisions that Rep. Tammy Baldwin helped insert. So if she’s not sounding the alarm, should we?
Hah. As if we take cues on whether to be concerned from politicians.
That Obama didn’t include the pro-gay elements comes on the heels of the Senate also not picking them up from the House bill. Which should be alarming.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the openly gay member of Congress who was a leader in adding pro-gay provisions to the House health reform bill, says she hasn’t given up hope. She called President Obama’s proposal Monday ”an important step forward” that ”helps to regain our momentum” on health care reform efforts.
But, she added, ”it is not the final word.”
[…] ”The President’s proposal assumes the base Senate bill,” said Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the White House with LGBT media. But Inouye pointed out that the president’s proposal does include ”data collection.”
The ”data collection” mentioned in the House bill called for the establishment of an office of Assistant Secretary for Health Information to promote the collection of data about ”sexual orientation” and ”gender identity” (along with a great many other categories) to help identify health issues and the need for programs. The proposal posted by the White House Monday calls for improved ”data collection and analysis, facilitates better data sharing, and requires the development of standards for the collection of data regarding the nation’s health and the performance of the nation’s health care, including health disparities.”
Ronald Johnson, deputy director of the AIDS Action Council, said he is concerned that some aspects of the House bill that were favorable to the LGBT communities will be left out but that the proposal is still ”a moving ball.”
So is anything good for the gays coming out of the White House? You might be able to point to the president’s version of the annual federal spending bill. There, “one of the ‘Fact Sheets’ on key issues included with the president’s budget is ‘Expanding Opportunities for the LGBT Community.’ … To ‘support the needs of the LGBT community,’ Obama’s budget proposes to: Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Efforts; Support Federal Employee Domestic Partner Benefits; Expand and Focus HIV/AIDS Treatment, Care, and Prevention Activities; Execute a National AIDS Awareness Campaign; Support a Fair and Accurate 2010 Census.” (Specifics on those initiatives can be read here.)
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
With Democrats and Republicans squabbling over whatever is left of the effort to reform health care, you can rest assured the most “controversial” line items are going to be dropped into a lowest common denominator, neutered bill.
InExile
He doesn’t care what he passes as long as he passes something so he can say he did. Remember it’s all about him, not us!
The Artist
Leave the man alone. Turn your anger to the pin heads in Congress.
David Ehrenstein
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2010/02/23/opera-news/
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
I like listening to the President’s Speeches….while everything is going to Hell* in a Hand-basket! Pass whatever the f*&^ you have, then Move On (Dot Org!)
*Hell is a burning rubbish dump!
Justin Normand
Now THAT’S “Change You Can Believe In” for sure!
You just keep on, Mr. Obama. You may think we’re ugly, but we just might not be stupid… again.
Dirty Ole Man
@The Artist: #2
Turning their anger at the real obstructionist problems that exists in congress would be too easy for Queerty and it’s sullen
readers. They’d much rather vilify the very Man who has
vowed to help Gays achieve more ground than any other president
in U.S history.
Why you ask? Well I can’t say for certain, but I can certainly look at what’s different about this President versus the others.
HE’S BLACK! There, I said it! Queerty continually publish these anti Obama bullshit stories about our President because he’s BLACK, not because he’s working AGAINST our best interests like right wing republican bigots, but simply because he doesn’t look like the other 43 White President that sat in the oval office.
There’s a part of me that hopes the militant racist fags that continually bash this administration gets NOTHING in return! NO Repeal of DADT, NO Equality in Marriage! After reading many blogs and forums hosted by the Gay community, I’m convinced that most of them are closet republicans anyway! Fuck those hypocritical bastards and their cause!
Dirty Ole Man
Bill Clinton saddled us with that DADT bullshit policy and managed to get his Cock sucked in the oval office, while George Bush ruined our economy and killed hundreds of thousands of people in a false war, YET some militant armchair homosexuals act like Barack Obama is the worse thing that could’ve happened to the Gay Rights agenda.
Question:
1. Did George W. Bush ever attend a meeting hosted by
any major Gay Rights Groups and vowed to advance our agenda?
2. Did Clinton do the same?
The answer is NO! Both of these administration virtually ignored our faggot asses! Yet you fools insist upon cutting off your hand to spite your arm by bashing Barack Obama after only a year in office!
You bitches make me sick!
The Artist
@Dirty Ole Man: Between the pin heads in Congress and the Jackass (or at least 5 of them) in the Supreme Court, how the hell is anything getting done in this country. Have you seen the genetic make-up of the “leaders” in this country. It is time for a new direction…time for change! Vote out all the old farts this year. Don’t complain, start with the person in mirror, take a look at yourself and make a change. PEACELUVNBWILD!
The Artist
If you hate Obama, keep watching FOX News! Chookas!
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
@Dirty Ole Man – You said “Well I can’t say for certain,”
Exactly, YOU can’t Say for CERTAIN!!!
President Barack Obama has not enacted any pro-gay policies by Executive Order or through Congress, despite Election promises.
You (dirty ole….) come across as Uneducated and Homophobic. Your use of the Race Card suggests that it is being used to your advantage if only by saying that all Gays who disagree with Obama are homophobes thus not having to discuss his real record of achievement or lack thereof.
As a Progressive, I will be voting for Third Party options and gay-friendly candidates which does not include the current occupant of the White House.
tjr101
@dontblamemeivotedforhillary:”President Barack Obama has not enacted any pro-gay policies by Executive Order or through Congress, despite Election promises.”
Am, what exactly was the Matthew Sherperd Act? How convenient your memory is.
What exactly has the Clintons done for us? DADT, DOMA and to say Hillary would have been better is a pie in the sky!
schlukitz
No. 2 · The Artist
Leave the man alone.
That’s appropriate advice. I’ll keep it in mind when I am in the voting booth in 2012.
After all, he was nice enough to leave us alone, wasn’t he?
schlukitz
No. 11 · tjr101
Am, what exactly was the Matthew Sherperd Act?
Yes. That is true.
However, what of all the other promises he made to us and posted on Whitehouse.org with respect to Civil Rights, none of which have been carried out or given a time-frame for their enactment. Namely…
President Obama also continues to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. He supports full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He supports repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security, and also believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.
jason
If there are still some misguided gay people out there who support the Democrats, this development should be enough to extinguish that support.
The simple fact is that Obama and the Democrats are liars. They’ve lied to win our votes. They do not deserve our votes in this year’s Congressional elections nor do they deserve our votes in any other year.
Dirty Ole Man
@dontblamemeivotedforhillary:
Um, as your name suggests, you voted for Hillary in the primary, and I’m sure you voted for McCain in the general election just to spite Obama , so who really gives a fuck about what you have to say, or what you expect from this President!?? I sure as hell don’t, and I doubt anyone in the White House cares either. As far as you’re concerned, President Obama can do NOTHING right as long as he’s President. You look like a damned FOOL trying to argue an objective point when your name alone points out your bias.
Fuck off!
As I said before, go ahead and vote with your bitterness and
vitriol, we’ll see how it works out for ya in the years to come.
The Republicans will only ignore your silly asses and force you back into that closet you’re so familiar with..
ha!
schlukitz
No. 14 · jason
I am one of the misguided people who not only voted for Obama, but badgered my family, friends and associates to vote for him too.
After seeing all of the above promises I posted in no. 13 left unfilled, I am over Obama.
All of Mr. Obama’s “I believe” statements remind me of the story about the Afro-American Baptist Minister who was baptizing a member of his congregation in a nearby creek…but first, the disclaimer.
THIS IS NOT RACISM. IT’S JUST A FUNNY STORY.
http://clearcreekbc.org/creekbaptismpics.html
Somewhat overzealous in his determination to make sure the baptism “took”, the Minister pushed the woman’s head down into the water not once, but three separate times.
Each time that she came up for air, the Minister asked her “Do you believe?”
Coughing and sputtering, she replied “Ah believes.”
After the third dunking, the Minister asked her “And what do you believe, my good, god-fearing woman?”
Barely able to speak from having swallowing copious quantities of creek water, she managed to gasp “Ah believes that you iz trying to drown me.”
schlukitz
You look like a damned FOOL trying to argue an objective point when your name alone points out your bias.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
schlukitz
No. 6 · Dirty Ole Man
HE’S BLACK! There, I said it! Queerty continually publish these anti Obama bullshit stories about our President because he’s BLACK, not because he’s working AGAINST our best interests like right wing republican bigots, but simply because he doesn’t look like the other 43 White President that sat in the oval office.
There is no doubt that there are some racists in this country, both hetero and homo, that dislike Obama because of his skin color. Denying the reality of that would be akin to sticking ones head in the sand.
That said, however, I am not willing to buy into your over-the-top theory that his popularity has been steadily declining since his election simply because he is black.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244239/Barack-Obamas-approval-rating-hits-record-low–hes-popular-African-Americans.html
And, as you will note from the above URL, the reality is that he is least popular among African Americans. So this shoots a big hole in your “racism” accusations against the LGBT community.
Racial issues aside, the man lied to all of us, not just the gays, but everyone in this land who voted for him. He gave us high hopes with his lofty speeches about change after 8 years of Bushism that ruined this country.
Bill Clinton may have given us DADT and not willingly, if you read your history books, and he may have had the good fortune of getting his dick sucked under the Oval Office desk he occupied, but he didn’t rape the nation like Bush did and when he left office, he left this country in the greatest financial shape it had seen in years…with surpluses to boot!
I don’t blame Obama for the miserable shape this country finds itself in. That was the legacy of Dubya which, Lord knows, will not get fixed overnight.
But, I do hold Mr. Obama responsible for keeping the promises that he enumerated and listed on whitehouse.org for the world to see. In office for almost 400 days now, the only legislation that he has passed of benefit to the LGBT community, is the Mathew Shepard Act.
Oh wait…I almost forgot. We also got invited to the Easter Egg Hunt on the front lawn of the White House.
What was it you said of us…faggot asses and bitches that make you sick?
Apparently, you forgot how to spell the word “ingrates” or you would no doubt have included it in your scathing indictment of we queers as well.
Sorry, Jack. It is people like you who make us sick.
jason
I would rather face an honest enemy than a dishonest friend. Obama represents the dishonest face of liberalism. Liberalism claims to be gay-friendly but its true basis is male heterosexual fantasy. Everything liberals do is designed to ultimately prop up male heterosexual fantasy.
Case in point: the bisexual double standard. This double standard is forced down our throats by liberal males and their sleazy female enablers. It says girl-girl is hot and guy-guy is gross. Don’t underestimate the role of women in this: they are partly to blame for our oppression. Blacks are also to blame.
The only way we in the GLBT community are going to get our full rights is to wage a culture war against liberals. We need to form a coalition with moderate conservatives and Republicans. It’s the only way we are going to win the war.
Andrew
Face it, Obama sucks. Should have backed Hillary 110%.
schlukitz
No. 20 · Andrew
She certainly would have had bigger balls than Obama, that’s for sure!
Who emasculated him, for crying out loud? Or was it that he never had any balls to begin with?
Truthteller
To the artist,
“HE’S BLACK! There, I said it! Queerty continually publish these anti Obama bullshit stories about our President because he’s BLACK, not because he’s working AGAINST our best interests like right wing republican bigots, but simply because he doesn’t look like the other 43 White President that sat in the oval office.”
This is the same tactic Obama used against Hillary when they accused Bill Clinton of being racist. This aren’t the primaries anymore, the race card won’t fly and you can’t shame people into supporting someone who has betrayed just about everyone who supported him.
“They’d much rather vilify the very Man who has
vowed to help Gays achieve more ground than any other president
in U.S history.”
Vows are like farts; they both disperse in mid-air.
Bill Clinton spent real political capital by working to allow gays to serve openly in the military when the public, the armed forces, Congress, the House and just about everyone in the country was against it…those are balls and a president taking action to better a community of citizens.
Obama had a super majority in congress for almost a year, a democratic house, the generals support repeal of DADT and so does the public, he can end it with a strike of the pen, but does he? NO.
What about DOMA? Ah yes, he defends it by equating being gay with bestiality.
Your SHAME tactics won’t work with people who read and understand what is going on. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
schlukitz
No. 22 · Truthteller
Um…it was No. 6 · Dirty Ole Man who made that HE’S BLACK! comment while responding to No. 2 · The Artist.
I too called Dirty ole Man on his having played the race card in my post No. 18 · schlukitz
Truthteller
Apologies to no. 2, the artist.
Thanks Schlukitz.
Johnny Walker Black
It really doesn’t matter at this point because if Obama came through on everything we wanted. Some of you STILL would not be bothered with him. But I know for one thing. The gays can rejoice if he loses in 2012 so be it. He has NOTHING to lose and will gain it all from the world while some of you will still be screaming BYE OBAMA, AND NOBAMA But oh yes OBAMA will be getting ready to make some major moolah…while we’ll still be looking for equality!….
WHO REALLY WILL HAVE EGG ON THEIR FACES?
And if Jason thinks that moderate conservatives and Republicans will help the Gay agenda. Then me as an African American my skin color will change in 5…4…3…2…1 That ain’t happening.
But I do hope the anger level will stay the same because The Hillary 2012 show is not happening and if it does just remember she’s NOT for marriage equality NEITHER. Maybe the Brown/Romney era will begin then his Cosmo pic can give the kids something to drool over and vote him in. And lets see where the community will lie then!!! Because neither one of them or a Republican Congress will nothing for this community and you and I both know that!
$0.02
To Dirty Ole… Now before I say anything I would like to point out for you that I am BLACK! I am gay and black. So trying to throw the race card at me won’t work as I don’t give a crap about his race as I too am his race. That said, most people here don’t have a problem with him being a black President. Is there rabid racism in the LGBT community? HELL YEAH! But from what I’ve read thus far that is not he case here. Folks here are just fed up with being promised so much and having a bone chucked at them. Yes the Matthew Shepherd Act was a good gesture and trying to repeal DADT is a step in the right direction but I fear that’s all we’ll get. This speaks volumes. What good is all this when states are allowed to vote on my right to have a legally protected, recognized and respected union with my spouse? If something were to happen to him, at least he can say his wife and children will be taken care of. His wife and kids will have his benefits to fall back on. His estate will automatically go to his wife. LGBT people have to go through hoops, flaming windows and dodge moving cars just to make sure our spouses will be alright. That’s not enough. Those two gestures alone are not enough! Don’t make a promise you do not intend to keep. The reason why we all are so disgruntled is because we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We’re sick and tired of begging for our rights, to be treated with respect or at least be shown the same treatment as straights. We’re sick and tired of getting a pat on the head and a cookie. I the president. I think he’s a very good leader and he’s doing a lot. But this is not enough and my fear is this is all he’ll do for us. Like someone stated above I don’t just want him to say that he supports my community I want him to act on it! I won’t him to do what his website points out, what he preached to us and what he ran on to get himself in the White house. Since when was that asking too much???
$0.02
Excuse in the last sentence I said I WANT him to do what he said he’d do…
schlukitz
No. 24 · Truthteller
You’re very welcome. 🙂
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
@No. 11 · tjr101
@dontblamemeivotedforhillary:”President Barack Obama has not enacted any pro-gay policies by Executive Order or through Congress, despite Election promises.”
Am, what exactly was the Matthew Sheperd Act? How convenient your memory is.
What exactly has the Clintons done for us? DADT, DOMA and to say Hillary would have been better is a pie in the sky!
My response: You are half correct, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act were passed only because it included the name of a black man dragged behind a pick-up truck to his death yet race was already covered as a Hate Crime as “crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability!” were added as African-Americans and other racial minorities have been protected for nearly 40 years since the Civil Rights Act of The 1969 Federal Civil Rights Law, 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2), permits federal prosecution of anyone who “willingly injures, intimidates or interferes with another person, or attempts to do so, by force because of the other person’s race, color, religion or national origin” If it were just Matthew in name as you misspelled, it would not have passed.
Unfortunately, due to the Bush-now-Obama economy, crimes against women and lgbt folk are at a record high. If a Clinton were President now and not over a decade ago, it would have also included ENDA, repeal of DOMA (something Bill was cornered into and deeply regretted) but I don’t let him off the hook either, especially with DADT! At what point do we not address the rampant homophobia of THIS President and current Congress who could have undone these earlier policies (which were really part of the Gingrich Revolution deal or Contract on America!) If they can pass health care….why not us?
The Green Party is the only 100% pro-Gay party, not less than 5% like the current Democrats who will not get my vote in 2010 or 2012!