President-Elect Barack Obama has posted his plan for LGBT Rights on the Change.gov website and it's pretty comprehensive. It is by far, the most far-ranging civil rights agenda for the gay community ever offered by a President. Because the page is swathed in a combination of hopey vagueness and legislation you may have never heard of, here's a translation of the plan from Obamican to English:

Expand Hate Crimes Legislation
Obama supports the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act

In a separate section of the site, Obama offers support for the Matthew Shepard Act, which would significantly expand the 1969 Hate Crime law, give $10 million to law enforcement to investigate hate crimes and direct the FBI to track crimes made against LGBT people. The bill passed the House and the Senate in 2007 and was attatched to a defense spending bill as an ammendment. When Bush threatened a veto, the bill was dropped. The bill has widespread support in Congress and at the state-level, so with Obama's support, this bill will most likely pass.

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Barack Obama's walking a fine, gay line.

The Democratic Presidential candidate appeared on MTV this weekend to come out against California's Proposition 8, which would overturn gay marriage in the Golden State. At the same time, however, Obama reiterated his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Said the Senator from Illinois:

I've stated my opposition to this. I think [Prop 8 is] unnecessary. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that's not what America's about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don't contract them.

On a related note, the New York Times this Saturday ran an article highlighting the differences between Obama and rival John McCain's same-sex marriage opposition. While Obama's motivated more by religious elements, McCain's a victim of his time. Writes homo-journo Patrick Healy:

As a Christian — he is a member of the United Church of Christ — Mr. Obama believes that marriage is a sacred union, a blessing from God, and one that is intended for a man and a woman exclusively, according to these supporters and Obama campaign advisers. While he does not favor laws that ban same-sex marriage, and has said he is “open to the possibility” that his views may be “misguided,” he does not support it and is not inclined to fight for it, his advisers say.

Senator John McCain also opposes same-sex marriage, but unlike Mr. Obama’s, his position is influenced by generational and cultural experiences rather than a religious conviction, McCain advisers say.

What's interesting, we think, is that Obama consistently frames his support opposition of Proposition 8 in terms of constitutionality, rather than whether or not gay marriage is right - a tactic that's quite popular among the center and conservative set. That helps explain Obama's later comments in which he says he believes in strong civil unions that provide marital rights, like hospital visitations. That believe, he insists, provides a great example of his style of governance:

If they've got benefits, they can make sure those benefits apply to their partners. I think that's the direction we need to go in. I think young people are ahead of the curve on this for the most part. Their attitude, generally, is that we should be respectful of all people, and that's the kind of politics I want to practice.

Watch the MTV Prop 8 video after the jump…

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Civil unions took another hit today. Two months after a New Jersey commission found them flawed, a similar group in Vermont released a report that "stopped short" of endorsing marriage. The move's particularly important because Vermont started the civil union craze back in 2000, when it became the first state in the nation to pass the pseudo-nuptial laws.

The report, released yesterday, makes it pretty clear that Vermont needs some matrimonial reforms:

"It is the role of Vermont's policy-makers and elected officials to read and reflect on this report and in their best judgment determine what steps to take in their role as public servants of the people of Vermont," it said.

But in its findings the commission said "such a change in the law would give access (to same-sex couples) to less tangible incidents of marriage, including its terminology (e.g. marriage, wedding, married, celebration, divorce), and its social cultural and historical significance."

It added that full same-sex marriage "would likely enhance the portability of the underlying legal consequences of the status. … The tangible same-sex marriage benefits … raise serious questions about the operation of the civil union law and warrant additional research and serious attention."

The commission drew its conclusions after holding eight public hearings across the state. Despite this study, a number of social conservatives are gearing up to launch a state referendum on the matter. Because redundancy is God's work, right?

America's contrived civil unions can be so taxing!

Just ask Jason Smith and Settimo Pisu, a civil unionized couple from Hartford, Connecticut.

The boys tried to file their taxes on H&R Block's TaxCut Online website, but received quite a rude message: "We don't support Connecticut civil union returns." When will the internet learn manners?

Connecticut passed civil union laws over three years ago, but the national tax company has yet to update their online system. Instead, it directed them to a local H&R Block office or an "online professional," which apparently costs a pretty pink penny.

The perfectly suburban Smith and Pisu are incensed. As they should be…

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Chelsea Clinton's non-whorish campaigning took her to Texas last week, where journo Daniel A. Kusner found himself underwhelmed by the former first daughter's "soft" gay talk.

My question came next: “I noticed during the gay rights question, you kept using the word ‘civil’ throughout your answer. Why can’t your mother stoop low enough to grant full, equal marriage rights for same-sex couples? Or is the word ‘marriage’ too sacred for the Clintons?”

“Civil unions is what my mother has supported for as long as I can remember. I’m 27, ” Chelsea said.

“But the word ‘marriage’ is off the table, right?” I asked.

“Well, sir … She’s always supported civil unions,” Chelsea said.

Chelsea Clinton is 27 years old, and her forum is a college campus. So why is she speaking like such an old fart? Even Jenna Bush can tell Diane Sawyer that some of her fathers’ policies are too complicated for her to necessarily agree with.

Oh, snap!

Jon Corzine kinda sorta came out against civil unions yesterday. The New Jersey governor told reporters that he has "significant concerns" about the legislation, which a commission just found to be flawed.

Said Corzine: "The report does raise significant concerns about whether the law has effectively granted same-sex couples the same rights and benefits of every other family in the state."

Despite his hesitancy, however, ally Corzine will not push for gay marriage until after this November's election. While on the surface it may seem like Corzine's skirting the issue, but he's most probably trying to keep wedge issues off the table lest he fuck up the Democratic game.

Today's the day! The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission will release its official report this afternoon. Non-profit Garden State Equality got its gay hands on the complete document and posted it at Civil Unions Don't Work. They've also provided some videos of men and women testifying before the Commission that civil unions are flawed. We've included one such testimony above. It's the most exciting thing we've seen since we woke up.

In addition, GSE started airing a new 60-second radio ad this morning on - you guessed it - how civil unions don't work. Listen to it here.

Some American dreams are unraveling in New Jersey. Over two thousands gay men and women have registered for civil unions since the Garden State legalized them last year, but a commemorative study show that civil unions aren't as protective as some would like to believe:

A state commission report to be released Tuesday — the first anniversary of New Jersey's civil union law — concludes it falls far short of a state Supreme Court order to give "same-sex couples … the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples who choose to marry."

"Civil union status is not clear to the general public, which creates a second-class status," the Civil Union Review Commission says in its report.

Others give harsher assessments.

"The law is just a complete and utter failure," said Tom Prol, a trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. "It's a failed experiment in discrimination."

We wonder what Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both of whom toot their civil union supporting horn, will have to say about this one…

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