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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Gay Congressman Barney Frank in Washington will no doubt garner some gay ire in coming weeks.

Frank, Human Rights Campaign and others have been busy hashing out the ever-contentious Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the latest controversy has nothing to do with trans inclusion, which has derailed discussions in the past. No, this latest brouhaha revolves around another hot-button topic: marriage.

A little-discussed provision of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would allow employers to give health insurance coverage and other benefits to married opposite-sex couples and deny those same benefits to the partners of their gay and lesbian employees who are legally married in Massachusetts and California.
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A similar provision has been in the bill since 1994, when ENDA was first introduced on Capitol Hill, but the earlier language said employers did not have to provide benefits to the domestic partners of their employees.

ENDA, which bans job discrimination based on sexual orientation, now says an employer cannot be required "to treat a couple who are not married in the same manner as the covered entity treats a married couple for purposes of employee benefits."

Before people start burning effigies, however, Frank's quick to point out that he personally did not add the language. It is, however, necessary, he says: "It was the decision of the committee and of everybody else, myself, Tammy, was that we couldn't pass anything without this…We had to make it clear that non-discrimination in employment had no effect on marriage one way or another."

Human Rights Campaign's past continues to bite back.

The non-profit caused a rift last year when it supported a non-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act after vowing to fight for trans inclusive measure. Even after the group apologized and promised to right its wrongs, some queer activists still aren't feeling the HRC love.

And they're fighting back.

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With ENDA's Senatorial revival, Human Rights Campaigns' Joe Solmonese again finds himself on the firing line. Solmonese got ripped apart last year after his organization abandoned the fight for trans inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. HRC had previously pledged not to support a non-inclusive ENDA, but went back on that deal, thus sparking an ugly civil war between activists hellbent on keeping a united front and those who felt it best to take baby steps: gays first, then trans folk.

Well, that debate rages on and this year Solmonese knows not to make promises he can't keep. Nor does he want people to think HRC's omnipotent, telling Ohio's Gay People's Chronicle that much of ENDA's future depends largely on our elected officials, including the president. Solmonese also insists that he and his HRC homies want nothing less than a fully inclusive ENDA, but maintain that incrementalism is the best way to go:

We have always been committed to the transgender-inclusive ENDA. The differences are in how best to get there.

One of the ways to unify the community is around working on going forward. There were transgender people walking the halls of Congress with us two weeks ago.

What will unite [the community] most is the success of doing the work to move Congress.

Yes, but will this year play out on HRC's conciliatory terms or those of the stridently trans-inclusion United ENDA opposition? We all know the answer to that one.

Gear up, readers, because it's time for the Senatorial ENDA fight.

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The headline says it all!

Last week we published three conversations with three of Barack Obama's gay advocates, including business man and former HRC board member Stampp Corbin. The following ENDA-related excerpt didn't make it because - well, it wasn't pertinent at the time.

In light of this weekend's HRC protest and the larger political context, we'd like to share Corbin's ideas on the tensions between grassroots and institutionalized activism.

It's definitely worth a read - for those of you who get off on DC's back rooms, at least.

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The ongoing battle between Matt Foreman and Congressman Barney Frank rages on!

The adorably cantankerous Frank appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show yesterday to rebuff Foreman's remarks that Frank's "squeamish" about trans rights. Frank defended his position, of course, but also made sure to take some swipes at Foreman, including his past political judgment in endorsing former New York Governor George Pataki over Democrat Carl McCall. Frank claims Foreman went for Pataki to strike a political compromise while heading up Empire State Pride Agenda. Frank called Foreman's move "a very significant mistake in my judgment from the standpoint of in our coalition building."

Grrrrl!

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Outgoing Task Force leader Matt Foreman appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show this week and lobbed a few hard balls at Representative Barney Frank, a man some say didn't take a strong enough stand during last year's ENDA debacle.

I think what really happened is [Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] people said 'Look, Congress has a terrible reputation right now, they're not delivering for any progressive causes… What do we have to do to deliver to our progressive allies?' That means labor and health and environment and gays. And, so, I mean, I don't know this for a fact, but I would bet my life that this is what happened: They went to Barney Frank and said 'What do we need to pass ENDA?"
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"Representative Frank, who has always been pretty squeamish on the trans issue, and I guess I can say these things because I am leaving my job…

Frank's office called in soon after and called Foreman's allegations "absurd".

Frank will appear on Signorile's Sirius radio show today at 3:30 to plead his case.

The contemporary gay rights movement got off the ground way back in 1969. Despite nearly forty years of struggle, activists still can't overcome one fundamental hurdle: should the gay movement subscribe to separatist isolationism or dedicate itself to more universal human rights?

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Logo's Jason Bellini sat down with Hillary Clinton last week to talk - what else? - presidential election. The duo discuss ENDA, Don't Ask, Don't Tell and what Clinton whispered to Barack Obama after last week's CNN debate.

New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr joined the Gay Center and the NYC pension fund in calling for corporate America to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Said Thompson: "We must work together to make sure that corporate America embraces acceptance and affords all employees the same protections…"