What has happened to gay activists? When did they become dinner guests and hosts, and stop being the guy at the party everyone wishes would leave?

Instead of advocates, they have been complicit, refusing to apply real pressure with real leverage to the democratic party? Why are they content to only complain about people who are not in charge of the government? Obama and the democrats are in charge of the government. Time to act, and undue the damage they have done.

The Military Readiness enhancement Act (which would repeal DADT) was first introduced in March of 2005, but it never made it out of committee. It has been consistently reintroduced in every session of Congress since then. For the 111th Congress (2009-2010), it was introduced in the House on March 3, 2009.

The Respect for Marriage Act (which would repeal DOMA) was introduced back in September of this year, but it’s not on the legislative calendar due to serious doubts that it will pass (and admittedly, the legislative calendar is already very cluttered).

These bills exist and have already been introduced. They’re currently being considered, though.

Also, it is incorrect to suggest DADT or DOMA were Democratic initiatives. DOMA was written and introduced by former Republican representative Bob Barr (who, incidentally, now supports its repeal). It was passed by veto-proof majorities in both houses of Congress, and Clinton wasn’t going to be obnoxious and veto something knowing it would just be overridden anyway.

As for DADT, there were Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the issue at the time. While the bill (the Defense Authorization Act of 1994) was not passed with a veto-proof majority by the House, Clinton was likewise not going to be obnoxious by vetoing the military’s budget.

Check your facts and know your history.

Here are the facts:

The repeals are simple — they take no planning, or legislative effort, and repeal would be logistically easy because democrats control Congress and the presidency. They just come off the books. These bills are not new legislation.

Obama and his team has conflated the repeals with other more complex problems, suggesting that work on gay rights will take away from work on other more pressing matters, using words like “priorities,” and phrases like it it has to wait “in the tee.” But these repeals require no work, and won’t take any of the president’s time or Congressional time. So Obama has suggested a false choice, something he has derided. In this upcoming year the democrats can do both. They don’t want to do both.

The democratic party was complicit in DOMA and DADT; they were signed by democratic presidents and supported by many democratic members of Congress.

The democratic party loves to present itself as the party of the gays, and that is just not the fact, even if the GOP is so much more awful. The democratic party’s argument for support has always been in the nature of blackmail: “You want the GOP? Really?”

The democratic party now controls both houses of Congress, and the presidency. They want to put off the the repeals for political reasons only, at least until they win the midterm elections, I think, and/or Obama’s re-election. But who is to say they will win the midterm elections and retain both houses of Congress? Who is to say that things will all stay as they are today years and years from now? And don’t the vets thrown on their asses this month need help THIS MONTH? Don’t gay need to stop having the Federal Government take funds from their families THIS MONTH?

I hope that this sends at least one more person to the March on Washington on October 10 & 11th. Nobody will do right by us, but ourselves. If we don’t fight, then who do we point our fingers at?

Clinton opposes both of these measures today.

People think the president has a lot more power than he actually does. Sure he can say he’s going to do something, but he really can’t do much if the house and senate don’t introduce the bills and agree that change is needed.

RobertinWestbury is absolutely right I feel.

he is a politician.

We are one year away from the congressional midterm elections. He likely will not hand the conservatives the opportunity to use any advancement of gay rights against Democrats.

And then two years later, he is up for re-election. As someone who has tried way too hard to appeal to moderate to right of center voters, he likely won’t want to defend any action promoting ‘the gay agenda.’

So, while I think he has no problems preaching to us the way it should be, to actually lift a finger to make it the way it should be is too politically risky.

That is just the political reality.

If he ever does do something for us, I don’t expect it to occur until after he is re-elected, IF he is re-elected. And he can do it by betting on our votes, because… what else are we going to do? Vote for Palin or Romney?