Thought you would want to hear what Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign president, said in his op-ed at the advocate.com:
There can be no doubt that President Barack Obama has improved the lives of LGBT Americans more than any president in history. As with any movement for sweeping social change, our opponents have put up roadblocks along the way, but the president has been an unwavering ally who has delivered on promises both great and small. Much more remains to be done, which is why ensuring that President Obama is able to continue the forward momentum toward equality for another term must be a top priority of our community.
Joe Solmonese gave the President graciously his deserving and earned kudos pointing out signature achievement he had made advocating the LGBTQ equal rights reminding his readers about the repeal of DADT, the "federal law explicitly protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people — the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act", mandating that every hospital receiving Medicaid or Medicare funds adopt and allow LGBT visitation rights, his deceleration of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and how that alone will be "remembered as a major turning point in the history of legal equality for LGBT people". The Op-ed goes on highlighting the significant progress the President has made...
We’ve seen so many other advancements that don’t always make the biggest headlines. The administration added gender identity to the equal employment opportunity policy governing all federal jobs. Married same-sex couples are now able to use their marriage licenses as evidence of a name change for passports, and there are more reasonable standards for changing a gender marker on passports as well. In the area of health, the president launched a National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and Health and Human Services has efforts to target populations most at risk, including gay and bisexual men and transgender people. This administration also requires that abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs be inclusive of and nonstigmatizing toward LGBT youth.
A brilliant piece to say the list and I urge you to give the commentary its deserving facebook "like" here.
In closing he states:
With all of our success, much remains to be done, which is why the Human Rights Campaign has endorsed President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. Our endorsement now will allow HRC along with our community and our allies to fully mobilize around what will be a difficult but critically important campaign. One need not look further than the records of the other candidates for a wake-up call about how important this election will be to LGBT people. As the fight for equality moves forward, President Obama is marching with us, while the alternatives would stop us in our tracks.
It’s a long time between now and November 2012, but the president has and continues to stand up for our community. We owe it to ourselves and our future to stand up with him again, starting now.
An awesome endorsement indeed and I say, thank you Mr. Solmonese for this wonderful endorsement of President Obama.
Deaniac83 at thepeoplesview.net in his article, ZOMG! "Homophobic Black President" Gets Big Gay Endorsement! also notes the path to full equality requires more work and reminds us how intersectional we must be to achieve that goal:
There is more to do. The struggle for equality is long, hard, and worth every second of every day. The struggle for equality is not a quick fix where you simply get to throw mud at our best ally just because he hasn't wielded a magic wand. The path to equality will not end until full equality is achieved in every respect. As a gay man, I can tell you that we cannot walk this path alone. We need our straight friends and family to march with us. We need people of every color, gender, economic status and religion to walk with us. We need our fellow Americans to amplify our voices. And we need President Obama.
Indeed we do!
Happy Saturday to all and enjoy Pics of the President in Poland and the reception he has received that our MSM won't show below the fold. More pics of the at the G8 summit in France as well.
The President of the United States Barack Obama and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, right, listen to the national anthems during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Saturday, May 28, 2011. Obama came to Poland for a two day visit.
A general view of a discussion on democracy hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama (centre, L) and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski (centre, R) in Warsaw May 28, 2011.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, walk for talks at the Prime Minister's Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, May 28, 2011
President Barack Obama and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk participates in a joint news conference at the Chancellery Building in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, May 28, 2011.
President Barack Obama lays down a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during his visit to Warsaw, Poland.
President Barack Obama greets Polish veterans after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Poland.
President Barack Obama is presented with a plaque commemorating his visit to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, after laying a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial in Warsaw, Poland.
President Barack Obama visits the memorial to the victims of the Smolensk plane crash at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Military in Warsaw, Poland
At the G8 summit in Deauville, France
U.S. President Barack Obama stands with Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, bottom row right, and Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, bottom row second left, during a group photo at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, Friday, May 27, 2011. Also pictured are French President Nicolas Sarkozy, bottom row left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second row second left, and Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, second row right.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, third right, speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama after a group photo at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, Friday, May 27, 2011. Also pictured are Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, far left, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, second left, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, third left, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, fourth left, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, fifth left, and Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, second right.
U.S. President Barack Obama walks with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
US President Barack Obama, right, speaks with Arab League's Amr Moussa during a round table meeting at the G8 summit in Deauville, France.
(From L to R) Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. President Barack Obama and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi walk together at the G8 Summit in Deauville
US President Barack Obama, right, speaks with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, left, during a group photo at the G8 summit in Deauville, France.
US President Barack Obama, right, shares a word with IMF Acting Managing Director John Lipsky, center, and British Prime Minister David Cameron during departures after a G8 summit in Deauville, France.
PS: Courteous of public domain pics from AP and Reuters.