Steve Kornacki, one of the rising stars of MSNBC, and one of the most prominent LGBT voices out there, has an excellent piece about why Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act almost 20 years ago:
...Sanders isn’t telling the full story on Bill Clinton and gay rights. Because to understand what Bill Clinton did in 1996, you first need to remember what he did in 1993. That was the first year of his presidency, and one of his first moves after being sworn-in was to fulfill what had been a bold campaign promise: to end the military’s ban on openly gay service members. But the new president was met with fierce resistance – from revered military leaders like Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell and from leaders in his own party, most notably Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, the Democrats’ point man on defense issues.
Public opinion swiftly turned against Clinton, who was accused of trying to use the military for “social engineering.” He was also pilloried for focusing so much political energy on what to many Americans seemed like a niche issue. Further complicating matters was Clinton’s own service history. Allegations of Vietnam “draft-dodging” had dogged him in the 1992 campaign and hard feelings remained among some military leaders and veterans groups. When on Memorial Day 1993 Clinton appeared at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, he was greeted with boos and turned backs.
Clinton’s push to end the ban stalled, his poll numbers plummeted (Time dubbed him “The Incredible Shrinking President” that June), and he was forced into a compromise on the issue – the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that wasn’t rescinded until 2010.
In short, Bill Clinton went out on a limb for gay rights three years before he signed DOMA – and his presidency nearly collapsed because of it. “Gays in the military” was one of the reasons for the Republican wave of 1994, when the GOP grabbed control of the House for the first time in 40 years. In the wake of that midterm election, Clinton was left for dead politically, urged even by members of his own party not to seek a second term in 1996.
Its important to look at things in context of their times. Are we going to throw FDR, JFK, and even LBJ under the bus? FDR with internment, JFK for going too slow in civil rights, LBJ for using the N-word (as depicted in "The Butler?") Jimmy Carter wasn't known to be so happy about integration when he sought the governorship of Georgia.
What do you all think would've happened, in 1996, with Newt Gingrich at the Speakership, had Bill Clinton actually vetoed DOMA in 1996? Remember the "Contract With America?"
Some people need stop being ignorant of history and the times. The LGBT struggle is the foremost civil rights movement of our time. However, as others, it did not achieve victories immediately, or even quickly. It took generations. Democrats of many eras faced moral and political struggles struggles for racial and sexual orientation equality. Plenty of the best, plenty of our party heroes evolved, as well as got some things right, got and did some things wrong. Activists of both white and non-white, straight and gay, fought for racial and sexual equality. In both cases, it took the SCOTUS to make rulings like Brown vs. the Board and Windsor. Purity trolling needs to be damned.