Dear President Obama,
I appreciate that you and Democratic representation in Congress are moving forward on the hate crimes bill once known as the Matthew Shepard Act. It’s the first in what I hope are many steps from this Congress and your administration toward addressing the inequalities I and people like me live every day. I know there are many priorities on your plate at this time, and some (like Defense Secretary Gates) have used those to defer any movement on removing obstacles to full equality for GLBT Americans and our families. Equality and your other priorities are not a zero sum equation, Mr. President; equality for GLBT Americans supports and enhances your top priorities, and assures that your promise that, "Yes, We Can!" was made to all Americans. I’d like you to look at a number of major equality issues and see just how intertwined they are with the success of your agenda and of the nation as a whole.
One of the thorniest issues may be equality in service, blocked by the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy (DADT). Republicans paint you as soft on national security. You can obliterate that argument and help GLBT people at the same time. We should all push to make sure that all the most talented, qualified people to serve our nation can do so when they’re most needed. The armed forces have an extremely difficult time finding qualified recruits. You know as I do that, to meet recruiting goals, they have relaxed restrictions on physical ability, educational background, and criminal records just to meet recruiting goals. Meanwhile, highly trained, mission-critical personnel, like linguists, intelligence analysts, and pilots, who are indispensable to the nation’s security are dismissed from service simply for being gay. What kind of employer ranks a convicted felon over a never-convicted gay person? Our armed forces do. According to a 2005 Government Accountability Office report, over 800 of these crucial servicemembers have been discharged under Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell since 1994 (over 12,000 in all have been lost to the policy). Good personnel are not only hard to find; they’re expensive to discharge and replace. Wouldn’t the money set aside in the Pentagon budget for enforcement of this regressive, discriminatory policy be better spent on training, equipping, and protecting our hardworking service-men and –women? Wouldn’t the over $300 million spent to replace discharged servicemembers (per a Blue Ribbon Commission Report) in the first 10 years of DADT’s existence be better spent upgrading the technical capabilities of our armed forces? Many Americans would love to see us spending less or spending better. Even more, we’d be thrilled to see the only law on the federal books requiring that a person be fired for her or his sexual orientation repealed, so that people who love their country can proudly serve the United States when she needs them most. Most Americans see it this way – at last poll, 75% of Americans feel that discrimination in our armed forces should be gone. The Pentagon budget could be reduced, or spent on more mission-critical items, and the nation’s security can be enhanced as our armed forces retains hard-to-find personnel who are critical to military readiness – and you fulfill a desire of much of the American public.
That brings us to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). You say your mission is economic survival and recovery for Americans. What part of that doesn’t include us GLBT Americans, Mr. President? When it is still legal in much of the nation for businesses and institutions to fire people just for their sexual orientation or gender identity, you leave us less secure than the rest of the nation economically. Many people are just happy to cling to the jobs they have in this economy, and when they can be fired for their sexual orientation, the rug can be yanked from under them at any time – leaving them vulnerable to bankruptcy, foreclosure, homelessness, and hunger. And if it’s legal to decline to hire us on account of sexual orientation or gender identity, it makes it harder for us to get a job, too, and rejoin the ranks of working Americans. When GLBT Americans are secure in their jobs, they can continue to contribute to economic recovery without fear of the bottom falling out just when they’re on top of things. This also means they are more likely to have access to good healthcare – an issue which you consistently put at the top of your priority list. With the tremendous list of health disparities affecting GLBT Americans (HIV, breast cancer, alcoholism, and smoking, just to name a few), the ability to access good healthcare is vital to our continued survival and contribution to America’s success. Mr. President, most of America’s larger corporations are well-ahead of you on this – most already have non-discrimination policies in place that include sexual orientation and gender identity in their protections. This is a mainstream idea for corporate America. Much of the United States is already accustomed to this concept, Mr. President, but many GLBT Americans are still vulnerable. When you help to protect them from unfair hiring and firing practices, you enhance the stability of the economy and improve healthcare access for GLBT Americans and our families.
Speaking of families, let’s talk about civil marriage equality and the Defense of Marriage Act. I’d first like to address your failure to support civil marriage equality for GLBT people. You say you support civil unions, but not marriage equality. I can only hope that this is realpolitik on your part, since I know that until recently it was considered political suicide to advocate for marriage equality in national politics. This must explain the reversal from your position a decade ago on the issue; I cannot fathom that you have moved in a regressive direction on this personally. Additionally, you taught constitutional law. You know that the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". When we prohibit civil marriage equality based on the religious views of some of the population, this is, in effect, establishment of what should be a civil construct based on religious bias. Further, what about those religions which do not discriminate in marriage? Civil marriage equality discriminates against them and favors other religious groups over them in a state construct. Other arguments against civil marriage equality have been thoroughly debunked, Mr. President; what, other than timidity, causes you to still prefer civil unions? It causes me cognitive dissonance that our first black president advocates for a separate, but equal, status for a different group. It is my hope that this, too, bothers you, and presses you to re-examine your position on equality in civil marriage, because you know that separate is not and cannot be equal. For reference on this concept, please see the California Supreme Court decision in In re Marriage Cases and Connecticut Supreme Court decision in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health to assist you in understanding the distinctions between civil unions and the benefits of marriage equality for GLBT people and our families.
Civil marriage equality, like ending discrimination in employment, enhances economic stability and healthcare access for GLBT Americans and our families. When we have the same rights as other Americans who make homes together, we can protect property and finances together. GLBT people already bereft of their partners will not then be subject to massive taxes on the financial picture that they built together. GLBT people and our families will have access to their deceased partners’ social security benefits, just as other families do, rather than being left in the lurch financially at the worst possible time. They will be consistently able to make medical decisions for partners and children, just as other married couples do, rather than be subject to inconsistencies in discrimination from healthcare system to healthcare system. And, in the event that a job is lost, GLBT people will be able to provide healthcare benefits for partners and their children, just like other married people can. Again, Mr. President, these are mainstream American values – polls consistently show that Americans want GLBT people to be able to provide for our families’ health and security, and a significant proportion of corporate America already provides their GLBT employees with domestic partner benefits. The distinction, of course, is that when those benefits are provided, GLBT people must pay taxes on them as income. Civil marriage equality erases that economic burden, and secures access to healthcare equal for everyone who has a job that provides benefits. Further, the use of the word "marriage" ends the legal shelter under which many companies deny domestic partner benefits for those with civil unions; business, just like government, uses the word "marriage", Mr. President. Equal marriage doesn’t just mean an end to government intrusion into private partner choice, Mr. President. It means economic security and better healthcare access for GLBT Americans and our families.
Now, Mr. President, Americans don’t always stay put. You were born in Hawai’i and were a Senator from Illinois. I was born in Texas, but I’ve lived in four other states in my lifetime, and I will probably live in at least one more. Civil marriage equality is a reality for Americans in some states, but not in others. The Defense of Marriage Act puts an undue burden on GLBT Americans when it comes to portability of rights and documents. It makes legal and economic security more difficult and more expensive – not to mention simply more confusing and time-consuming – for many of your fellow Americans. Although many things are left to the states to determine, the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution provides for portability of documents common to every state. A marriage license is one of those documents, and this law flies in the face of the full faith and credit clause by making possible the patchwork of legal statuses (and lack thereof) which traps many GLBT Americans in only the safest places for their families to thrive. We should be able to live, work, and travel anywhere in the United States and know that that the laws that protect us, our families and our property don’t change when we cross a state line, Mr. President. If we adopt children, they should not stop legally being our children when we leave one state and enter another. When we are legally married, we should be legally married no matter whether we are in Massachusetts, Alaska, Oklahoma, California, or any other state – just like other people, Mr. President. And, just like other people, Mr. President, we should be able to pay taxes to the federal, state, and local governments in the exact same way as other families do. The Defense of Marriage Act facilitates economic inequality and insecurity, and familial instability. It does not defend marriage or family; it offends and injures them, and repeal of it will enhance economic equality and security, access to good healthcare, and safe, stable, loving homes for children across the nation.
Mr. President, Americans know that GLBT people are treated unfairly under the law, and polls show that month by month and year over year, they’ve come to understand that we deserve the same rights, responsibilities, and privileges as other Americans. Don’t be prisoner to a vocal minority of people who discriminate based on religious intolerance. I’ve already reminded you of the significance of the religious clauses of the First Amendment – regardless of our private views, legally, the Constitution treats people of all religious background equally, and so should we. When we base civil policy on the religious minority’s view – however vocal they may be – we codify discrimination based on religion. That also violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states (as I’m sure you know) that no state "shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Don’t my husband and my family deserve the same guarantees and protections that other people and their families count on?
At the end of the day, Mr. President, as you say, there are no qualifications. There are no red states, no blue states, no Democrats, no Republicans: we are all Americans. Even so, as much of the nation struggles to make it through the toughest times in decades, inequality before the law makes it harder for GLBT Americans and our families to survive the struggle and stay afloat. You say that you have goals of economic recovery and healthcare access for all Americans. If you truly mean that, let go of the zero sum equation. Remove these obstacles from GLBT Americans’ path and move all of America toward these goals. Paint yourself among those who know when to stand up and do the right thing, propelling the nation forward. Don’t let the nation lead you on civil rights, Mr. President. America is ready for equality for all. Lead the nation forward.