Early in his administration, Obama faced grumbling from gay-rights advocates, who had strongly supported his candidacy, for appearing to go slow on their issues. At a White House event in June 2009, the president reassured gay activists that they “will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration” by the time he leaves office.
By December 2010, he was well on track to fulfilling that promise, when he signed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which had barred homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Obama has also suggested that he is rethinking his opposition to gay marriage, in line with shifting US public opinion.
Gay-rights advocates now list dozens of ways the Obama administration has aided their cause, including the unusual step of announcing that it will no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act – a federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
Other steps include:
- signing legislation that expands the definition of hate crimes to include victims targeted because of sexual orientation and gender identity;
- extension of benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees;
- banning job discrimination in the federal government based on gender identity;
- requiring any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funds to grant visitation rights to gays and lesbians;
- hiring more openly gay officials during Obama’s first two years than any previous administration did in four or eight years, according to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute.
