Dissecting Andy Tobias' official list of Obama's gay 'accomplishments' [View All]

[Duncan Grant]

I'm so very tired of seeing Tobias' "offical list" posted at DU. If you're like me, you might be interested in John Aravosis' response to the list -- originally posted on AMERICAblog Gay (link below) 5/17/10.

Monday, May 17, 2010
Dissecting Andy Tobias' official list of Obama's gay 'accomplishments'
Posted by John Aravosis (DC) at 5/17/2010 02:06:00 PM

DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias has compiled a list of President Obama's 30 biggest gay accomplishments during his presidency. Let's take a walk through that list. And make sure you keep a running tally of how much political capital the President has spent to make these "accomplishments" happen - the total amount is zero.

Here's the list, with my commentary after each "accomplishment."

1. Reversed an inexcusable US position by signing the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

That's nice. No idea how it impacts any of our lives, but I suppose it's nice.

2. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees

That's a lie. And it's one the administration keeps pushing, even though we caught them in the lie, and the NYT reported on our catching them. The benefits weren't "extended." Gay federal employees were already getting these benefits for at least the past 15 years, under Democratic and Republican administrations. I got the head of OPM, John Berry, to admit this during a media conference call. It's unfortunate that the administration and its allies continue to lie about this point.

3. Endorsed the Baldwin-Lieberman bill, The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, to provide full partnership benefits to federal employees

BFD. Endorsed? With all due respect, WTF cares if the President "endorses" some legislation that he's never going to lift a finger to help pass? This is part of the "all talk" nature of the President's, and the Democratic party's, commitment to our civil rights. They believe that talking about giving us rights is the same thing as actually giving us those rights or at the very least, trying to give us those rights.

4. Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

Good.

5. Lifted the HIV Entry Ban effective January 2010

Took him a year, and Congress had already repealed the travel ban during the Bush administration, but still, it's a good thing.

6. Released the first Presidential PRIDE proclamation since 2000

Words.

7. Hosted the first LGBT Pride Month Celebration in White House history

The champagne version of "words." This cocktail party was thrown together at the last minute to try to deflect attention away from the administration's legal brief defending DOMA in court - a brief that invoked incest and pedophilia.

8. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King

Again, nice. But what's the actual impact on our civil rights of these medals? How much political capital did the President spend giving these medals?

9. Appointed the first transgender DNC member in history

That's good.

10. Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees

That's good. I still think it was Hillary who did this, but still, it's a good thing.

11. Committed to ensuring that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity

"Committed to ensuring?" Seriously, Andy? Those are words. It means he hasn't done it. He's simply said he will, some day. That will be a recurring theme.

12. Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders -- the nation's first ever -- funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAGE

Good.

13. Testified in favor of ENDA, the first time any official of any administration has testified in the Senate on ENDA

Words. Obama hasn't lifted a finger to get ENDA passed.

14. Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability -- the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation's history

This one is tricky. Of course it's a good thing the bill became law. But the hate crimes bill passed Congress before, and even survived a GOP filibuster attempt. Any Democratic president would have signed the law. And again, Obama spent no political capital helping to ensure the law's passage. HRC likes to say he did, but they can't point to one thing he actually did.

15. Supported lower taxes for same-sex couples who receive health benefits from employers

"Supported"? What does that mean? Words. What did he actually DO to try to make it happen? Has it happened? Of course, the answer is "no" because the provisions were included in the House version of the Health Care Reform bill, but not the Senate version. And which version did the Obama administration support? The Senate version! So, in fact, they did not support us in getting this provision.


15 more at AMERICAblog Gay.