DADT repeal is no reason to celebrate Obama

The repeal of the military Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy has finally gone into effect.

No longer will gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the armed forces live in fear of exposure and expulsion. This is truly a time to celebrate. However, some are painting this historic moment as a victory for the Barack Obama administration, citing it as evidence that the administration cares about the plight of gay and lesbian Americans.

A closer examination of Obama’s position on gay rights shows that he is far from a champion of these oppressed Americans.

Obama was last a true supporter of gay rights in the ancient days of 1996, while running as a candidate for state senator in Illinois. Then, he supported marriage equality and vowed to fight efforts to limit marriage to one man and one woman. By the time the 2008 election season rolled around, Obama had drastically shifted his position.

Obama declared himself an enemy of marriage equality. He based his opposition on his religious beliefs, claiming it would violate his Christian morals to support marriage equality.

Of course, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, to which Obama belonged, took no specific stance on marriage equality, while its parent church actually endorsed equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans.

One wonders how Obama could attend a church that he supposedly disagreed with so vehemently.

Still, Obama was steadfast in his belief that marriage should remain a heterosexual privilege, as God intended.

Gay and lesbian Americans had to content themselves with the scraps Obama was willing to throw them. These included support for civil unions on a state-by-state basis.

It doesn’t take any particular intelligence, let alone the mind of a professor of Constitutional law such as Obama, to realize that civil unions are a clear instance of separate but equal legislation, nor to recall that in our country separate but equal is considered inherently unequal.

Still, Obama supported the right of states to decide gay marriage, just as it was once the right of states to ban interracial marriages.  

But this is clearly a case of religious ethics, not political opportunism.

Unfortunately for our ethical president, public opinion has begun to shift against him.
In the three years since his election, more states, including the massive state of New York, have legalized marriage equality. Polls are beginning to show that the majority of Americans support marriage equality.

Suddenly, we are told Obama’s stance is “evolving.” The administration stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act and lobbied to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Could it be more obvious that these are coldly calculated maneuvers designed to placate the gay and lesbian community?

If Obama had a shred of integrity, he would never have renounced marriage equality in the first place. Now, we’re supposed to cheer his “evolving” opinions and get teary-eyed when he signs a piece of token legislation repealing DADT?

Gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are not pawns on a chessboard to be maneuvered as Obama pleases. They are the living, loving human beings whom Obama renounced when it was dangerous to support them.

The repeal of DADT is laudable, but to praise Obama for doing so is laughable.

­— atcrane@indiana.edu