June 17, 2009
Obama Signs Same Sex Benefits Memorandum
President Announces Extension Of Benefits To Fed. Employees' Same-Sex Partners, But Move Unlikely To Quell Gay Groups' Anger
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President Obama signs the presidential memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination at the White House, June 17, 2009. (CBS)
The president said the move "paves the way for long-overdue progress in our nation's pursuit of equality," though he acknowledged "this is only one step."
"Hundreds of Fortune 500 companies already offer such benefits not only because it's the right thing to do, but because they recognize that it helps them compete for and retain the best possible talent -- and we need top talent serving their country right now more than ever," he said.
The president also announced his support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, which he described as "crucial legislation that will guarantee these rights for all federal employees."
The remarks marked Mr. Obama's first significant comments on gay rights issues as president. While he heralded the move as an "historic step," many gay rights advocates have dismissed it as a minor action that only affects a small number of people and is designed to quell outrage over the president's lack of action on a number of issues important to the gay community.
They noted that health insurance benefits will still not be extended to gay partners and questioned whether the announcement has any real impact, since many of the benefits announced Wednesday have been available to some partners of gay federal employees since the Clinton administration.
Office of Personnel Management director John Berry addressed criticisms of the move in a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, saying the president's announcement means Mr. Obama is "conferring a mandatory right" that was previously "subject to the whim of a supervisor."
A White House fact sheet said the memorandum means that domestic partners of federal civil service employees can be added to the long-term care insurance program and that supervisors can allow employees to use sick leave to care for domestic partners and "non-biological, non-adopted" children.
Benefits extended to same-sex partners of Foreign Service employees include "the use of medical facilities at posts abroad, medical evacuation from posts abroad, and inclusion in family size for housing allocations," according to the fact sheet.
The memorandum, which follows a review of current policy by Berry and Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, also specifies that sexual orientation cannot be the basis for discrimination against federal workers in hiring decisions or promotions.
As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama promised to "fight hard" for gay rights and repeal both the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits gays from serving openly in the military and the Defense Of Marriage Act that mandates:
But wary of a fight that could derail its ambitious agenda, the Obama administration has made no serious efforts to repeal "don't ask" and defended DOMA in a brief that compared same-sex marriage to "marriage of uncle to niece."
The brief prompted an outraged letter from Joe Solmonese, the president of the establishment gay rights group The Human Rights Campaign, and anger from many others in the gay rights community. A number of gay donors withdrew from a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee next week featuring a speech by Vice President Joe Biden.
The president reaffirmed his opposition to DOMA Wednesday, calling it "discriminatory," and vowing to "work with Congress to overturn it."
In the conference call Wednesday, Berry, the highest-ranking openly gay official in the administration, said the president's announcement "is not in response, in any way, to any outside pressure." He said the process that culminated in the announcement had been "underway for many months" and that the White House's first priority on gay issues is "to get our house in order."
But the New York Times reported Wednesday that "administration officials said the timing of the announcement was intended to help contain the growing furor among gay rights groups."
Defenders of the administration say moving forward with the president's agenda on gay rights takes time, as well as legislation from Congress. (The president said Wednesday that "under current law we cannot provide same-sex couples with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.") They point to the fact that the State Department has promised to give same-sex partners of diplomats certain benefits as evidence that the White House is taking incremental steps.
But gay rights groups, who enthusiastically backed Mr. Obama during his presidential campaign, became disillusioned with the president even before he took office, thanks to his selection of pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
Conscious of the political capital lost by President Bill Clinton when he took on gays in the military early in his administration, they showed patience in the early days of Mr. Obama's presidency. But that patience has increasingly worn thin as the president has declined to implement his major campaign promises.
In addition, while the president said during the campaign that he supports civil unions but not gay marriage, that position has become less acceptable to gay rights advocates as states have begun legalizing gay marriage.
"They're talking about hate-crimes legislation and 'don't ask, don't tell' while people are getting married in Iowa," gay Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf told the Los Angeles Times. "It seems on this subject the politicians are a little bit behind where the American people are."
The president Wednesday acknowledged that "we've got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally; to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms; and to bring about that more perfect union."
"I'm committed to these efforts, and I pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues in the months and years to come," he said.
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- Citizenusa,
Take a good look at who has run congress for the last four years, the ones that were warned about bad loans, the ones Obama helped get the loans he knew they could not repay then come talk again. I will give you a few right now. Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, Clintstone, Back door Barney, do you need more or will you just defend them? Yes this was part Bush fault but he had a lot of help. And that same congress is what we have now making things worse. - Reply to this comment
- After failing to keep his campaign promises to the gay community, this extension of same-sex insurance benefits is 'far too little, far too late'!
Most gays will recognize it as a shallow and dishonest act designed to pacify them and trick them into believing that Mr. Obama supports their issues, when in fact, he does NOT!
For many gays, I believe it will have just the opposite effect that it is intended to achieve, that is, it will further alienate them from this administration!
Depending on who the Republicans run in 2012, Mr. Obama has probably lost
the support of the gay community! - Reply to this comment
- specialty8 - Crooks? Are you joking? After 8 years of being financially and morally r.a.p.e.d. by the Bush/Cheney Crime Family, you are seriously warning us about corruption????? Hello? We were just SAVED from total collapse by FINALLY waking up and electing an Administration with the intelligence and moral responsiblity to right this sinking ship.
As for Biden, he is an honest individual speaks his mind and does not play the typical political "word games". Hellava lot better than Darth Cheney. - Reply to this comment
- citizenusa,
Don't take the Biden jokes seriously, He sticks his foot in his mouth about everyday and is pretty much a laughing stock. Its the other tax crooks like Geithner we have to watch. - Reply to this comment
- This is clearly off topic, but I was just on the Fox News site and they take so many pot shots at Biden that this appears "personal". It's pretty obvious that someone over there has some Freudian "hang ups" about our V.P. It's weird and embarrassing to read...
- Reply to this comment
- by TheMasses0003 June 18, 2009 9:54 AM PDT
hungry1968-15 June 18, 2009 8:24 AM PDT
by TheMasses0003 June 18, 2009 7:35 AM PDT
Take it to Iran.
You and Ahmadinejhad are two peas in a pod.
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I guess we know your sexual prefence pervert.
Hahahahaha!
Because I said "two peas in a pod"?
What are you - 6 years old? 7?
Do you still giggle and snicker when you fart? - Reply to this comment
- hungry1968-15 June 18, 2009 8:24 AM PDT
by TheMasses0003 June 18, 2009 7:35 AM PDT
Take it to Iran.
You and Ahmadinejhad are two peas in a pod.
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I guess we know your sexual prefence pervert.
Hahahahaha! - Reply to this comment
- About "Don't Ask Don't Tell" I feel like that is something all the US Military branches should vote on and no one else. They are the ones who go through hell & back for us. They are the ones who have to live with each other & support each other & depend on each other. That world is not the same world we live in. Let them make the choice it is their world it should be there choice not ours. You want to vote go join.
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- by TheMasses0003 June 18, 2009 7:35 AM PDT
Pretty much a given considering your warped lifestyle.
You deny an American citizen his basic civil rights, and call him "warped"?
Take it to Iran.
You and Ahmadinejhad are two peas in a pod. - Reply to this comment
- my family and I are screwed
joe
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Pretty much a given considering your warped lifestyle. - Reply to this comment
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- Gotta love those words, tolerance and intolerance. To you, tolerance means what? Nodding one's head in favor and providing positive lip-service to liberal agendas, such as gay "rights", or shutting the hell up. Intolerance is speaking out against it. Yes, I will be teaching my intolerance of public acceptance and condonement of perversions of law, perversions of justice, and perverted human behavior. Which by the way, is not hating homosexuals as individuals. But yes, with my power to vote I would deny individuals the "right" to pervert the definition of marriage (I am also against easy divorce and adultery) - people with gay perversions have the same rights as sexually healthy people. They can marry people of the opposite sex, just like we can.
- by wtfever19 June 18, 2009 8:22 AM PDT
Gotta love those words, tolerance and intolerance. To you, tolerance means what? Nodding one's head in favor and providing positive lip-service to liberal agendas, such as gay "rights", or shutting the hell up. Intolerance is speaking out against it. Yes, I will be teaching my intolerance of public acceptance and condonement of perversions of law, perversions of justice, and perverted human behavior. Which by the way, is not hating homosexuals as individuals. But yes, with my power to vote I would deny individuals the "right" to pervert the definition of marriage (I am also against easy divorce and adultery)
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You're perfectly right.. that is intollerance. What we homosexual people are asking for IS tollerance. You certainly don't have to "Accept" who we are. Just like I can be tollerant of your stance, it certainly doesn't mean I have to accept it.
There is a difference there.. between acceptance and tollerance. The fact you seem to not be able to hold the capacity for tollerance shows very negatively on the state of our nation today.
You know.. I'll take tollerance over acceptance any day.
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by wtfever19 June 18, 2009 8:22 AM PDT
people with gay perversions have the same rights as sexually healthy people. They can marry people of the opposite sex, just like we can.
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And have us deny who we are as individuals... which in my book is repression.
To quote Whoopi Goldberg from "The Color Purple" for the sentiment it conveys... "I'm poor, black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here."
- I support Obama in his effort but his signature doesn't really help my situation. I am still deprived of health care from my partner's federal benefits and if something happens to him, my family and I are screwed since pension benefits are still denied.
joe - Reply to this comment
- to leftsocialist.
let's strip you from all your rights and priveliges and see how angry you get???
your tone sounds angry and i am not surprised.
joe - Reply to this comment
- by IThoughtItWasFunnyAgin June 18, 2009 5:58 AM PDT
you can't rattle a sociopathic liar.
The fact that you get rattled on a regular basis would refute your statement. - Reply to this comment
- by silver1237 June 17, 2009 7:35 PM PDT
the only thing giving any rights to this "Wrong" thinking group does, is ever increase the moral decay of this Great Nation and the Christian Foundations on which it was Built. Obama knows this, he is only making a small token, hoping that he can somehow hold on to their campaign support. Other than that he looks on this group with the same disgust and disdain as the rest of the Majority of the Country.
This country WAS NOT built on the hate and intolerance of religion, especially christianity - the most hateful and intolerant religion of all.
Do not confuse your religion with our great country, as the two have NOTHING to do with each other. - Reply to this comment
- I sit and listen to the people of this nation as this New Young Leader grapples with ALL the problems he was left with and ALL the problems he faces as normal life continues and I wonder why any INTELLIGENT person would want this job. What makes me admire him so much is his cool. He is calm and thoughtful through all the Ire, hate, ill will and disgusting attitudes as he tries to steer us to a better way of life. We have a good one here folks and there can be no doubt of that.
- Reply to this comment
- same old same old, one rule for the government and another for the citizens, do the rule for everyone or not at all,
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- by tautomer June 17, 2009 6:36 PM PDT
I guess we all knew that whatever he did it "wouldn't be enough". This is a very self-centered, contentious segment of the population. Next, they'll be demanding reparations and a mandatory gay studies curriculum in the high schools!
All they want is "equal rights".
Why do you people oppose "equal rights"? - Reply to this comment
- Based on this, I'm assuming that this policy change will apply to those who have a heterosexual significant other and/or girlfriend/boyfriend who live together.
by winstrv June 17, 2009 9:02 PM PDT
Of course not. Straight people can get married to receive the benefits. Gay people cannot, so this is an attempt to let gay people do what straight people already can do - get the benefits. - Reply to this comment
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- I should have said gay people cannot get married on the federal level. There are some states that allow gay marriage now of course.
- Based on this, I'm assuming that this policy change will apply to those who have a heterosexual significant other and/or girlfriend/boyfriend who live together. What are the rules? How long must they be together to qualify? What happens if and when they break up? Will the nonfederal significant other have a claim to benefits such as health, insurance, pension, etc.. after the break up or the federal employee dies? Many more questions, not enough room to ask. I assume once the announcement is made, the laws will be changed and OPM will comply.
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- I hope it isn't that open ended. These benefits should be for those couples who have entered into a marriage/civil union is a state where it is legal and recognised.
It's the only way where this memorandum could be concidered fair.
- I hope it isn't that open ended. These benefits should be for those couples who have entered into a marriage/civil union is a state where it is legal and recognised.
- Thanks Mr President! You've had a slow start on Gay and Lesbian issues but I do realize that we are not your top priority. Unlike some of my brothers and sisters I am more patient and more than willing to acknowledge you've only been in office 6 months, and I believe you'll pull through on your commitments to equal civil rights and marriage equality for gay and lesbian people. Thank you!
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