Obama Will Speak to Gay Group Saturday
President Obama plans to speak at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday, the White House announced today.
The Human Rights Campaign bills itself as "America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality." President Clinton addressed the group in 1997, making him the only president to do so thus far.
The speech will come one day before the National Equality March on Washington, where participants will call for equal rights for gays, lesbians and transgendered people.
"We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT people as brothers and sisters," Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said.
The president has taken strong criticism from the gay community for not following through on his promise to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays in the military or overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, among other issues tied to gay rights.
"Eleven months after his election, he has failed to deliver on any of his commitments to gay Americans, but even worse has been his refusal to engage around these issues," Richard Socarides, an advisor to former President Bill Clinton on gay and lesbian policy, told the Associated Press.
An Obama administration Justice Department brief defending DOMA earlier this year was labeled homophobic by gay activists and came under criticism from Solmonese. Gay leaders were also upset over the president's decision to invite Rev. Rick Warren to participate in his inauguration. (Pictured above: A May protest against Mr. Obama by gay rights activists.)
Mr. Obama has said he supports gay civil unions but not gay marriage.
In June, the president defended the pace of his efforts on behalf of gays, saying he hopes to be judged "not by promises I've made but by the promises that my administration keeps."
"I know that many in this room don't believe progress has come fast enough, and I understand that," he said. "It's not for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half-century ago."
"We've been in office six months now," continued the president. "I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration."