President Obama is awarding the highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to out tennis great Billie Jean King and, posthumously, to slain gay rights legend Harvey Milk.
The honor is way overdue in the case of Harvey Milk and I'm very glad to see it finally happening. I think, though, that if Milk was still with us today he'd be the first to point out that these honors are a nice gesture that in no way excuses the Obama administration's complete lack of action gay rights.
All of the President's campaign promises on ending Don't Ask Don't Tell and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act evaporated into thin air right around the time Rick Warren opened his mouth at the Inauguration. The President has been a huge disappointment so far and while I'm glad to see him honoring Milk and Billie Jean King, that amounts to about half a drop in a very large bucket.
And, gee, it's not at all suspicious that news of these honors comes the same week that it was revealed that the Obama Administration pressured Congressman Alcee Hastings into removing his addition to the Defense Spending Bill that would have blocked the military from spending any money on removing LGBT members from the armed services.
So, not only does this Administration not want to actively pursue what they promised the LGBT community, they're actually working behind the scenes to achieve the exact opposite! Something to keep in mind as 2012 approaches and we begin to hear fresh promises.
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