Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
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Obama’s <strong>Rainbow</strong> World (Vitagliano, 2009)<br />
When Barack Obama was elected president, lavender, <strong>the</strong> signature color of <strong>the</strong> gay<br />
movement, became <strong>the</strong> preferred color of major media newscasters and talk show hosts.<br />
Purple and lavender ties, shirts, dresses, and suit coats blossomed. On Inauguration Day of<br />
2009 <strong>the</strong> Human Rights Campaign president, Joe Solmonese said, “Today’s inauguration<br />
represents a paradigm shift. The pendulum has swung away from <strong>the</strong> anti-gay forces and<br />
toward a new president and vice president who acknowledge our equality.”<br />
Throughout his campaign, Obama made it clear that he supported <strong>the</strong> homosexual “civil<br />
rights” movement. Immediately after his inauguration, <strong>the</strong> Obama White House Web site<br />
posted it’s agenda, which included a section addressed to <strong>the</strong> lesbian, gay, bisexual, and<br />
transgendered (LGBT) community. Obama is quoted, “Too often, <strong>the</strong> issue of LGBT rights is<br />
exploited by those seeking to divide us… But at its core, this issue is about who we are as<br />
Americans. It’s about whe<strong>the</strong>r this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality<br />
by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.” (Vitagliano, 2009).<br />
On <strong>the</strong> Web site (www.whitehouse.gov) Obama spoke to <strong>the</strong> relevant political concerns:<br />
Hate Crimes - We will “expand hate crimes protection by passing <strong>the</strong> Mat<strong>the</strong>w Shepard Act.”<br />
ENDA - Obama “supports <strong>the</strong> Employment Non-Discrimination Act…our anti-discrimination<br />
laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity.”<br />
Gays in <strong>the</strong> Military - “we need to repeal <strong>the</strong> ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy”<br />
Defense of Marriage Act – <strong>the</strong> President wants to “repeal <strong>the</strong> Defense of Marriage Act which<br />
was signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton. Obama wants to “enact legislation that<br />
would ensure that <strong>the</strong> 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on <strong>the</strong> basis<br />
of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and o<strong>the</strong>r legally-recognized<br />
unions.”<br />
Gay adoption - In a letter to a gay rights group in Massachusetts, Obama said, “We have to<br />
eliminate Discrimination against LGBT families. And that’s why we have to extend equal<br />
treatment in our family and adoption laws.”<br />
After taking office Obama disappointed many gay activists by not moving aggressively<br />
forward in pursuit of gay rights, and even defending some of <strong>the</strong> policies he criticized. Gay<br />
rights groups became outraged when <strong>the</strong> Obama administration filed a legal brief defending<br />
<strong>the</strong> Defense of Marriage Act, which Obama had opposed during his campaign. To lessen <strong>the</strong><br />
anger, In June of 2009 Obama signed a presidential memo extending some benefits to same-sex<br />
partners of federal employees (Froomkin, 2009).<br />
<strong>Over</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Rainbow</strong>: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010<br />
Dr. M. L. Coppock<br />
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