The Gays are Getting Uppity, Mr. President

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There is a creeping sense of betrayal gripping our community. It is incredibly dispiriting. Five months is plenty of time to issue a simple Executive Order of which there have been many, but until this flare up, none about priorities of import to the gay community. (More on that later.) By comparison, President Clinton signed a slew of them before the lights went out on Inauguration Day.

There are soaring promises made by an inspiring candidate and there is real action when one assumes the mantle of power. So far there has been a dramatic and increasing gap between the two. And the soaring rhetoric about our issues has grown increasingly muted. There is an unsettling fear this Administration is avoiding our issues in an over-reaction to the problems the Clinton White House encountered when it first attempted to address gays in the military. Clinton ended up settling for the sub-human policy that is DADT (Don't Ask Don't Tell) and squandered precious political capital.

The silence has been increasingly overwhelming for weeks. Invite and feature a vocal homophobic minister at the Presidential Inauguration -- be patient and just keep watching us, we were assured. And we have been watching. This is what we saw:

• Several states legalized gay marriage -- no White House comment from a White House that loves to chatter.


• Scores of decorated and invaluable gay military service members -- who are essential to our national security and are critically needed -- suffer discriminatory forced discharges -- silence.


• Perhaps a Presidential stop loss order to keep those valiant soldiers on the job until DODT is addressed? Nope, sorry.


• When the California Prop 8 ruling stripped gays of the right to marry in that state while also recognizing the validity of over 18,000 gay marriages already entered into -- nada.


• When new federal constitutional challenges were filed against Prop 8 with national ramifications - loud silence.


• Gay couples are reported to be scrubbed from the upcoming federal Census (a Bush enacted policy intended to make us invisible) - sorry, no comment.

So, the fear goes, The Gays are being avoided - except when it comes to asking for $$$.