Gays to Obama

Obama reaffirmed his campaign pledge to end the ban on open homosexuality in the military in a speech at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign.

“We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country,” said Obama. “We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage.”

However, a common sentiment among advocates is that they are tired of hearing President Obama’s promises – they just want to hear a time line. Some tangible evidence that change is, in fact, coming.

GOProud, the only national organization for gay conservatives and their allies, showed off a new web ad entitled “Come Out Barack.” The ad calls on Obama to “come out of his closet” about his record on gay issues.

The commercial points out that despite capturing almost 3/4 of the gay vote, raking in millions of gay dollars, and lofty campaign promises, Obama’s record on gay issues has been beyond poor. It points out the failure to repeal the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and his administration’s homphobic court filing in support of the Defense of Marriage Act.

“Instead of delivering on campaign promises, Obama has chosen to play politics and trade away the promises made to gay families in secret backroom deals,” Executive Director of GOProud LaSalvia.

“It is time President Obama came clean and was held accountable for his failures. GOProud is committed to making sure the gay community, and the rest of America, knows the truth about President Obama’s record and his priorities,” concluded LaSalvia.

As President Obama juggles America’s problems, he needs to maintain widespread support. Some in the gay community think their concerns are taking a back seat.