WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signaled to gay-rights activists Wednesday that he’s listening to their desire for greater equality in "a more perfect union.” But he didn’t give them even close to everything they want, bringing to the surface an anger that’s been growing against the president.
"We all have to acknowledge this is only one step,” Obama said in the Oval Office, where he signed a memorandum extending some benefits, such as visitation or dependent-care rights, to the same-sex partners of gay federal employees.
But the president’s critics saw the move to expand gay rights as little more than pandering to a Democratic voting bloc, with the primary aim not of making policy more fair but of cutting short a fundraising boycott.
"When a president tells you he’s going to be different, you believe him,” said John Aravosis, a Washington-based gay activist. "It’s not that he didn’t follow through on his promises, he stabbed us in the back.”
Obama has refused to take any concrete steps toward a repeal of a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, though as a candidate he pledged to scrap the rules. He similarly has refused to step in and block the dismissal of gays and lesbians who face courts-martial for disclosing their sexual orientation.
Obama said he wants to see the Defense of Marriage Act repealed and in its place a law that would give the partners of gay and lesbian federal employees health insurance and survivor benefits.
"I believe it’s discriminatory, I think it interferes with states’ rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it,” Obama said.
by the associated press
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