Obviously, the LGBT population is a small fraction of the US population. Obviously, our country is going through tremendous, unprecedented, turbulent times. So it turns out, that in a 70-minute speech on the State of the Union, the President of the United States spent just one breath on the LGBT community.
At nearly the end of President Obama's first State of the Union address, he mentioned the successful passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Law in 2009, and then said that this year he will work with Congress to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. That was it.
Perhaps it was a politically "safe" move. Polls, including one being run tonight by the Washington Post (http://bit.ly/cDfxfm) show the majority of Americans support repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
In fact, it seems to me that the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell would be a trifecta for the President in this situation: It would prove his rhetoric about equality and freedom for all Americans; it would, quite simply, prevent job losses in the military; it would support those Americans already serving in the field by making sure that other qualified soldiers are there, on the line, protecting them even to their very lives.
Please, Mr. President: make this more than a tiny bone thrown to the LGBT community to keep us complacent. We have stood behind you hopefully since well before your election. We have done this despite your stated position that we do not deserve equal rights to legal securities that protect heterosexual relationships—legal rights that are bestowed, at times, for relationships that have lasted only hours, when even our decades-old relationships still receive short shrift.
Mr. President, stand by your word and be the President of all your country's people, including this small minority which just wants to feel secure in our jobs, our homes, our relationships, and our communities.
