After two delays, we can now call an

LGBT Caucus General Meeting Thursday May 12, 2011  19:15* 

INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FORUM
 FOR THE ENGLISH SPEAKING COMMUNITY
 Sponsored by WICE

President Obama on Friday announced the end of a 22-year ban on travel to the United States by people who had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, fulfilling a promise he made to gay advoca

President Obama addressed a crowd of about 3000 at the Human Rights Campaign's National Dinner on October 10, 2009, in Washington, D.C., and pledged that he would end the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military.

The HRC is the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. The President's speech before the HRC is only the second in history; President Bill Clinton addressed the group in 1997.

On June 29, President Obama hosted a historic reception at the White House honoring LGBT Pride Month and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. It was the first time a sitting President has given a live televised speech addressing LGBT issues.

Before outlining the steps his administration has taken in its first six months on behalf of equality for the LGBT community, the President said: "...I know that many in this room don't believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that. It's not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half century ago.

"But I say this: We have made progress and we will make more. And I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps."

On Tuesday, June 30, infantry officer, Iraq combat veteran and West Point graduate Dan Choi will go on trial for "moral and professional dereliction" under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy.

"I will stand trial," says Lt. Choi, "for speaking three truthful words: 'I am gay.'"

A letter launched by the Courage Campaign in favor of Lt. Choi and addressed to President Obama, asking him to repeal the discriminatory DADT, has gathered over 140,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, Lt. Choi reports in his latest appeal for support, "The momentum is building. This week, 77 members of Congress signed a letter to the President citing my service as an example of why DADT should be repealed. And a Gallup poll was recently released showing that 69 percent of Americans — including 58 percent of Republicans — favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve their country.

Retired Army General John M. Shalikashvili, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993-1997, writes in the Washington Post that "research shows conclusively that openly gay service members would not undermine military readiness."

Commenting on President Obama's pledge to repeal the discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy which prevents gays and lesbians from serving openly in the US armed forces, General Shalikashvili says it is "evident ... that a policy change is inevitable" and that he feels it is important that "the conversation about gays and lesbians in the military ... be informed by data, not speculation or emotion."

On Wednesday, 18 June 2009, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum giving "same-sex domestic partners of federal employees access to long-term-care insurance benefits and [allowing] civil servants to use sick leave to care for ailing domestic partners and children not related by blood or adoption." The President also instructed the federal Office of Personnel Management to determine how it will comply with anti-discrimination regulations, within 90 days.

"The memorandum yesterday also extended limited benefits to the same-sex partners of Foreign Service officers, including giving them access to medical facilities at postings abroad and medical evacuations.

"To extend full health benefits to the same-sex partners of federal workers, Congress would have to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, now pending in the House and the Senate. Obama expressed his support for the bill yesterday."

Today the President issued a Proclamation making June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, and "call[ed] upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists."

"Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans..."

Download the full proclamation here in PDF