The Obama Administration and LGBTQI Rights

As people who believe in social justice and as Americans, we are all wanting our government to parallel our personal beliefs and ideals. We all have high hopes for the Obama Administration and want them to represent and act on issues we hold dear and affect us and those we love. I've participated in many discussions, especially on LGBTQI rights, and heard a lot of criticism of the Obama Administration, both fair and some of it unfair. When I think about it, I always think of it like the Audre Lorde quote about how I view progress and what is happening around us.

"There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself--whether it's Black, woman, mother, dyke, teacher, etc.--because that's the piece that they need to key in to. They want to dismiss everything else. But once you do that, then you've lost because then you become acquired or bought by that particular essence of yourself, and you've denied yourself all of the energy that it takes to keep all those others in jail. Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat. You know how fighting fish do it? They blow bubbles and in each one of those bubbles is an egg and they float the egg up to the surface. They keep this whole heavy nest of eggs floating, and they're constantly repairing it. It's as if they live in both elements. That's something that we have to do, too, in our own lives--keep it all afloat. It's possible to take that as a personal metaphor and then multiply it to a people, a race, a sex, a time. If we can keep this thing going long enough, if we can survive and teach what we know, we'll make it. But the question is a matter of the survival and the teaching. That's what our work comes down to. No matter where we key into it, it's the same work, just different pieces of ourselves doing it."

I took Gender and The Law from Dr. Adler and we specifically went over civil rights of minorities in the class. Also with a basis in the history of the U.S. Constitutional law, I see the move towards LGBTQI full equality as going to take awhile and I see the small gains are being strategically placed. The goal, long term, is to use the Constitution to illuminate our rights, but to do that, we (LGBTQI) must reach "suspect class" status. This status is gained by challenging laws, one at a time, until their is a substantial number of cases with a precedence. There also must be sound research that also shows the costs and affects of the laws being unequally applied. There must also be the practice of our government to use sound science in law. To reach full equality, without states being selective/obstructive of rights, the road must be set down first. Demanding everything "now" is not going to make the for full equality, it is actually fodder for "separate but equal" proponents. I also trust and hope Obama and Biden have more vision of what they are doing because of they both have knowledge of constitutional law and how legal change comes about. Full equality under the law must come through law if it is to be permanent.

I think what has been done so far by the Obama Administration is to recognize rights that will help to move forward the evidence for further legal rights later. For the U.S. to recognize the same-sex benefits to federal employees, is a excellent place to begin. It is not where it ends. It sets a precedence of treatment and respect that more gains can be built on; and it didn't cause huge debate. It was a great test of the waters and a real practice change that moves forward the cause without using too much energy.

I don't think things are static, I think they are moving along at a steady pace. Slower than I would like? Absolutely! But, we also must respect that LGBTQI rights should not just be forced upon the majority or there can be a dangerous re-action. With the change in the age and ideas of the next generation, there can be both a change in the law and a change in culture that isn't forcing others to behave in a certain way. I don't want to force others into a belief, but in as little as 4-10 years, demographically and through education, the changes will move themselves toward the positive. This is a link to one of the models that shows a positive change. I am more scared than anything that in if a case comes up too quickly to the courts (Prop 8 is an example), that more could be lost then gained. Picking battles is very important and I see the Obama Administration is making positive moves for sustainable change.

Also, as someone who (rather dangerously sometimes) sees all the connections between human rights and other issues, I think that picking the winning battles and making friends in other movements, then linking those issues, is a better way to build a coalition who will choose the right thing with minimal effort. It is like judo. In judo you use other's momentum to win the battle and save your own energy. Judo just means "the gentle way". The Obama's Administration's lack of quick movement on LGBT issues isn't as pressing for me, right now because I see them taking the gentle way. For example, many environmental issues are about respect. We must respect Earth and change our behaviors to illustrate our respect. Human rights are also about respect. We can teach respect by working on environmental issues. Respect can then applied when describing human rights and we have something in common; and working together we have the added benefit of creating alliances. People can then make better decisions on their own without it taking so much force, doing it the judo way. Van Jones has said it best when he asked why would anyone care about the polar bears and global warming when they can't get a job, or they have a sick child and can't afford health insurance. While I don't think health care or the environment should come before human rights, I try to understand where people are before we can move forward together. It makes progress slower then I would want sometimes but by taking the long view I can keep a balance that I hope moves humans towards respect of their own energy.

The same goes with how I see the Obama Administration's work on international human rights and peace/war. We must engage where we can make the most positive and sustainable change as it comes up. LGBTQI rights haven't moved to the top of the list yet, but they are in que and ready to addressed in the near future when momentum will make the job easier and make the results more permanent.