The next time I type "Obama did a bunch of shit for the fags", this is what I'm talking about. Its easier to type what I typed than to type all this shit lol.
Barack Obama[edit]
Illinois state senator[edit]
Obama supported legalizing
same-sex marriage when he first ran for the Illinois State Senate in 1996.
[280] When he ran for re-election to the Illinois Senate in 1998, he was undecided about legalizing same-sex marriage and supported including sexual orientation to the state's non-discrimination laws.
[281][282] During his time as a state senator he cosponsored a bill amending the Illinois Human Rights Act to include protections for LGBT people which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, housing, and all public places and supported Illinois gender violence act.
U.S. Senator from Illinois[edit]
Obama supported
civil unions, but opposed same-sex marriage when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and for U.S. President in 2008.
[280] He supported civil unions that would carry equal legal standing to that of marriage for
same-sex couples, but believed that decisions about the title of marriage should be left to the states.
[283][284]
During his time as senator, Obama co-sponsored the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, and Early Treatment for HIV Act.
[285][286]
In the
109th United States Congress, Obama received a score of 89% by the
Human Rights Campaign.
[286]
In 2006, Obama voted against the
Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman in the U.S. Constitution.
[287]
In 2007, Senator Obama said he opposed the 1996
Defense of Marriage Act and the
don't ask, don't tell policy when it passed and supported repealing it. He also said that homosexuality is not a choice, he supported adoption rights for same-sex couples, and he would work as president to extend the 1,000 federal rights granted to marriage couples to couples in civil unions. He also voted for the Kennedy Amendment to the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach serious, violent hate crimes perpetrated because of the victim's sexual orientation and gender identity and the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act.
[282][285]
In the 2008 presidential election, he expressed his opposition to state constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in
California, and
Florida on the November ballot,
[288][289][290] but stated in a 2008 interview that he personally believes that marriage is "between a man and a woman" and that he is "not in favor of
gay marriage."
[291] In the
110th United States Congress, Obama received a score of 94% by the
Human Rights Campaign.
[286] In the 2008 election, Obama received the endorsement of the following gay rights organizations:
Houston GLBT Political Caucus,
[292] Human Rights Campaign,
[293] and the
National Stonewall Democrats.
[294][295]
Presidency[edit]
Main article:
Social policy of the Barack Obama administration
First Term[edit]
Barack Obama took many definitively pro-LGBT stances. In March 2009, his administration reversed Bush administration policy and signed the
U.N. declaration that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality.
[296] In June 2009, Obama became the first president to declare the month of June to be LGBT pride month; President Clinton had declared June Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
[254][297] Obama did so again in June 2010,
[298] June 2011,
[299] June 2012,
[300] June 2013,
[301] June 2014,
[302][303] June 2015,
[304] and June 2016.
[305]
On June 17, 2009, President Obama signed a
presidential memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits. The memorandum does not cover full health coverage.
[306] On October 28, 2009, Obama signed the
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which added
gender,
sexual orientation,
gender identity, and
disability to the federal hate crimes law.
[307]
In October 2009, he nominated
Sharon Lubinski to become the first openly gay
U.S. marshal to serve the Minnesota district.
[308]
On January 4, 2010, he appointed
Amanda Simpson the Senior Technical Advisor to the
Department of Commerce, making her the first openly transgender person appointed to a government post by a U.S. President.
[309][310][311] He has appointed the most U.S. gay and lesbian officials of any U.S. president.
[312]
At the start of 2010, the Obama administration included gender identity among the classes protected against discrimination under the authority of the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On April 15, 2010, Obama issued an executive order to the Department of Health and Human Services that required medical facilities to grant visitation and medical decision-making rights to same-sex couples.
[313] In June 2010, he expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to cover employees taking unpaid leave to care for the children of same-sex partners.
[314] On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law.
[315]
On February 23, 2011, President Obama instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
[316]
In March 2011, the U.S. issued a nonbinding declaration in favor of gay rights that gained the support of more than 80 countries at the U.N.
[317] In June 2011, the U.N. endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender people for the first time, by passing a resolution that was backed by the U.S., among other countries.
[317]
On August 18, 2011, the Obama administration announced that it would suspend deportation proceedings against many undocumented immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety, with the White House interpreting the term "family" to include partners of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
[318]
On September 30, 2011, the
Defense Department issued new guidelines that allow military chaplains to officiate at same-sex weddings, on or off military installations, in states where such weddings are allowed.
[319]
On December 5, 2011, the Obama administration announced the United States would use all the tools of American diplomacy, including the potent enticement of foreign aid, to promote LGBT rights around the world.
[320]
In March and April 2012, Obama expressed his opposition to state constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in
North Carolina, and
Minnesota.
[321]
On May 3, 2012, the
Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed to add an LGBT representative to the diversity program at each of the 120 prisons it operates in the United States.
[322]
On May 9, 2012, Obama publicly supported same-sex marriage, the first sitting U.S. President to do so. Obama told an interviewer that:
[323]
In the 2012 election, Obama received the endorsement of the following gay rights organizations: Equal Rights Washington, Fair Wisconsin,
Gay-Straight Alliance Network,
[324][325] Human Rights Campaign,
[326] and the
National Stonewall Democrats. The
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gave Obama a score of 100% on the issue of gays and lesbians in the U.S. military and a score of 75% on the issue of freedom to marry for gay people.
[327]
Second Term[edit]
On January 7, 2013, the Pentagon agreed to pay full separation pay to service members discharged under "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
[328]
Obama also called for full equality during his second
inaugural address on January 21, 2013: "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." It was the first mention of rights for gays and lesbians or use of the word
gay in an inaugural address.
[329][330]
On March 1, 2013, Obama, speaking about
Hollingsworth v. Perry, the U.S. Supreme Court case about
Proposition 8, said "When the Supreme Court asks do you think that the California law, which doesn't provide any rationale for discriminating against same-sex couples other than just the notion that, well, they're same-sex couples—if the Supreme Court asks me or my attorney general or solicitor general, 'Do we think that meets constitutional muster?' I felt it was important for us to answer that question honestly. And the answer is no." The administration took the position that the Supreme Court should apply "heightened scrutiny" to California's ban—a standard under which legal experts say no state ban could survive.
[331]
On August 7, 2013, Obama criticized the
Russian gay propaganda law.
[332]
On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 into law, which repealed the ban on consensual sodomy in the
UCMJ.
[333]
On February 16, 2014, Obama criticized the
Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014.
[334]
On February 28, 2014, Obama agreed with the
Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer's veto of
SB 1062.
[335]
Obama included openly gay athletes in the
2014 Olympic delegation, namely
Brian Boitano and
Billie Jean King (who was later replaced by
Caitlin Cahow).
[336][337] This was done in criticism of Russia's anti-gay law.
[337]
On July 21, 2014, President Obama signed
Executive Order 13672, adding "gender identity" to the categories protected against discrimination in hiring in the federal civilian workforce and both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the categories protected against discrimination in hiring and employment on the part of federal government contractors and sub-contractors.
[43]
Obama was criticized for meeting with anti-gay Ugandan president
Yoweri Museveni at a dinner with African heads of state in August 2014.
[338]
Later in August 2014, Obama made a surprise video appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2014
Gay Games.
[339][340]
On February 10, 2015,
David Axelrod's
Believer: My Forty Years in Politics was published. In the book, Axelrod revealed that President
Barack Obama lied about his opposition to same-sex marriage for religious reasons in
2008 United States presidential election. "I'm just not very good at bullshitting," Obama told Axelrod, after an event where he stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, according to the book.
[341]
In 2015, the U.S. appointed
Randy Berry as its first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons.
[342]
In April 2015, the Obama administration announced it had opened a gender-neutral bathroom within the White House complex, located in the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the
West Wing.
[343] President Obama also responded to a petition seeking to ban
conversion therapy (inspired by the death of
Leelah Alcorn) with his pledge to advocate for such a ban.
[344]
Also in 2015, when President Obama declared May to be
National Foster Care Month, he included words never before included in a White House proclamation about adoption, stating in part, "With so many children waiting for loving homes, it is important to ensure all qualified caregivers have the opportunity to serve as foster or adoptive parents, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. That is why we are working to break down the barriers that exist and investing in efforts to recruit more qualified parents for children in foster care." He was the first president to explicitly say
gender identity should not prevent anyone from adopting or becoming a foster parent.
[345]
On October 29, 2015, President
Barack Obama endorsed
Proposition 1 in Houston, Texas.
[346]
On November 10, 2015, Obama officially announced his support for the
Equality Act of 2015.
[347]
In June 2016, President Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden met with the victims and families of victims of the
Orlando nightclub shooting. Obama and Biden laid 49 bouquets of white roses to memorialize the 49 people killed in the tragedy impacting the LGBTQ community.
[348]
On June 24, 2016, President Obama designated the
Stonewall National Monument in
Greenwich Village,
Lower Manhattan, as the first
national monument in the United States to honor the LGBT rights movement.
[209]
On October 20, 2016, Obama endorsed
Kate Brown as Governor of
Oregon.
[349] On November 8, Brown became the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor in the United States. Brown is a
bisexual woman who has also come out as a survivor of
sexual assault and
domestic violence.
[350][351] Before being elected in her own right, Brown had assumed the governorship due to a resignation. During that time, she signed legislation to ban
conversion therapy on minors.
[352]