Written In Anger
You have to read the ‘anger’ in the context. The letter I’m about to link to is really quite mild, but who it’s from and to give it huge significance.
Joe Solomonese is the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the most politically influential LGBT campaigning organisation in the US. They do good work, but are broadly recognised as not being boat-rockers. They absolutely don’t write open letters to Democratic Presidents expressing unhappiness with a policy decision that an Administration has taken. I’m lead to understand by those more in the know than I that the fact of this letter is almost more significant than its content.
Though in places its content is fairly impressive:
Last week, when your administration filed a brief defending the constitutionality of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,”[1] I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you.
And later:
As a matter of constitutional law, some of this brief does not even make sense:
“DOMA does not discriminate against homosexuals in the provision of federal benefits…. Section 3 of DOMA does not distinguish among persons of different sexual orientations, but rather it limits federal benefits to those who have entered into the traditional form of marriage.”
In other words, DOMA does not discriminate against gay people, but rather only provides federal benefits to heterosexuals.
If the letter has a significant shortcoming, it’s that it fails to demand real action from the President in getting DOMA repealed. A call to ’send legislation’ to Congress falls a bit short of “and then do everything in your considerable power to ensure it passes”.
But it’s a start. And for an organisation steeped in the genteel ways of Washington lobbying, it’s a pretty impressive one.
You can see the whole thing here: http://tinyurl.com/lururb