Last week, President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen certified the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers. Finally, after 18 years, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be history on Sept. 20.
The day after the July 22 certification, the president’s Twitter feed, BarackObama, posted the following: “Yesterday the President certified the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Gays and lesbians will serve their country openly in 60 days.”
Followed by: “Now, the fight for equal rights moves on. Here’s the next front: repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. OFA.BO/JDSeMf”
On Sunday, gays and lesbians began marrying in New York, now the sixth state to have marriage equality.
Currently, there are bills in both chambers of Congress that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which have Obama’s support; the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the repeal last week.
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice announced it would no longer defend sections of the law in court and dropped out of several cases in which it was to defend against challenges to the law. Congressional Republicans have since taken up defense of DOMA, which bans federal recognition of same-sex couples.
DOJ also filed a brief arguing against DOMA earlier this month in a case in California in which a lesbian federal court employee is seeking benefits for her wife.
This month DOJ dropped an appeal of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruling that found DOMA unconstitutional and said it would no longer seek to dismiss bankruptcy petitions by married same-sex couples.
Presumably, if Congress overturns DOMA, it would clear the way for immigration reform with regard to same-sex couples.
The other major issue for LGBT Americans is employment discrimination. Presently, there is a patchwork of protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at the state and local level, but nothing at the federal level.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would provide protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, has been introduced in both houses of Congress but hasn’t gotten much attention.
Advocates and critics have said the bills aren’t getting traction because they are trans-inclusive, fueling debate over whether the LGBT community should focus efforts on incremental progress or take an all-or-nothing approach. (Previously, the House passed a bill providing employment protections for sexual orientation but not gender identity.)
Though Obama supports providing protections for individuals for both sexual orientation and gender identity, this issue has taken a backseat.
With the recent movement on the military ban and DOMA, it’s time to start moving ENDA to the front.