Jun 12, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

President Obama is facing new calls during Pride season to demonstrate his commitment to gay rights issues and make good on promises he made last year during his presidential campaign.

At the start of last year’s Pride season — shortly after he bested Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination to run for president — Obama reissued a letter to the LGBT community, titled “Obama Pride,” to pledge his support.

In the letter, Obama said that he would “place the weight” of his administration behind passing hate crimes legislation and a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Obama also pledged to support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and promised to work to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He also said that civil unions “represent the best way” to secure equal treatment for LGBT families.

“I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country,” he said. “Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.”

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to the Blade on Tuesday that Obama remains committed to his promises.

“The president remains fully committed to the LGBT proposals he made during the campaign,” he said. “We have already begun work on many of these issues and look forward to additional progress.”

Obama reportedly is set to make an announcement soon on a package of initiatives geared toward benefiting LGBT Americans.

In a recent interview with the Advocate, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) predicted that the White House would be presenting information about LGBT policies before Pride.

“I think the White House is preparing to make an announcement on a number of issues,” he was quoted as saying. “I’m predicting here, not informing, that by the Stonewall anniversary we will have a very clear picture of what the administration is doing.”

Berman’s office didn’t respond to a request to elaborate. The White House didn’t respond to a question about Berman’s remarks.

The development comes at a time when a number of activists are growing restless and are calling on Obama to take action on LGBT issues.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, noted in a statement to the Blade on Wednesday that as Pride begins this year, the LGBT community is “rightfully frustrated at the pace of progress we have seen from the president and his administration on critical issues important to the LGBT community.”

“I have no doubt where President Obama personally stands on issues of equality and justice and I also understand the enormity of the issues that face this White House,” he said. “However, during the campaign President Obama outlined his support for a proactive agenda of progress for the LGBT community and since his inauguration we have seen little progress to move this agenda forward.”

Solmonese acknowledged that policies and laws that discriminate against LGBT people have been put in place over a number of years and no one thinks they “will be miraculously changed overnight.”

“However, we do expect progress on our issues and we will continue to press President Obama and his administration to live up to the promises they made to advance real and substantive equality for LGBT Americans,” he said.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, acknowledged in a statement to the Blade on Wednesday that Obama has been “getting his sea legs and dealing with the biggest economic crisis facing our country in generations.”

But she also said she’s heard in private meetings and the media that Obama is committed to the legislative priorities for the LGBT community that he outlined in his campaign.

Despite this reported commitment, Carey said she has “not been pleased” with the White House’s responses to the legalization of same-sex marriage in several states this year.

After the Iowa court decision granting marriage rights to gay couples in the states, the White House issued a statement saying Obama “supports civil unions rather than same-sex marriage.” The administration has largely been silent on subsequent developments, including the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

“Unfortunately, he has not changed his position he held as a candidate, which is that he is supportive of civil unions but not marriage,” Carey said.

Carey said she’d like Obama to lift the ban that prevents HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the country; find a way to allow gay service members to serve openly in the U.S. military; include gender identity in non-discrimination ...