Jul 03, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders enthusiastically cheered President Obama and shouted “I love you!” during a White House celebration this week commemorating Pride and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Obama and the first lady returned the love to his audience at Monday’s event and recommitted himself to fighting for LGBT rights during his administration.

“Even as we face extraordinary challenges as a nation, we cannot — and will not — put aside issues of basic equality,” he said. “We seek an America in which no one feels the pain of discrimination based on who you are or who you love.”

The event comes as many activists are urging the president to take greater action on LGBT issues including the repeal of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

During the event, Obama made news on his strategy to end the law banning open service in the U.S. military, announcing that he’s working with defense leaders to determine the best way forward in implementing repeal.

“[A]s commander-in-chief in a time of war, I do have to a responsibility to make sure that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term,” he said. “That’s why I asked the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan on how to thoroughly implement repeal.”

Obama said he believes “preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country weakens our national security” and he’s “confident we’ll look back at this transition and ask why it generated such angst.”

The president also recommitted himself to legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and reiterated his endorsement of hate crimes legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Domestic Partner Benefits & Obligations Act.

While committing himself to legislative change, Obama also noted that “progress depends not only on changing laws but also changing hearts” in the struggle for LGBT rights.

“That’s why I’ve spoken about these issues not just in front of you, but in front of unlikely audiences,” Obama said, “in front of African-American church members, in front of other audiences that have traditionally resisted these changes. And that’s [why] I’ll continue to do so. That’s how we’ll shift attitudes.”

About 300 invitees came to the event to hear Obama and mingle in the East Room of the White House among white roses and hors d’oeuvres. Participants were a veritable “who’s who” of LGBT leaders who came from different regions across the country.

Those who came from distant parts of the country included Kate Kendell, executive director of the California-based National Center for Lesbian Rights; Steve Hildebrand, a South Dakota-based political consultant and who served as the highest ranking openly gay person in Obama’s presidential campaign; and Jarrett Barrios, a Massachusetts resident and incoming president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Locally based leaders also were in attendance, such as Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign and Andrew Barnett, executive director of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League.

Obama paid particular tribute to one invitee — legendary gay activist Frank Kameny — for the work he’s done for LGBT Americans for more than half a century. Among other accomplishments, Kameny worked to allow open gays to serve in the federal government after being fired from his job in 1957.

“In 1965, [Kameny] went to protest outside the White House,” Obama said. “It was, at the time, both an act of conscience, but also an act of extraordinary courage, and so, we are proud of you Frank — we are very proud of you.”

Obama’s praise for Kameny elicited extended applause and celebratory howls from the audience.

The president also paid homage to the Stonewall riots, which are widely seen as the catalyst for the modern LGBT rights movement. Obama said that before the time of the riots, police often conducted raids on gay establishment because homosexuality was considered obscene and immoral.

“But on this night, something was different,” he said. “There are many accounts of what happened and much has been lost to history, but what we do know is this: people didn’t leave, they stood their ground and over the course of several nights they declared that they had seen enough injustice in their time.”

Obama called the riots a “defining moment” in which “folks who had been marginalized rose up to challenge not just how the world saw them, but also how they saw themselves.”

Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said after the event that Obama’s speech “was an important ...