October 8, 2009
Barack Obama to address gay rights group
by Daniel Nasaw Washington
The Guardian
Barack Obama will address a prominent US gay advocacy group on Saturday, as gay and lesbian voters who backed him for president grow sceptical about his desire to push aggressively to expand their rights and curb discrimination.
Obama is the second president to speak at the Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner, which Bill Clinton addressed in 1997 during his second term. It will be the first time Obama has appeared as a guest of a gay organisation.
Political analysts and activists say gay men and lesbians have grown impatient with Obama's refusal to act on campaign pledges to end discrimination against gay people in the military and the workplace and repeal an anti-gay marriage law, among other issues.
"There is a consensus that since he was elected 11 months ago, not much has changed for gay Americans," said Richard Socarides, a former Clinton White House aide on gay and lesbian issues.
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