SUNDAY POLITICS: Comparing Presidential Approval Rating Variability

Hat/tip Political Wire

Obama Nominates Merrick Garland for SCOTUS Vacancy Caused By Scalia's Death

Today President  Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the  D.C. Circuit to fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court caused by the death of Antonin Scalia on February 13.

Garland, 63, is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. A former prosecutor, he's also viewed as a moderate. And he has cultivated a reputation for openness and collegiality at the D.C. Circuit, a bench that's sometimes called the second most important in the land. 

Garland will visit Capitol Hill on Thursday to begin meeting with legislators, Obama said. 

After the announcement was made, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated his pledge that the Senate would not take any steps toward confirming an Obama nominee. McConnell's fellow Republicans in Congress echoed his comments.

It should be noted that if the Senate does not hold hearings on Obama's choice it will be the first time in the modern era such obstruction has occurred. Despite Senator McConnell's statements, at least 8 Republican Senators have said that they will meet with Judge Garland.

SATURDAY POLITICS: Comparing Obama's Approval Ratings Over Time

The above graphic shows presidential approval ratings according to Gallup for the last three decades. The first thing to notice is that both President Bushes were able to get their approval ratings into the stratosphere (i.e. above 75% approval) but they both also fell into the sub 30% basement. President Obama on the other hand has been steadfast between the high 30s and the high 60s. The darker areas indicate more time spent in that region. So, Obama's most frequent approval rating is in the mid 40s.

Hat/tip to The Fix

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Partners of Bayard Rustin and Sally Ride Attend WH Award Ceremony

Bayard Rustin was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom this week, and Walter Naegle, Rustin's life partner was in attendance. The award is the nation's highest civilian award and of the 16 recipients this year (which included Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Gloria Steinem) two of them were representatives of the LGBT community, Rustin and Sally Ride. Ride's life partner Tam O'Shaughnessy also attended the ceremony.

Metro Weekly reports:

 "As the first American woman in space, Sally didn't just break the stratospheric glass ceiling, she blasted through it," Obama said of Ride. "And when she came back to Earth, she devoted her life to helping girls excel in fields like math, science and engineering. 'Young girls need to see role models,' she said, 'you can't be what you can't see.' Today, our daughters -- including Malia and Sasha -- can set their sights a little bit higher because Sally Ride showed them the way."

Ride, who became the first American woman to travel to space in 1983, died in July 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Ride devoted much of her life to advancing science education and the U.S. space program.

For Rustin, who died in 1987, Obama said final recognition for his role in the civil rights movement was part of a broader struggle for equality. 

"For decades, this great leader, often at Dr. King's side, was denied his rightful place in history because he was openly gay," Obama said. "No medal can change that, but today, we honor Bayard Rustin's memory by taking our place in his march towards true equality, no matter who we are or who we love." 

Rustin was an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., helped organize the early "freedom rides" and played a key role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington.

[...]

Naegle and O'Shaughnessy, who had never met before, were alphabetically seated next to each other during the ceremony presenting a resonant image. Both said they believed their presence as the gay partners of two Americans being awarded the nation's highest civilian honor would not go unnoticed.

"I think having Walter and me onstage for our partners sends a huge message to the world and that feels good," O'Shaughnessy said.

It's nice to see that members of the LGBT community are being recognized at the highest level, now perhaps soon we can start recognizing people before they die. People like Mary Bonauto, Larry Kramer and Phill Wilson would be on my short list of future possibilities.

Senate Confirms Gay Ambassadors to Australia, Spain & Denmark

The U.S. Senate confirmed by voice vote (i.e. unanimously) the presidential nominations of several out gay men to important posts in the Obama administration this week. The most important of these were John Berry as Ambassador to Australia, Rufus Gifford as Ambassador to Denmark and James Costos as Ambassador to Spain. John Baer was also confirmed as Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) and Stuart Delery was approved by Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice to run the Civil Rights Division (the same position Thomas Saenz had before he was nominated to be Secretary of Labor).

This is a pretty historic action by the U.S. Senate. The history of what has happened with openly gay nominations that required Senate confirmation is not pretty. 20 years ago when President Clinton noinated Roberta Achtenberg to be Assistant Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), an avowed homophobe and unabashed racist, called her "a damned lesbian" as he spoke in opposition to her nomination. She was eventually approved, but Sen. Helms tied the Senate in knots for days, delaying the vote.

The fact that now multiple openly gay nominations (to arguably more visible and important posts in the Government) are being approved by voice vote is  a testament to how far gay rights have progressed since the Clinton era.

HRC's Chad Griffin agrees:

“It is a testament to President Obama and the U.S. Senate that the sexual orientation of these nominees was irrelevant to their qualifications for their posts, as it should be. All Americans should be proud to have these fine public servants representing the interests of the United States."

Hear, hear!

Hat/tip to Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner.

Queer Quote: Gov. Christie (R-NJ) Denounces DOMA Ruling

Chris Christie is the Republican governor of the very blue state of New Jersey. He is generally considered too moderate for most members of his party but it should not be forgotten how regressive he is on the issue of marriage equality. In 2012, he vetoed a marriage equality bill passed by the state legislature, insisting that the rights of same-sex couples to get married should be subject to a vote of the people of New Jersey.

So, his negative response to this week's landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marraige Act in United States v. Windsor is today's Queer Quote:

“I don’t think the ruling was appropriate. I think it was wrong. They, the Court, without a basis in standing, substituted their own judgment for the judgment of a Republican Congress and a Democratic President. In the Republican Congress in the ‘90s and Bill Clinton. I thought that Justice Kennedy’s opinion was, in many respects, incredibly insulting to those people, 340-some members of Congress who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and Bill Clinton. He basically said that the only reason to pass that bill was to demean people. That’s heck of a thing to say about Bill Clinton and about the Republican Congress back in the ‘90s. And it’s just another example of judicial supremacy, rather than having the government run by the people we actually vote for. So I thought it was a bad decision."

I guess he didn't hear that President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a rare joint statement supporting DOMA's demise:

By overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, the Court recognized that discrimination towards any group holds us all back in our efforts to form a more perfect union. We are also encouraged that marriage equality may soon return to California. We applaud the hard work of the advocates who have fought so relentlessly for this day, and congratulate Edie Windsor on her historic victory.

Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie are widely considered the frontrunners to be opponents in the 2016 presidential election. In New Jersey, more than 60 percent of voters support marriage equality right now. Does Gov. Christie really believe that in 2016 more Americans will support his regressive position denying rights and benefits to legally married same-sex couples than now?

Good luck with that!

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

Bill Clinton Endorses Gruel For L.A. Mayor

The race for the mayor of Los Angeles, the nation's 2nd largest city, is flying under the radar of most political observers. Election day is exactly 8 weeks away from tomorrow (on May 21, my birthday!) and the only two names on the ballot are are Eric Garcetti (whom I have endorsed) and Wendy Greuel.

Greuel just snagged a big name endorsement: Bill Clinton.

I'm proud to support Wendy Greuel for Mayor of Los Angeles. 

Throughout her career, whether in the public or private sector, Wendy has been a smart, dedicated, and creative problem-solver. She knows how to make government work for ordinary people, and she's been doing it for decades, not only when times are good, but especially during periods of crisis.

I saw this strength of Wendy's first-hand in 1994, when she was a valued member of my administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development. When the Northridge Earthquake struck -- causing so much loss of life and destruction -- Wendy sprang into action. She helped deliver over a billion dollars in federal emergency aid to Los Angeles residents and worked around the clock to assist families who lost their homes.

In her many years of public service in Los Angeles, first in Mayor Bradley's office, through her tenure on the City Council, and now as City Controller, Wendy has personified good, honest, and effective government, improving the lives of countless Angelenos while saving millions of their tax dollars.

And she's not done yet.

Los Angeles is a great city with equally great challenges, so it's vital that Angelenos elect a proven, creative problem solver to lead them. That's Wendy Greuel. I urge you to join me in supporting her for Mayor of Los Angeles.

I suspect this endorsement is about keeping his wife's chances of being elected president in 2016 viable; it would look great if the top two cities in the country (New York and Los Angeles) both had female mayors when the first female President was elected.

Jus sayin'

Queer Quote: Bill Clinton Thinks DOMA Should Go

When Bill Clinton was president of the United States, he signed the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law on September 21, 1996 while running for re-election. Now that DOMA is being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in the United States v. Windsor case, President Clinton is announcing in a Washington Post editorial that he thinks the law should go away.

This excerpt from his op-ed is today's Queer Quote:

In 1996, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act. Although that was only 17 years ago, it was a very different time. In no state in the union was same-sex marriage recognized, much less available as a legal right, but some were moving in that direction. Washington, as a result, was swirling with all manner of possible responses, some quite draconian. As a bipartisan group of former senators stated in their March 1 amicus brief to the Supreme Court, many supporters of the bill known as DOMA believed that its passage “would defuse a movement to enact a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which would have ended the debate for a generation or more.” It was under these circumstances that DOMA came to my desk, opposed by only 81 of the 535 members of Congress. 

On March 27, DOMA will come before the Supreme Court, and the justices must decide whether it is consistent with the principles of a nation that honors freedom, equality and justice above all, and is therefore constitutional. As the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that DOMA is contrary to those principles and, in fact, incompatible with our Constitution.

Of course we will never know if having a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage "defused" the movement for a constitutional amendment. What we do know is that within 10 years of DOMA's passage dozens of states passed state constitutional amendments banning civil marriages for same-sex couples (so it is likely they would have ratified such an execrable federal marriage amendment). We also know that in that time frame President George W. Bush endorsed and the Republican Party tried to pass through the Congress such an amendment multiple times (which failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives). But we also know that Massachusetts enacted marriage equality in 2004 during that time, and that legally married same-sex couples have been denied federal recognition and benefits due to the enactment of DOMA. It seems unlikely that there are 38 states who would have ratified a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages during that time (but 31 states have voted against marriage equality since DOMA became law).

Gaytterdämmerung is coming (March 26 and March 27)!

WATCH: 44 Presidents of the United States

Happy Presidents Day!

WATCH: Maryland Pro-Marriage Equality Final Ad

I agree with Joe.My.God that this is a pretty good way to close the campaign for marriage equality in Maryland. Above you can see the final ad by Maryland's pro-marriage equality forces which emphasizes support for marriage equality from Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as well as clergy from around the state, and features images of people who have appeared in previous ads  for marriage equality in the state.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Some Famous Americans Who Support Marriage Equality

Hat/tip to TheFour.com via Joe.My.God

Happy Mother's Day!

President Bill Clinton Opposes NC Amendment 1

President Bill Clinton has taped a robo-call phone message going to potential North Carolina voters indicating his opposition to the anti-gay ballot measure:

"Hello, this is President Bill Clinton.  I’m calling to urge you to vote against Amendment One on Tuesday May 8.  If it passes, it won’t change North Carolina’s law on marriage.  What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs, and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs.  If it passes, your ability to keep those businesses, get those jobs, and get those talented entrepreneurs will be weakened.  And losing even one job to Amendment One is too big of a risk.  Its passage will also take away health insurance from children and could even take away domestic violence protections from women.  So the real effect of the law is not to keep the traditional definition of marriage, you’ve already done that.  The real effect of the law will be to hurt families and drive away jobs.  North Carolina can do better.  Again, this is Bill Clinton asking you to please vote against Amendment One.  Thanks."

Primary election day in North Carolina is Tuesday May 8.

President Jimmy Carter Endorses Marriage Equality

The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, has given an interview to Huffington Post where he explicitly endorses civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. Like our current President, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (albeit well after his Presidency) and is a Christian, a Southern Baptist. The 87-year-old Carter is the author of dozens of books and his latest is a treatise attempting to answer difficult questions from a Biblical perspective.

Joe.My.God highlights the key responses Carter gives in the interview:

A lot of people point to the Bible for reasons why gay people should not be in the church, or accepted in any way. 

Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things -– he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.[emphasis added] 

I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring by law that churches must marry people. I’m a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs. So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them to.

Unlike our current President, Carter is clearly not a graduate of Harvard Law or a constitutional law professor because it would be a very obvious violation of the First Amendment for any law to require a church to marry any individual or force a church to accept someone as a member.

Carter joins the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, as the only two living ex-presidents to endorse marriage equality. There are two other living ex-presidents, both with the surname Bush, but surprisingly(sic) they have not done the same. Clinton and Carter are Democrats...

Openly Gay Federal Judge Confirmed By 91-6 Vote!

And now there are four openly gay or lesbian federal judges in the United States. Michael Fitzgerald was approved by a 91-6 vote of the United States Senate on Thursday to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Central District of California. Fitzgerald was officially nominated by President Barack Obama in July 2011 and waited for 132 days before receiving a confirmation vote in the Senate.

Fitzgerald joins 3 other openly lesbian and gay judges, all who serve in New York: Deborah Batts, who has been on the bench since 1994(!) after being nominated by President Clinton and Ali Nathan and Paul Oetken who were both nominated by President Obama and approved by votes of the Senate in 2011 (48-44 for Nathan on October 13th and 80-13 for Oetken on July 19).

The six raving homophobes who voted against the Fitzgerald nomination were (all Republicans): David Vitter (R-LA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Jim DeMint (R-SC).

Congratulations to Michael Fitzgerald!

Hat//tip to PoliGlot.

Obama Declares "Beginning Of the End To AIDS"

President Barack Obama spoke at an event today marking the World AIDS Day with President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton in attendance where he declared the "Beginning of the End to AIDS."

Below is a snippet of the speech (thanks to Joe.My.God)



Here is the full text of his speech:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                           December 1, 2011

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

ON WORLD AIDS DAY

George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

10:27 A.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you, Sanjay.  It is an honor to be with you today and to follow President Kikwete and President Bush.  To Bono and Alicia, to the ONE campaign, thank you for bringing us together.  Because of your work, all across Africa there are children who are no longer starving, mothers who are no longer dying of treatable diseases, fathers who are again providing for their families.  And because of all of you, so many people are now blessed with hope.

We’ve got members of Congress who have done so much for this cause who are here today, and we want to thank them.  Let me also thank President Bush for joining us from Tanzania and for his bold leadership on this issue.  I believe that history will record the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as one of his greatest legacies.  And that program -- more ambitious than even the leading advocates thought was possible at the time -- has saved thousands and thousands and thousands of lives, and spurred international action, and laid the foundation for a comprehensive global plan that will impact the lives of millions.  And we are proud that we have the opportunity to carry that work forward.

Today is a remarkable day.  Today, we come together as a global community, across continents, across faiths and cultures, to renew our commitment to ending the AIDS pandemic once and for all.

Now, if you go back and you look at the themes of past World AIDS Days, if you read them one after another, you’ll see the story of how the human race has confronted one of the most devastating pandemics in our history.  You’ll see that in those early years -- when we started losing good men and women to a disease that no one truly understood -- it was about ringing the alarm, calling for global action, proving that this deadly disease was not isolated to one area or one group of people.

And that’s part of what makes today so remarkable, because back in those early years, few could have imagined this day -- that we would be looking ahead to “The Beginning of the End,” marking a World AIDS Day that has gone from that early beginning when people were still uncertain to now a theme, “Getting to Zero.”  Few could have imagined that we’d be talking about the real possibility of an AIDS-free generation.  But that’s what we’re talking about.  That’s why we’re here.  And we arrived here because of all of you and your unwavering belief that we can -- and we will -- beat this disease.

Because we invested in anti-retroviral treatment, people who would have died, some of whom are here today, are living full and vibrant lives.  Because we developed new tools, more and more mothers are giving birth to children free from this disease.  And because of a persistent focus on awareness, the global rate of new infections and deaths is declining.

     So make no mistake, we are going to win this fight.  But the fight is not over -- not by a long shot.  The rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but it’s not going down here in America.  The infection rate here has been holding steady for over a decade.  There are communities in this country being devastated, still, by this disease. 

     When new infections among young black gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in 3 years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter.  When Latinos are dying sooner than other groups, and when black women feel forgotten, even though they account for most of the new cases among women, then we’ve got to do more.

     So this fight is not over.  Not for the 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV right now.  Not for the Americans who are infected every day.  This fight is not over for them, it’s not over for their families, and as a consequence, it can’t be over for anybody in this room -- and it certainly isn’t over for your President.

     Since I took office, we’ve had a robust national dialogue on HIV/AIDS.  Members of my administration have fanned out across the country to meet people living with HIV; to meet researchers, faith leaders, medical providers and private sector partners.  We’ve spoken to over 4,000 people.  And out of all those conversations, we drafted a new plan to combat this disease.  Last year, we released that plan -- a first-ever national HIV/AIDS strategy.

     We went back to basics:  prevention, treatment and focusing our efforts where the need is greatest.  And we laid out a vision where every American, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic status, can get access to life-extending care.

And I want to be clear about something else:  Since taking office, we’ve increased overall funding to combat HIV/AIDS to record levels.  With bipartisan support, we reauthorized the Ryan White Care Act.  And as I signed that bill, I was so proud to also announce that my administration was ending the ban that prohibited people with HIV from entering America.  (Applause.)  Because of that step, next year, for the first time in two decades, we will host the international AIDS conference.  (Applause.)

So we’ve done a lot over the past three years, but we can do so much more.  Today, I’m announcing some new commitments.  We’re committing an additional $15 million for the Ryan White Program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country.  We want to keep those doors open so they can keep saving lives.  We’re committing an additional $35 million for state AIDS-drug assistance programs. 

The federal government can’t do this alone, so I’m also calling on stategovernments, and pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments.

This is a global fight, and it’s one that America must continue to lead.  Looking back at the history of HIV/AIDS, you’ll see that no other country has done more than this country, and that’s testament to our leadership as a country.  But we can’t be complacent. 

I think this is an area where we can also look back and take pride that both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have consistently come together to fund this fight -- not just here, but around the world.  And that’s a testament to the values that we share as Americans; a commitment that extends across party lines, that’s demonstrated by the fact that President Bush, President Clinton and I are joining you all today.

Since I took office, we’ve increased support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  We’ve launched a Global Health Initiative that has improved access to health care, helping bring down the cost of vaccines, and over the next five years, will help save the lives of 4 million more children.  And all along, we kept focusing on expanding our impact.

Today, I’m proud to announce that as of September, the United States now supports anti-retroviral treatment for nearly 4 million people worldwide.  (Applause.)  Four million people.  And in just the past year, we’ve provided 600,000 HIV-positive mothers with access to drugs so that 200,000 babies could be born HIV-free.  (Applause.)  And nearly 13 million people have received care and treatment, including more than 4 million children.  So we’ve got some stuff to be proud of.

But we’ve got to do more.  We’re achieving these results not by acting alone, but by partnering with developing countries like Tanzania, and with leaders like President Kikwete.

Now, as we go forward, we’ve got to keep refining our strategy so that we’re saving as many lives as possible.  We need to listen when the scientific community focuses on prevention.  That’s why, as a matter of policy, we’re now investing in what works -- from medical procedures to promoting healthy behavior. 

And that’s why we’re setting a goal of providing anti-retroviral drugs to more than 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women over the next two years so that they have the chance to give birth to HIV-free babies.

We’re not going to stop there. We know that treatment is also prevention.  And today, we’re setting a new target of helping 6 million people get treatment by the end of 2013.  (Applause.)  That’s 2 million more people than our original goal.

And on this World AIDS Day, here’s my message to everybody who is out there:

To the global community -- we ask you to join us.  Countries that have committed to the Global Fund need to give the money that they promised.  (Applause.)  Countries that haven’t made a pledge, they need to do so.  (Applause.)  That includes countries that in the past might have been recipients, but now are in a position to step up as major donors.  China and other major economies are in a position now to transition in a way that can help more people.  

To Congress -- keep working together and keep the commitments you’ve made intact.  At a time when so much in Washington divides us, the fight against this disease has united us across parties and across presidents.  And it shows that we can do big things when Republicans and Democrats put their common humanity before politics.  So we need to carry that spirit forward.

And to all Americans -- we’ve got to keep fighting.  Fight for every person who needs our help today, but also fight for every person who didn’t live to see this moment; for the Rock Hudsons and the Arthur Ashes, and every person who woke us up to the reality of HIV/AIDS.  We’ve got to fight for Ryan White and his mother Jeanne, and the Ray brothers, and every person who forced us to confront our destructive prejudices and our misguided fears.  Fight for Magic Johnson and Mary Fisher, and every man, woman and child, who, when told they were going to die from this disease, they said, “No, we’re not.  We’re going to live.”

Keep fighting for all of them because we can end this pandemic.  We can beat this disease.  We can win this fight.  We just have to keep at it, steady, persistent -- today, tomorrow, every day until we get to zero.  And as long as I have the honor of being your President, that’s what this administration is going to keep doing.  That’s my pledge.  That’s my commitment to all of you.  And that’s got to be our promise to each other -- because we’ve come so far and we’ve saved so many lives, we might as well finish the fight.

Thank you for all you’ve done.  God bless you.  God bless America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END                10:41 A.M. EST

President Bill Clinton Endorses NY Marriage Equality

Human Rights Campaign released a statement today from former President Bill Clinton in which he endorses marriage equality in the state of New York.

Our nation’s permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ – deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community. That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.

The Big Dog had endorsed the concept of marriage equality publicly way back in 2009, some 13 years after he (in)famously signed the odious Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law.

The momentum for a vote in the New York State Senate is building as Governor Andrew Cuomo has become increasingly vocal about expending his political capital to get marriage equality enacted sooner rather than later.

DADT Passes 63-33, DREAM Act Fails 55-41!

It feels like election day 2008 again. Happiness that finally some action has occurred on the LGBT legislative agenda but I'm devastated that the DREAM Act will not become law anytime soon.

So this time LGBT people won, but people of color lost. In 2008, people of color won (with the election of President Obama) but LGBT people lost (with the passage of Proposition 8).

Hmmm, that is now TWO achievements Barack Obama has been able (in two years) to do that "Big Dog" Bill Clinton could not get done in (8 years): health care reform AND the repeal of the disgraceful military ban on open military service by lesbians and gay men.

Obama Beats Clinton's Record Of Openly Gay Presidential Appointees

Amanda Simpson, first openly transgender
Presidential appointee in history

Less than two years into his first Presidential term, Barack Obama has broken Bill Clinton's record of the number of appointees to the federal government with over 150 openly LGBT people in his administration so far.

Back in the 1990s when Clinton was president he made history by appointing the first openly gay person to a position requiring United States Senate approval, Roberta Achtenberg, to be assistant to the secretary for Housing and Urban Development. Noted homphobic Senator, Jesse Helms (R-NC), opposed the nomination and called Achtenberg a "damned lesbian" and "militant extremist" while he tried to stall and kill the appointment.

Now Obama has reached a historic level of  more than 150 openly LGBT appointees in less than 2 years when it took Clinton 8 years to reach 140 openly gay and lesbian appointees.

From the Los Angeles Times report:

Gay activists, among Obama's strongest supporters, had hoped he would be the first to appoint an openly gay Cabinet secretary. While that hasn't happened — yet — Obama did appoint the highest-ranking gay official ever when he named John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the nation's 1.9 million federal workers.

Other prominent names include Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Fred Hochberg, chairman of the Export-Import Bank. Obama also named Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender appointee, as a senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department. And David Huebner, ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, is the third openly gay ambassador in U.S. history.

White House spokesman Shin Inouye confirmed the record number, saying Obama has hired more gay officials than the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations combined. He said Obama "is proud that his appointments reflect the diversity of the American public."

"He is committed to appointing highly qualified individuals for each post," Inouye said. "We have made a record number of openly LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) appointments and we are confident that this number will only continue to grow."

Progress takes time, and occurs in different areas (administrative instead of legislative) at different rates.

Bill Clinton Endorses Marriage Equality