Christocentric

Obama’s first casualty: The Gay Community?

The Washington Times printed an exclusive article today that writes of Obama delaying the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  According to the article, Obama will not move for months and perhaps not until 2010 before asking Congress to end the ban on open homosexuality.

Reading the responses to the article someone commented how the Gay community is Obama’s first casualty – his first broken promise perhaps?  This was one of his promises to the Gay community as outlined on his transition website for “change” where it says of the repeal under his section labeled “civil rights agenda” and support for the LGBT community”:

Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell: Barack Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. Obama will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.

Apparently, it’s the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he’s more concerned with following rather than the past who have alluded to the following statement:

“However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said.”

Hopefully, it’s the consensus of our nation to also honor marriage between a man and a woman that will motivate him in not repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and supporting amendments for the states and/or the nation as a whole. Obama has always operated under whatever is politically expedient and if Americans as a whole have a “Pearl Harbor moment” as they did in 1993 to sway public opinion banning homosexuality in the military, and as it seems the gay community is having right now regarding marriage, then Obama can gauge that Americans do not want homosexuality accepted as a lifestyle for marriage or the military.

The “Pearl Harbor moment” actually came from a comment within the article by Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute at the Media Research Center when he said:

“Homosexual activists are overconfident because they have not yet seen a counterforce emerge as occurred in 1993.”

And also,

“But as the threat grows stronger, we will see groups forming and the resistance building,” he said. “Americans go about their business and are not activists until they have a Pearl Harbor moment. That has yet to happen, but it will.”

Again, Knight was speaking about the American activism against gays in the military, but that activism appears to be growing for the support of same-sex marriage.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not knowledgeable to the whole political structure and how “consensus” actually works within the government heirarchy, but this will be very interesting to see how it ends up.  Will Obama actually see that the consensus is against same-sex marriage and homosexuality in the military? Does public opinion truly matter with the military – moreso than public opinion regarding gay marriages?  Is the Gay community placing to much hope in the “change” that may never happen?

Time will truly tell us all we need to know about Obama and homosexuality.