Friday, October 19, 2012

Time to Get Serious. Romney Would be a Disaster for LGBT People.

Romney has already promised to do so much on his mythical "day one" of his presidency it seems silly, but don't laugh too hard.  One of his promises is to reverse DADT.  You can bet the rest of that would include rolling back any rights LGBT people have won in the past four years.

The idea that LGBT people would vote for Romney is beyond my understanding, but I guess some people can successfully live in "cognitive dissonance" and not go crazy, for a while. My problem is apathy.

I see a lot of folks parroting what the right-wing media has been saying through back channels about the Obama presidency.  They have pushed the framing that Obama hasn't delivered on his pledges to LGBT people during his first 4 years in office.  That is simply not true.

Here are the advances made during the administration:
  • Federal Goivernment extends tax benefits to same -sex partners of federal employees.
  • Awarded the Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King.
  • Banned discrimination in federal workplaces based on gender identity.
  • Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009.
  • Lifted ban on people with HIV/AIDS from entering the country
  • The repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". 
  • Hosted first White House conference to prevent bullying.
  • Support for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. 
  • Support for a transgender-inclusive Employment Nondiscrimination Act. 
  • Secretary Clinton's speech last December in recognition of International Human Rights Day in which she stated the importance of advancing LGBT rights. 
Then, last May, on Meet the Press, vice-president Biden personally endorsed marriage equality.

And there is a lot more. The point is we have so much to lose in this election and everything to gain.  Romney wants to turn back the clock on LGBT rights.  Get out and vote to elect President Obama for a second term!

Seriously.