Obama Defends Unequal Treatment

When the president was elected back in 2008 the above poster meant something to many of us who supported him. It meant hope for a better world -- one in which all American citizens would enjoy equal rights and there would be no more second-class status for anyone in this country. Sadly though, the president has not lived up to his campaign promises in the area of citizen equality -- a fact that he recently reminded us of.

After the New York state government passed a new law giving gays and lesbians the same right to marry (with all the rights and privileges that come with marriage), the president said that was a good thing. But he stopped short of saying that all Americans should enjoy equal rights. Here is what he said:

What we’ve also done is we’ve said that DOMA — the Defense of Marriage Act — is unconstitutional and so we’ve said that we cannot defend the federal government poking its nose into what states are doing and putting our thumb on the scale against same-sex couples.What I’ve seen happen over the last several years and what happened in New York last week, I think was a good thing. Because what you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious, it was emotional, but ultimately they made a decision to recognize civil marriages and I think that’s exactly how things should work. I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each state is going to be different and each community is going to be different.

I have to wonder if he really thought through the words he said. Does he really believe each state should determine the level of rights each group in that state should have? He's right that each state is different. They were also different in the 1960s, but that did not prevent the federal government from demanding that ALL states, even those in the South, give minorities the same right to accommodations and voting and education as all other citizens. It did not matter that at that time the South did not want to give African-Americans those rights.

The Constitution is absolute in guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens -- regardless of what each state or community wants. It's a little thing called the Fourteenth Amendment, and it demands that all citizens in every state and community be given equal rights.

I can understand why the president is reticent to guarantee equal rights to gays and lesbians. It is because he lacks the political courage to do the right thing (because he's afraid it would cost him some votes in 2012). That's disappointing, because when I voted for him in 2008 I had thought he was better than that. I had hoped he had the political courage of President Johnson (who knew the civil rights bills would cost him and his party many votes, but did the right thing in spite of that).

When this country was founded there weren't a lot of people with full rights -- only white men who owned property. Over the last couple of hundred years those rights have been extended to many others. Non-property owners, women, and minorities have fought for and been extended many of the same rights that were once the exclusive right of a few. The battle has not been completely won for all, but much progress has been made.

And the vehicle most used for that progress toward equal rights is the Fourteenth Amendment. There are those today who would say this amendment doesn't extend to those who have a different sexual preference than the heterosexual majority. But for the life of me I can't find that exception in the amendment (or anywhere else in the Constitution).

Equal rights means exactly that -- equal rights for all. You either believe in equal rights, or you believe that some in society should have more rights than others in that same society. Sadly, the president seems to be on the side of those who believe it is OK to deny equal rights to some in our society. That is extremely disappointing.