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Obama Criticizes People with "Old Attitudes" in Keynote Speech at Homosexualist Dinner

Promises to repeal the "so-called Defense of Marriage Act"

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In his speech to the homosexualist Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Saturday evening, President Obama again professed loyalty to the homosexual agenda and criticized people who hold to "old attitudes" about homosexuality. The President also vowed to repeal the "so-called Defense of Marriage Act" and praised the U.S. House's approval of homosexual hate crimes legislation on Thursday. 

Obama began his speech, which was interrupted numerous times by applause, by thanking the HRC for the invitation and "for the work you do every day in pursuit of equality on behalf of the millions of people in this country who work hard in their jobs and care deeply about their families -- and who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender." 

"Despite the real gains that we've made, there's still laws to change and there's still hearts to open," Obama told the cheering crowd. 

"There are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors, even loved ones -- good and decent people -- who hold fast to outworn arguments and old attitudes; who fail to see your families like their families; who would deny you the rights most Americans take for granted. And that's painful and it's heartbreaking."

The President's remarks reflect his statements while campaigning for the presidency last year, when, despite asserting that he believed marriage was "between a man and a woman," he simultaneously supported various aspects of the homosexual agenda.  Similarly, in his speech Saturday, President Obama expressed warm support for granting homosexuals "the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country," while not specifically mentioning whether such couples should be granted the title of marriage. 

On Saturday, President Obama called the movement's quest to normalize homosexuality on various fronts a quest for "basic equality."

"I'm here with a simple message: I'm here with you in that fight," he said.

Obama also praised the passage of homosexual hate crimes legislation in a House defense policy bill on Thursday, and said he was preparing to sign the law after it passes Congress. 

In the course of the speech, Obama vowed to repeal the prohibition against open homosexuals in the military, and to support an "affirmative action" bill against employer discrimination in hiring homosexuals. 

Addressing the lobby's concern over Obama's perceived lack of zeal in dismantling federal marriage laws and other such issues, Obama said Saturday: "I also appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough. I want to be honest about that, because it's important to be honest among friends." 

He assured the group that "my commitment to you is unwavering," and pointed out that he has called on Congress to "repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act." 

The homosexual lobby was critical of the administration in May when the White House website removed all references to Obama's campaign promise to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that says that for federal law purposes marriage can only be considered as between a man and a woman.  Obama says that he now favors dismantling DOMA by the legislative process rather than by executive fiat.

The President expressed broad support for HRC's mission to drastically alter America's cultural perception of marriage and the family.

"My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see ... a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman," said Obama. 

"Our common ideals are a force far stronger than any division that some might sow," he concluded.  "Day by day, law by law, changing mind by mind, that is the promise we are fulfilling."

Conservative leaders expressed dismay at the President's speech. 

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said that "the radical cultural changes that the President promised to this audience" were "shocking."

"What the President neglected to mention was that all of this will be forced on the American people who in the last election gave the President a mandate to fix the economy - not enact radical social policy changes such as allowing homosexuals to serve in the military," said Perkins. 

"President Obama tried to hide his pro-homosexual agenda during the presidential campaign. With the election behind him and a liberal Congress beside him, he is now positioned to move forward an agenda with the ultimate goal of redefining marriage at the expense of religious liberty."  

Though Obama appeared to throw his weight squarely behind the group's agenda, however, some homosexual commentators expressed dissatisfaction with the speech, saying that the President should have set a timetable for his proposed legislative maneuvers.

Andrew Sullivan, blogger for the Atlantic, wrote of the speech: "There were no meaningful commitments within a time certain, not even a commitment to fulfilling them in his first term; just meaningless, feel-good commitments that we have no way of holding him to. Once the dust settles, ask yourself. What did he promise to achieve in the next year? Or two years? Or four years? The answer is: nothing."

(Read Obama's complete speech here)

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

President Obama Declares June 2009 'LGBT Pride Month'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060208.html

Obama Administration Announces Radical Homosexualist Agenda on White House Website
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012109.html

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