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WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Barack Obama again vowed his fidelity to the homosexual lobby at a White House reception in honor of LGBT pride month, boasting that his administration has done more than any other president to advance their cause.

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“This administration, under my direction has consistently said we cannot discriminate as a country against people on the basis of sexual orientation, and we have done more in the two-and-a-half years I have been in here than the previous 43 presidents to uphold that principle,” said Obama at a news conference June 29, the day of the reception, according to the Christian Post.

Nonetheless, the president performed an awkward tightrope walk for gay rights supporters at the White House, as he praised their efforts, while coyly acknowledging their frustration with his public stance against federal imposition of same-sex “marriage.”

“There are going to be times where you’re still frustrated with me.  I know there are going to be times where you’re still frustrated at the pace of change.  I understand that.  I know I can count on you to let me know,” said Obama to laughter and cheers from the raucous crowd.

Earlier in his remarks, Obama lauded “folks who are standing up against discrimination, and for the rights of parents and children and partners and students,” to which he added “and spouses” at the prompting of the audience. The president faced a similar reaction at an LGBT fundraiser in Manhattan days earlier, where the crowd chanted “marriage” at him in playful protest.

The president pointed to his accomplishments so far, including eradicating the military ban on open homosexuals serving and refusing to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act, as a reminder of his “commitment” to their cause, which he compared to the cause of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

“It was here, in the East Room, at our first Pride reception, on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a few months after I took office, that I made a pledge, I made a commitment.  I said that I would never counsel patience; it wasn’t right for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was right for folks to tell African Americans to be patient in terms of their freedoms,” said the president.  “I said it might take time to get everything we wanted done.  But I also expected to be judged not by the promises I made, but the promises I kept.”