Obama to Speak at HRC Dinner Before National Equality March

by Rhonda J Mangus | October 5, 2009 at 05:23 pm

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President Obama will speak at a Human Rights Campaign dinner a day before the National Equality March to be held in Washington, DC, October 10-11. Speakers have also been announced for National Equality March, the event seeking equal protection for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.

A day before gay activist and straight allies meet in Washington, DC for the National Equality March, a demonstration for full legal protection for the LGBT community, President Obama will be speaking at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner. HRC is a leading advocacy group for LGBT rights, and his appearance Saturday night shows significant support of gay rights since recently many gay and lesbian activists have questioned his commitment to their community's issues.

President Obama has said he supports overturning the ban of gays in the military, as it is discriminatory, but has yet to be active in supporting equality for the LGBT community as much as many people had hoped.

The Justice Department is defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal marriage law, to the dismay of gay rights advocates. President Obama is so far noncommittal regarding exactly when he will begin the process to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for the military.

At a meeting of about 250 gay rights leaders invited to the White House in June, Obama recognized their unhappiness with the slow rate of change for issues of inequality.

His attendance at the dinner this Saturday will be the second time the sitting president has addressed HRC. President Bill Clinton was the first to do so in 1997, which was also the first time ever that a president addressed any gay rights group or organization.