Florida Agenda

By Sandy Steen

The upcoming national elections are a dead-serious choice for all gay people who want a job-producing economy that insures middle class affluence and upward mobility. Since Barack Obama’s historic election that promised “Hope and Change,” we have witnessed nightmarish results that create despair and a sense of futility for much of the gay community.

Gas prices have doubled and unemployment rates are up three percent; leaving millions of gay people almost helpless. Median incomes—if you even have a job—have dropped $3,000 to 5,000 per worker.

According to the Sun Sentinel, unemployment in Broward is over 8 percent; in Palm Beach County, it is over 10 percent.

Home foreclosures are at an all time high—which is devastating to a Florida gay community that historically distinguishes itself by improving dilapidated neighborhoods, and excelling in interior design and landscape architecture.

Gay newspapers and Websites relentlessly inveigle their readers into believing it is all George W. Bush’s fault, and focus on the mirage of hyper-homophobia in our culture. This is unethical journalistic rhetoric, and probably leads to an epidemic of depression among many gay people. Since 2010, I witness many “out and open” gay people and couples working as volunteers for such Republican candidates as Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, congressional candidates Karen Harrington and Allen West, state Senate candidate Ellyn Bogdanoff, Scott Herman—a gay, disabled veteran running for state representative—and both Connie Mack and Marco Rubio as U.S. Senators.

In 2010, exit polls revealed that nearly 50 percent of gay voters voted Republican, slightly more than for Democrats. Now that’s “Hope and Change” we need to recognize and appreciate if we truly celebrate diversity.

To our economy’s detriment, Obama gambled over $5 trillion of borrowed money from China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, only to achieve a recovery that is the weakest in U.S. history. He promotes class warfare and excessive government dependence that in no way compares to the tremendous economic expansions ignited by John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, all of whom aggressively reduced taxes on income and in vestment. Barack Obama lost his luster because of little insight into how to make America competitive in a global economy. Our chief competitor during this century, China, signed 25 free trade pacts with other nations, and another 10 are in the works. Meanwhile, the U.S. signed only three.

Obama’s foreign policy is spinning horrifically out of control, with the wave of murderous terrorist attacks and violent demonstrations erupting across the Arab/Islamic world—a severe setback to the region’s democratic movements that tried to establish pluralistic opportunities for Arab gay people.

Mitt Romney offers a plan that will reinvigorate our economy and create at least 12 million new jobs in the next four years. He will save our deeply troubled Medicare and Social Security programs for our gay senior citizens. And he will stop the thoughtless foreign borrowing that has enchained every American into debt and despair for generations. Romney will help our entrepreneurial class create more jobs, and taxpayers.

Gay Americans are exceptionally capable and patriotic workers: They deserve the best America they can get in return for their dreams and ambitions. Let’s vote for Mitt Romney, along with Connie Mack for the U.S. Senate, and all other reform Republican candidates in Florida.

Sandy Steen is Vice President of the Broward Log Cabin Republicans and a former Mayor of Wilton Manors.

Tonight’s presidential debate features the first African- American chief executive defending his seat against— arguably—the most “Establishment”- type candidate that the GOP Eastern Establishment could bring to bear. (Point of Trivia: The Republican Party included on its presidential ticket— either at the top or as running mate— someone named “Bush” or “Dole” in every election between 1976 and 2004.

How’s that for a party of insiders?) All three presidential debates between President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney will take place this month, as will the single debate between Vice President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Expect few innovations—other than the presence of CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley as one of the debate moderators, the first female journalist to do so since ABC News correspondent Carole Simpson ref’ed a 1992 three-way between President George H.W. Bush and his challengers, Democrat Bill Clinton, and Indy-billionaire H. Ross Perot.

(The moderators for the other two debates between Obama and Romney are PBS executive editor Jim Lehrer and CBS News anchor and host Bob Schieffer. Another female journalist—ABC News senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz—will moderate the debate between Biden and Ryan, on October 11.)

The first debate tonight, moderated by Lehrer, will take place at the University of Denver, Denver. It will be divided into six 15-minute segments with topics selected by the moderator—in this case, related to the economy and domestic policy.

By Joe Harris

Each segment will open with a question from the moderator, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond.

The second presidential debate, on Tuesday, October 16, will be a town meeting at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York, moderated by Crowley. The questioners—undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization—will pose their questions about foreign and domestic matters. Obama and Romney will each have two minutes to respond, with an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate discussion.

The final debate between the president and Gov. Romney, moderated by Schieffer, will be a local affair, taking place on Monday, October 22, at Lynn University in Boca Raton. The format—identical to the first debate— will concern foreign policy issues.

Both Romney and the president have challenges going into tonight’s exchange. Romney has to get the heartrates of both women and lower-middle income white voters going in order to counter Obama’s huge leads among African-Americans and Hispanics.

Having failed to make them swoon after the RNC in Tampa, Romney has seen the evaporation his once-biggest assets: The ability to paint the economy as dismal, and his appeal to swingstate voters. Polls show that Romney can’t count on voter angst about the economy in these final weeks, and the strengths which might have delivered Independents and moderates have been sacrificed at the altar of Social Conservatism and a need to mollify the radical elements of his right flank, which even now remain suspicious of his Mormon faith and (now-forgotten) progressive record in the Bay State.

Obama can still capsize: A major fumble mid-debate could dominate the news cycle and shift the narrative’s focus. It doesn’t have to be big, just distracting. (Let’s not forget his smarmy, “You’re likeable enough, Hillary” remark in 2008.) To be continued.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – A new survey of Illinois delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina this week indicates that President Obama’s support for legalizing same-sex marriage helps his reelection chances. Almost 78 percent of respondents to a Chicago Daily Herald survey said that the president’s announcement this year supporting marriage equality will help him among independent voters. The remainder thinks his position will neither help nor hurt him.

The responses of the 40 Prairie State delegates stands in stark contrast to those of GOP delegates surveyed by the newspaper prior to last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa. In those answers, 33 percent said that Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s opposition to gay marriage will help him with independent voters. Only 4 percent said that his position will hurt his chances, while 64 percent think it will neither help nor hurt him.

In Illinois, lawmakers have approved civil unions, while a suit seeking to legalize marriage equality is working its way through the state’s courts.

By JOE HARRIS

Walk with me, if you will, through the fields of my political imagination, while we analyze if former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s endorsement on Sunday of President Obama’s re-election campaign gives us a window into what turns him on. Although “comeback” is on the lips of many observers, the first word to pop into my mind is “punishment,” followed by “masochist,” and an image of the Once-and-[He Hopes]-Future- Governor playing a B&D/S&M scene with political operatives from both major parties.

The Republicans have already talked about Crist’s endorsement in the same terminology a dominatrix might use to scold a naughty businessman during a lunchtime quickie. Florida GOP chairman Lenny Curry slammed the former governor as “a self-centered career politician,” “repugnant,” “selfish,” and “looking after his own interests,” and then verbally spanked him, adding, “in spite of an approaching hurricane, no less!”

The notion of Crist as a “political masochist” seeking release through punishment is only heightened (exponentially) with the thought of how DEMOCRATS will go after him once his plans are known. It’s a pretty safe bet that Crist’s move was timed to maximize the media attention, and is another major step by the once-popular politician to crawl up from the ash heap of history towards rebirth as a Democrat and a return to competitive politics. It also increases the buzz to a fever pitch concerning Crist’s intentions to run for governor in 2014, or other elected office—but this time as a Democrat. You’ll have a chance to see his “audition tape” next week, when he addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Republicans will have a field day condemning a recycled Crist, attacking him like they did John Kerry as a flipflopper, but also as a party traitor, and a collaborator with the hated Occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They have already pointed to his abandonment of his previous positions, including his 2010 admonition against Obama that, “I don’t agree with the guy on hardly anything he does,” his self-description as a “pro-life” “Ronald Reagan Republican,” his opposition to ObamaCare, and his “cheerful” support of a state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality.

And the Republican Party “talking points” actually suggest, “You should take every opportunity with the media to remind Floridians that Crist has made a career out of bashing the Democrat Party and everything President Obama stands for.” Imagine how much hay other Democratic candidates will make of that when they stand against Crist during a future primary.

In the words of the Florida GOP’s Curry, “Charlie Crist has demonstrated, yet again, that his political ambition will always come first.”

For his part, Crist has been invoking the memory and paraphrasing the words of Ronald Reagan, suggesting that he didn’t leave the GOP in 2010, but that rather the party left him, by embracing extreme positions and beliefs. The GOP talking points try to blunt that defense by noting that the ex-governor jumped the party’s ship for an electoral opportunity, and “left because polls showed he had a better chance to win the [U.S.] Senate seat as an Independent.”

Does Crist have a right to a “second act” in politics? Sure he does. But Republicans have a legitimate right to cast him as an opportunist—a professional politician who is just looking for an elected office to occupy. South Floridians have seen this before (sorry, Jim Lewis). My own fascination with train wrecks leaves me wondering what kind of punishment the members of his own (new) party have planned for Crist: Florida politics’ Once-and-Future whipping.

By Cliff Dunn

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama told LGBT supporters last week that they have a friend in him. During the annual White House “LGBT Pride Month” reception on Friday, the chief executive promised to continue to serve as an advocate for gay rights. “Americans may be still evolving when it comes to marriage equality, but as I’ve indicated, personally Michelle and I have made up our minds,” Obama told the gathering of around 500 guests.

“As long as I have the privilege of being your president, I promise you, you won’t just have a friend in the White House, you will have a fellow advocate,” Obama added. The president announced last month that his own evolving views on LGBT rights had led him to conclude that same sex couples should have the right to marry, after years of putting off the announcement, angering many gay advocates.

All those present on Friday night appeared to be fully supportive of the Obama’s handling of other important to gay rights issues, including the repeal of the Pentagon’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, and his Justice Department’s refusal to defend in court what the president believes to be an unconstitutional law, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

“Three years ago,” Obama added, “I also promised you this: I said that even if it took more time than we would like, we would see progress, we would see success—we would see real and lasting change. And together, that’s what we’re witnessing.”

The president acknowledged frustrations within the gay community at the perceived pace of progress and applauded LGBT advocates for demanding forcefully for change. “I’ve said before that I would never counsel patience; that it wasn’t right to tell you to be patient any more than it was right for others to tell women to be patient a century ago, or African Americans to be patient a half century ago,” he said. “After decades of inaction and indifference, you have every reason and right to push, loudly and forcefully, for equality.”

The chief executive acknowledged the struggle that remains. “We still have a long way to go, but we will get there. We’ll get there because of all of you. We’ll get there because of all of the ordinary Americans, who every day show extraordinary courage. We’ll get there because of every man and woman and activist and ally who is moving us forward by the force of their moral arguments, but more importantly, by the force of their example.”

Although the president’s remarks were well-received by activists, there remain questions unanswered about his current “whereabouts” on the LGBT “evolutionary scale. “As the president hosts LGBT advocates at the White House today to celebrate LGBT Pride Month, we call on President Obama to issue the executive order that we have been calling for since the beginning of the year—an Executive Order to bar discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Robin McGehee, the executive director of GetEQUAL.

By Cliff Dunn

“The modern president is America’s shrink, a social worker, our very own national talk show host. He’s also the Supreme Warlord of the Earth.”
Gene Healy, “The Cult of the Presidency”

President Obama’s historic words last week announcing his support of full marriage equality for gay Americans was as simple as it was foundational: “I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” The full scope and impact of this fairly straightforward executive opinion have yet to be measured, but I have serious reason to think it will be somewhat similar to the society-shaking influence of—with apologies to the intolerant extreme of the religious right—Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (I purposely chose that one, but it could easily have been any one of the Ten Greatest Hits).

With Obama’s offhand comment—spoken to an interviewer as one might say to a child “It’s wrong to lie”— he weaved presidential magic into the complex legerdemain of the gay partnerships in modern America. The Presidential Seal “of approval” (pun intended) brings with it the force and impact of a body blow, megaton-style, with an aura that encompasses all the majesty and dignity of the Republic within a single man. No king for us, insisted Washington and the other dead (and mostly straight, I’m guessing—but who knows?) white males who framed the Great Experiment in their own images, imperfect and cantankerous demigods though they may have been.

Instead of a monarch for the new nation, executive function and power were endowed in a presidency (such a magnitude of power, in fact, that political scientists are divided to the present day as to the wisdom of using the American Presidency as a blueprint for modern executive branches of government elsewhere), and that office would, through tumultuous centuries, be secularly anointed with the pomp, pageantry, and potency of a priest-king, celebrity icon, and national dad all rolled into one.

Make no mistake. The office endows a negative-charisma in many, if not most, of its historic occupants (although like all nations, we do love our scoundrels: FDR, JFK, and Bill Clinton all possessed a “forgivable” quality that drove their enemies to apoplexy). But even for those Commanders-in-Chief whom We The People have come to hate through the years—Nixon, Bush-43, Hoover, Grant, Buchanan, LBJ, and Truman, at least during his time in office—that hatred was almost invariably accompanied by a recognition that his office commanded a mystique and awe that even the most blowhard opposition politician has crumbled under in even the briefest visit to the Oval Office.

Obama’s isn’t merely the opinion of a talking head. Neither Rush Limbaugh, nor Howard Stern, nor Sean Hannity can command the grandeur, gravitas, might, majesty, and moral high ground—to say nothing of the 82nd Airborne Division—that emanates from the presidency. Obama was conjuring the shades of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt (both of them), Truman, and Reagan when he placed the moral authority of his office squarely on the side of equality and justice for every American. In doing so, he potentially jeopardized his electoral relationship with his African American constituency (although I’m betting otherwise). No other prominent American leader could take such a calculated risk.

You talk about only Nixon being qualified to go to China.

Why should this be such a cause for sleepless nights among the enemies of equality? Consider. When the chief executive says “I think” this or that, he may indeed be voicing the opinion of a private citizen. On the other hand, when the Queen of England says “We are not amused,” she is speaking AS “we”—the entire United Kingdom, even those among her subjects who think she should be replaced by a Word Document containing a legible constitution. Which one, though, do you think gets their morning paper delivered faster?

Lincoln’s 1860s opposition to southern secession was admired, but considered mostly window dressing, since there was no constitutional framework for a president telling rebellious states that they couldn’t abscond from the Union (to say nothing of suspending habeas corpus, which still gives constitutional constructionists the shakes). FDR’s “welfare state” efforts in the 1930s during the desperate days of the Great Depression were met with hostility and accusations of “socialism” and “tyranny” (sound familiar?), because most Americans feared an activist government. But how many 70-year-old conservative senior citizens today are indignantly refusing their Social Security checks? Truman’s Missouri origins and political machine past made him an unlikely Commander-in-Chief to implement racial integration of the armed services, but “Give ‘em Hell” Harry knew the difference between right and wrong, and he acted accordingly.

In the 1990s, Bill Clinton was tagged by some in the media as America’s “first Black president” because of his reputed simpatico with the cause of racial justice, and for his close ties with African American leaders. This week, the cover of Newsweek featured an image of Obama with the well-deserved and hard-won caption “The First Gay President.” Although accusations of an “Imperial Presidency” may be leveled at him by his political enemies, under the circumstances—and certainly to most of his LGBT supporters—only the flexing of the Imperial Presidency’s muscles can deliver liberty and justice for all of us.

By Cliff Dunn

TALLAHASSEE – The battle lines are forming up, following President Barack Obama’s history-making endorsement last week of same sex marriage. In an interview with ABC News that aired in part last Wednesday night and concluded the next day on “Good Morning America,” the chief executive became the first sitting president to support full marriage equality for gays and lesbians, saying, “I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

The spin doctors of both major parties immediately set about offering words of encouragement and condemnation. On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida) told CNBC host Larry Kudlow that Obama’s public statement could have a strong negative impact in Florida, an impact that may be felt in his campaign for reelection and his ability to win Florida, with its large bloc of 29 electoral votes.
While referring to same sex marriage as a “non-issue” in the Sunshine State, Scott, who was elected governor in 2010 after spending approximately $75 million of his own fortune in his bid for the state’s top office, said that the conservative views of most Floridians had been heard at the ballot box, and that the president should take heed.

“It has already been decided,” Scott told Kudlow. “In 2008, over 60 percent of our voters passed a constitutional amendment saying there is not going to be same-sex marriage in Florida, so it’s a non-issue here. It will hurt the president here in Florida, his position.” During the 2008 presidential race, Obama won in Florida, beating his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, 51 to 48 percent. That margin is cause for concern as Democratic strategists weigh the numerous factors that will come into play in deciding the outcome in swing states with large electoral vote counts, including Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia, all of which swung to Obama four years ago.

Other Republicans joined the chorus questioning Obama’s decision. “I think it’s going to cause an incredible discussion in the black community, because, as you know, on Sundays in the black community the most conservative people in America are in those black churches,” Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) said to ABC News last week. “I think it may have been a huge miscalculation, especially when you have 41 states that recognize marriage between one man and one woman, and you just came off an incredible loss to them. Sixty-nine percent voted [to ban same-sex marriage] in North Carolina, which is a key swing state he barely won last time,” said West said, who added that even though blacks supported the president four years ago, marriage equality was banned in both Florida and California.

In 1997, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature adopted the Defense of Marriage Act and likewise banned recognition of gay marriages performed in other states. At that time, only 27 percent of American said they supported same sex marriage. In 2008, opponents of marriage equality successfully championed passage of an amendment banning it the Florida state constitution.

Among the “big picture” questions being asked at water coolers and in the halls of Congress alike is what precisely motivated President Obama to announce his support for gay marriage, after more than two years of professing an “evolving” view on the topic? The appearance of Vice President Joe Biden days earlier in an interview in which he offered his own support for same sex marriage is seen by many as a happy (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) unguarded moment on Biden’s part that “forced” Obama’s hand in making his own endorsement.

A new CBS News/New York Times survey shows that 67 percent believe that the president made his policy shift “mostly for political reasons,” and 24 percent say he did it “mostly because he thinks it is right.” The poll also shows that Americans’ ideas of fairness and equality have shifted, but remain complicated. According to the survey, 38 percent of Americans favor full marriage equality rights for gays, while 24 percent support civil unions that include many of the rights and privileges of formal marriage. A full third—33 percent—of Americans are against any kind of legal recognition. That number jumped when civil unions were dropped as an option, with 51 percent opposing same sex marriage and 42 percent supporting it.

Another important factor in the marriage equality debate is the growing number of Americans who admit to knowing or being friends with a gay or lesbian individual. In 2003, a CBS News/New York Times poll found that 44 percent had a coworker, friend, or family member who was gay. That number jumped to 69 percent in the new survey, with those individuals who know a gay person more likely to favor marriage equality.

Last month, the CBS News/New York Times poll found Obama and Romney tied, with 46 percent supporting each man. The most recent survey shows a slight edge for Romney over Obama—46 to 43 percent, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points, meaning the race remains a statistical dead heat.

The president’s vulnerability remains in spite of increased optimism about the economy. This may explain, at least in part, his shifting the debate away from “daddy” issues—those which relate to the economy, national security, and other policy matters where Republicans tend to hold sway among voters—toward “mommy” issues, which swing voters to Democrats, and which include social policy and spending, healthcare topics—and LGBT rights. By changing the conversation from those issues which are contentious for the president—jobs, the still-anemic economy, and the continuing distrust for Wall Street—to those which have the support of moderates and independents, Obama may be able to influence the dynamics which have thus far shaped the presidential race, and the way his countrymen perceive him.

Among those Americans who may perceive the president in the most critical light are social and religious conservatives. The president, who has professed his religious faith many times, must now convince religious voters, many who are divided over marriage equality, that his views on gay marriage don’t represent an attack on religious liberties or the freedom of churches to refuse to perform services that run contrary to their core beliefs. “We’re both practicing Christians,” Obama said during the interview, referring to his wife and himself. “And obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others.”

In recognition of that important base of the electorate, shortly after declaring support for marriage equality, Obama placed a conference call to more than a half dozen African American ministers to explain his announcement and defend its consequences. The pastors represent one of the most divided constituencies the president has: black Americans who overwhelmingly support Obama while at the same time opposing marriage equality rights for gays.

According to the Rev. Delman Coates, a pastor who was on the conference call, the chief executive told the ministers that his decision had been a struggle of conscience, but that he believed he had made the right one. Most of the participating pastors agreed to “work aggressively” for the president’s reelection, but not all of them. “They were wrestling with their ability to get over his theological position,” said Coates, pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Maryland. “Gay marriage is contrary to their understanding of Scripture.”

Rev. Joel C. Hunter, the pastor of Northland, a conservative mega-church based in Central Florida, also spoke with the president on the phone after the ABC interview. “Some of the faith communities are going to be afraid that this is an attack against religious liberty,” Hunter told the president. “Absolutely not,” the president assured Hunter, who was elected President of the Christian Coalition in 2006, and who delivered a blessing for Obama in 2009 prior to his inauguration. “That’s not where we’re going, and that’s not what I want,” the president added.

By Cliff Dunn

“Personally, I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” -President Barack Obama, May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans. “I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said.

During an interview with ABC reporter Robin Roberts (which aired in full this morning on “Good Morning America”), Obama gave LGBT Americans the nod they had been waiting for after four years of coy winks concerning his “evolving” views on full marriage rights for every citizen.

The president, invoking the images of same-sex families and households possessing the same goals and concerns as any straight family unit, spoke of his evolution from a supporter of civil unions to a history-making proponent of full marital rights.

The president’s comments came during a week that was filled with good news for LGBT Americans. On Sunday, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, remarks that were followed on Monday by Secretary of Education Secretary Arne Duncan offering ‘his own “public” support on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” President Obama offered. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know, believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha [the president and Mrs. Obama’s daughters], they have friends whose parents are same sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

By publically announcing his support, Obama was formalizing a process that has already begun, with the rollback of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and the Justice Department ending its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman—in court. Analysts say that the president is taking some political risk in his overt support for same-sex marriage. In 2008, his presidential campaign won North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes by a 0.3 percent margin of victory. On Tuesday, the pivotal swing state’s voters overwhelmingly—61 to 39 percent—passed legislation which enshrines the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution. For Obama, it will be a long road until November.WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans.

WINTER PARK – While the rest of the country observed a National Day of Silence to commemorate the victims of anti-gay bullying and hatebased violence, Christian conservatives descended upon Central Florida on April 20 to participate in a two-day gathering called “The Awakening,” a multipurpose affair meant to develop a political strategy based upon conservative religious principles to defeat President Obama in November and put a stop to the momentum that has advanced LGBT rights and other progressive causes.

The Awakening kicked off on Friday at Orlando’s Calvary Assembly megachurch with all the trappings of a religious revival meeting (with the giant tent substituted in favor of a gargantuan air-conditioned tabernacle). Billed as a “federation of multi-racial, multiethnic and multi-generational faithbased and policy organizations,” the mostly-white attendees were told about the importance of retaining the Latino vote within the conservative fold, although polling data suggests that Hispanics still favor Obama over a potential Republican rival. Latino pastors lectured about conservative values while stressing the need to show compassion towards immigrants (although not for gays).

On Saturday, the meeting broke into strategy sessions that focused on important issues, including “Winning the Battle” against gay rights, and “Families under Attack” from such familiar bogeymen as abortion rights, pornography, and sexual promiscuity.

Among those scheduled to speak at the event were Rep. Allen West (R-FL) and Rep. Jon Mica (R-FL), as well as Lou Engle, the Kansas City minister and head of The Call Ministries, who has applauded Ugandan lawmakers for their “courage” calling for capital punishment against persons with HIV/AIDS and those who engage in consensual gay sex. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) appeared via satellite from Washington.

Organizers said they expected about 1,000 people to attend the conference, which was sponsored by the Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal advocacy group that supports and litigates right wing causes. The group is affiliated with Lynchburg, Virginia-based Liberty University, which was founded by the late Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell as a training ground for future social conservative lawyers and public policymakers. “The trajectory we are now on is counter to the vision of our founding fathers, counter to the biblical principles on which our nation was founded,” said Matt Barber, vice president of Liberty Counsel Action.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama issued a memo to the heads of his Executive Departments and Agencies to advance human rights and safety of LGBT people abroad.

Obama’s memo said:
“The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States commitment to promoting human rights. I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world – whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation.

That is why I declared before heads of state gathered at the United Nations, “no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere.” Under my Administration, agencies engaged abroad have already begun taking action to promote the fundamental human rights of LGBT persons everywhere. Our deep commitment to advancing the human rights of all people is strengthened when we as the United States bring our tools to bear to vigorously advance this goal.”

GOP presidential contenders Rick Santorum and Rick Perry have condemned Obama’s memo.

Rick Perry has issued a statement attacking the Obama administration over the memorandum issued earlier today directing the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies abroad to advance the human rights of and ensure the safety of LGBT people.

Perry said in a written statement: “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop. President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”

In recognition of Human Rights Day, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will delivered a human rights policy speech on Tuesday, December 6, hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.