Obama pledges to protect the rights of gays

WASHINGTON, Sunday

President Barack Obama, speaking on the eve of a major gay-rights march, told gay supporters on Saturday he would fight for their causes and renewed a pledge to end restrictions on their service in the US military.

To a standing ovation at a dinner held by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group, President Obama said he would “end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ That’s my commitment to you.”

President Obama, who was referring to the policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the US military, was seeking to shore up his support among gays and lesbians who backed him strongly during last year’s presidential campaign.

Many gay activists are frustrated he has not moved more quickly to carry out promises, such as overturning the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and repealing the Defence of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from forcing states to recognize gay marriage.

Economic crisis

At the dinner, President Obama acknowledged that work on those issues was “taking longer than you’d like” as the push to overhaul healthcare and dealing with the economic crisis dominate his domestic agenda.

But he promised “unwavering” support for broadening the rights of gays and lesbians and said he would not allow the issue to be sidetracked.

President Obama touted his decision to extend some benefits to partners of gay federal employees and said he hopes to soon sign a Bill that would broaden the definition of hate crimes to include attacks on people because of their sexual orientation. (Reuters)