Why the Pledge?

Hope, but verify.

A year ago, the LGBT community, our families, friends and allies across the country were elated by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  We poured our hearts and wallets out to elect a Democratic president and Congress, and on November 4th, 2008 we had great hopes for the future of our country and our community.

Over the past year our joy has turned to frustration as President Obama and the Democratic Party have moved away from their campaign commitments to gay and lesbian Americans.  While President Obama repeatedly promised to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), he has now backtracked on all three commitments.

There has been little, if any, pressure from the White House for votes on ENDA.  The administration continues to send mixed signals on the repeal of DADT.  And we've been told not to expect DOMA to even be addressed until President Obama's second term.  All the while, the administration continues to defend DOMA in the courts, harming our families' access to benefits from health insurance reform, to federal employee benefits and immigration reform.

Democratic leaders see the LGBT community as a guaranteed source of cash, regardless of their broken promises.  They think we, and those who support us, have nowhere else to go, that there's nothing we can do.  It's time to draw our own line in the sand, and use the one thing that matters to the Democratic party: our money.  

Until the President and the party fulfill their promises to gay Americans, fair-minded Democrats should postpone their contributions to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Organizing for America (OFA), and the Obama campaign.

That's the pledge we make today: Don't Ask, Don't Give.  Don't ask us for any more money -- the GayTM has run dry until your promises have been kept.  Our basic civil rights and our humanity are on the line.  We shouldn't have to wait at the back of the bus, we shouldn't have to feel like a political pariah in our own party.

The three commitments that must be met are:

• Passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA);
• Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT); and
• Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Unless the LGBT community, our families, friends, and allies show that we're serious about LGBT rights, that we will no longer accept broken promises, that we will no longer tolerate the Obama administration defending anti-gay laws in court -- laws the President once called "abhorrent" -- LGBT equality will be treated like just another political issue.  It's not.  It's about our lives.  And we've had enough.

Sign the pledge.  Make LGBT rights a priority.  Have hope that the Democrats will keep their promise as espoused in the 2008 platform:

Hope, but verify.  We have great hope for our President, our party, and our future.  But, we have to verify that the President and the Democratic Party are keeping their promises before continuing our open-ended support.  It's that simple.  This is our time.  We cannot let injustice continue to fester while those with the power to help millions sit idly by.

Thank you so much for supporting this effort.  We will be contacting you in the coming days to follow up and let you know other actions you can take to help.

JOHN ARAVOSIS and JOE SUDBAY
AMERICAblog.com

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