President Obama was greeted by overwhelming applause from a packed house at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner at the Washington Convention Center on Saturday night. Obama kicked off his speech with a few remarks about his recent meeting with Lady Gaga, the pop singer and gay-rights activist. “I … took a trip out to California last week where I had some productive bilateral talks with your leader, Lady Gaga. She was wearing 16-inch heels. She was 8 feet tall. It was a little intimidating,” POTUS joked.
Obama then addressed the struggle for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and acknowledged that while there is still a long way to go, they should be proud of the progress they have made since he became president. “Two years ago, I stood at this podium in this room before many of you and I made a pledge. I said 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 African-Americans to be patient in the fight for equal rights a half-century ago. But what I also said, that while it might take time, more time than anyone would like, we are going to make progress; we are going to succeed; we are going to build a more perfect union.”
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POTUS talked about passage of expanded hate-crimes legislation in honor of Matthew Shepard and the importance of the bill being that “it should never be dangerous, you should never have to look over your shoulder, to be gay in the United States of America.”
He spoke about lifting the U.S. travel ban on people with HIV, requiring hospitals that accept Medicare or Medicaid to treat gay partners the same as straight ones, and of course, the most recent accomplishment, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“All around the world, you’ve got gays and lesbians who are serving, and the only difference is now they can put up a family photo. No one has to live a lie to serve the country they love,” Obama said.
He asked for the HRC’s help to fight for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. “I’m going to continue to fight alongside you and together, we also have to keep sending a message to every young person in this country who might feel alone or afraid because they’re gay or transgender — who may be getting picked on or pushed around because they’re different. We’ve got to make sure they know that there are adults they can talk to; that they are never alone; that there is a whole world waiting for them filled with possibility.”
