Next Up for Obama: Marriage Equality for Gay Americans

As indicated in my post earlier today about the DOMA related case going forward in California, like it or not Barack Obama is going to have to stop trying to sit on the fence. You either support full equality for all citizens under the CIVIL laws or you do not. And frankly, Obama's ducking and weaving to avoid taking a categorical position in support of full equality is beginning to getting to ridiculous. You cannot be only a little bit pregnant. And the reality is that the battle for gay marriage is just beginning in the courts and in the court of public opinion, with public support growing if not yet a majority view. Moreover, the outcome of the battle for full gay equality under the civil laws will determine whether or not the U. S. Constitution's promise of equality and freedom of religion mean anything whatsoever. Kerry Eleveld has an op-ed in tomorrow's print edition of the Washington Post that looks at the inevitability of Obama having to take an all or nothing position and bear the political consequence of whatever his decision may be. . Here are some column highlights:
*
Less than a month after President Obama repealed "don't ask, don't tell," his Justice Department filed its latest brief defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act - the law that makes gay Americans second-class citizens by outlawing federal recognition of their legal marriages. This action underscores the point that the battle over gay rights is just beginning.
*
As Obama was preparing to sign the repeal legislation late last month, I was granted the first ever one-on-one interview with him as president by a journalist from a news outlet for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
*
Given that openly gay men and women would soon be fighting and, in some cases, dying for their country, I wondered whether the president thought it was time that those women and men be entitled to full marriage rights.
*
[T]he president is facing new terrain now that some gays in the military will undoubtedly be lawfully wedded to their partners. For example, will the families of those service members have access to the same benefits and support networks that their heterosexual counterparts have? Will their spouses be the first informed if they pay the ultimate sacrifice in the course of defending their country?
*
There is a serious flaw in the president's position of viewing civil unions as a path to giving same-sex couples equal relationship recognition: The federal government does not recognize civil unions for the purposes of spousal benefits. In fact, no legislation to formalize civil unions exists at the federal level.
*
That means that advocates of civil unions, Obama included, are suggesting for lesbian and gay couples a status for which the federal government has no definition and no frame of reference within its codes, and one that provides no path to legal recognition.
*
With equality legislation stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, one of the most significant advances Obama can make between now and his 2012 reelection campaign is to evolve fully on marriage equality. The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" was a turning point in the marriage discussion. It poses a major challenge and an opportunity for the president.