President Obama and first lady Michelle welcomed gay activists to the White House on Monday, with a contingent from Chicago flying in to mark LGBT pride month.
The Obama administration’s lack of progress on key gay issues has been a source of disappointment.
“Many in our community feel he is not doing enough,” Shore told me after the event. “I feel it’s just not up to him. It has to be up to all of us. The slogan was not ‘Yes, he can.’ It was ‘Yes we can.’ So we have work to do.”
Obama in his remarks tacitly acknowledged the critics.
“I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration,” the president said.
On one of the most sensitive issues, getting Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, Obama said he was trying. “Now, I want to add we have a duty to uphold existing law, but I believe we must do so in a way that does not exacerbate old divides.”
As for the controversial military “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — which can only be repealed by Congress — Obama pleaded for patience.
