More Comments, More Outrage

Andrew Sullivan:

And I thought the Clinton administration was clueless on gay rights ... and that's what comes to mind today. I remember the DOMA hearings where I testified in 1996. On the morning of the hearings, the Clinton White House kicked us in the teeth with a statement lauding the constitutionality of DOMA. They didn't have to do it; they didn't have to do it the way they did; and they didn't have to time it that way; and they could have let us know. In the end, we realized it was Dick Morris. Please tell me we didn't elect Obama for more Dick Morris.

and

W. Scott Simpson, a Bush administration holdover, [filed the DOMA brief]. You can read a previous decision of his here (PDF) from 2008. So it becomes clearer. The harsh rhetoric, the gratuitous attacks on our relationships ... they were written by someone who was given an award by Alberto Gonzales for his defense of the Partial Birth Abortion Act.

and

I suspect that this was a function not of malevolence but of negligence. The truth is: this administration is not hostile to gay equality; it just doesn't give a damn about it.

Dan Savage:

[Referring to W. Scott Simpson] And guess what else? He's a Mormon.

Do you think the Obama administration is letting Bush holdovers work on healthcare reform? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on Iraq policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on economic policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers manage Sotomayor's confirmation process? Of course not. Because all of those things matter to the Obama administration. They give a shit about healthcare and Iraq and the economy and the Supreme Court nominee. They don't give a shit about gay rights—they don't give a shit about gay soldiers being hounded out of the military or gay spouses being turned away from their partners' sickbeds or binational gay couples facing deportation or the HIV travel ban or gay parents or anything else that touches our lives.

and

Barack Obama's record on gay rights so far: disturbing, unsound, false, discriminatory, damaging, nonsensical. Before today you could argue that the Obama administration was too busy with the economy and the war and health care to focus on making good on his campaign promises to gays and lesbians, that Obama simply didn't have the time to take up our issues. But you can't make that argument anymore. The Obama administration has the time to take up gay rights issues—but only, it seems, to do harm.

I can't take my vote back. And I'm not sure I would if I could. But I sure as hell would like to have my money back.

Joe.My.God.:

JMG reader Lavi dug into the brief and found that it invokes incest and adult-child marriage. UNfuckingbelievable.

Cleve Jones, heading up this October's March on Washington:

It's so clear that Obama and the Democratic leadership are turning their backs on us. If we don't go for it now, we'll get nothing. It's beginning to smell a lot like Clinton.

The Task Force:

DOMA is and has always been an immoral attack on same-sex couples, our families and our fundamental humanity. This law has only served to discriminate against Americans and belittle our nation's heralded values embracing freedom, fairness and justice. The Task Force Action Fund demands President Obama and Congress immediately repeal this hateful law, which has left a moral scar on our nation and its worthy pursuit of equal justice for all. Unfortunately, the malicious and outrageous arguments and language used in the Department of Justice's marriage brief is only serving to inflame and malign the humanity of same-sex couples and our families. This is unacceptable. This ugly chapter in our nation's history must come to an end now with the repeal of DOMA.

Do you feel stabbed in the back? Write the President and tell him so.