Obama Clearly Not Interested in Gay Rights

At least he's getting one thing right:

President Obama's alliance with gay rights activists may have reached a breaking point this week when his Justice Department moved to dismiss the first gay marriage case filed in federal court.

Obama's Justice Department said the lawsuit is not the right venue to tackle legal questions raised by a couple already married in California.

The motion, filed late Thursday, argued that the case of Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer does not address the right of gay couples to marry but rather questions whether their marriage must be recognized nationwide by states that have not approved gay marriage.

"This case does not call upon the Court to pass judgment ... on the legal or moral right of same-sex couples, such as plaintiffs here, to be married," the motion states. "Plaintiffs are married, and their challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act ('DOMA') poses a different set of questions."

The move comes on the heels of the Obama administration taking a go-slow approach to repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces. Spokesmen at the White House and Pentagon have said Obama is committed to repeal but add there is no timeline.

The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest gay rights groups, blasted the Obama administration for its latest move.

"The administration apparently determined that it had a duty to defend DOMA in the courts," the group's president, Joe Solmonese, said in a statement. "We call on the president to send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress."

The group praised the president for his achievements in office so far but said the gay community is frustrated by the administration's silence on repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, -- an issue he voiced support for during his presidential campaign.

"President Obama must see that this extraordinary record of commitment to the public good at last be extended to end discrimination against LGBT people," Solmonese said, referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Although Obama said he did not support Prop 8 in California, he did say in the Saddleback Forum that he did not support gay marriage. The black community voted overwhelmingly against gay marriage, and it seems that despite the lip service he gave the gay community during the campaign (sorry if that brings some unpleasant images), I'm beginning to think that in the secrecy of the ballot booth he would also have voted in favor of Prop 8.

I think he's secretly against gay rights and his lack of enthusiasm for the subject is coming out (another unfortunate pun) in his decisions.