Op-Ed: Obama Memo Is A Piece of Crap

I keep thinking that President Obama must have turned to his handlers yesterday morning and said “get me that fag Frank and that mannish one from Wisconsin, what’s her name, Timmy, to stand next to me when I sign this.” I know that sounds cruel, but if you take time to actually read the signed memorandum that Obama made such a show of on Wednesday, even the non-cynics would have to consider that it was nothing more than that, show...and maybe an attempt to counter the growing criticism this administration has been hearing from the LGBT community over its inactions.

The headlines on most major news services this morning read something like “benefits expanded” or “Obama signs same-sex benefits memo” which admittedly, does sound impressive and noteworthy. Bullshit. First off, this isn’t an Executive Order, it is a memo. The difference between the two may just be semantics, but some experts believe them to be interchangeable and some speculating that a communication constructed as a memo actually “expires” with a changing administration. (An Executive Order issued by one president remains active until specifically repealed by another.)

The memo begins with a shocking revelation. “Millions of hard-working, dedicated, and patriotic public servants are employed by the Federal Government as part of the civilian workforce, and many of these devoted Americans have same-sex domestic partners.” It then goes on to underscore why legal action is so desperately needed. “Leading companies in the private sector are free to provide to same-sex domestic partners the same benefits they provide to married people of the opposite sex. Executive departments and agencies, however, may only provide benefits on that basis if they have legal authorization to do so. My Administration is not authorized by Federal law to extend a number of available Federal benefits to the same-sex partners of Federal employees.”

Then there’s a piece about instructing the Office of Personnel Management to do something that they should already have done. “Within existing law, however, my Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of State, who oversees our Foreign Service employees, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, who oversees human resource management for our civil service employees, has identified areas in which statutory authority exists to achieve greater equality for the Federal workforce through extension to same-sex domestic partners of benefits currently available to married people of the opposite sex.” Note that nowhere does the memo indicate that this administration sees this as an issue of basic equality. In fact, the last line of the intro summarizes the whole initiative as being a recruiting tool. “Extending available benefits will help the Federal Government compete with the private sector to recruit and retain the best and the brightest employees.”

And then there are the specific requests from Obama:

“Section 1. Extension of Identified Benefits. The Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall, in consultation with the Department of Justice, extend the benefits they have respectively identified to qualified same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees where doing so can be achieved and is consistent with Federal law.”

How much courage does it require to direct agencies to comply with existing law?

“Sec. 2. Review of Government wide Benefits. The heads of all other executive departments and agencies, in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, shall conduct a review of the benefits provided by their respective departments and agencies to determine what authority they have to extend such benefits to same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees. The results of this review shall be reported within 90 days to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, who, in consultation with the Department of Justice, shall recommend to me any additional measures that can be taken, consistent with existing law, to provide benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal Government employees.”

So that means that executive departments and agencies have been given three months to identify benefits that same-sex couples aren’t receiving but are ALREADY GRANTED under the law. Oh and then there will be recommendations on which ones will actually be granted. Generous.

Lastly, there’s a bit about directing the Office of Personnel Management to recommend to departments and agencies how to comply with existing anti-discrimination laws.

“Sec. 3. Promoting Compliance with Existing Law Requiring Federal Workplaces to be Free of Discrimination Based on Non-Merit Factors. The Office of Personnel Management shall issue guidance within 90 days to all executive departments and agencies regarding compliance with, and implementation of, the civil service laws, rules, and regulations, including 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(10), which make it unlawful to discriminate against Federal employees or applicants for Federal employment on the basis of factors not related to job performance.”

So yes it’s true that this is only the second president to issue a directive specifically targeting gays and lesbians. And yes it is true that this is a first step and that it may get the ball rolling, but the memo itself is really just a piece of crap.

Comments

[Glenn, Texas]

Not only have I lost all respect for no-balls Obama - I have now lost all respect for Barney Frank. What a bunch of weak losers !

I am proud to say I supported Hillary all along and I still stand by that decision. Hillary is a stronger person.

[Woofda9]

Thank you Mr. Gulley for your well written and researched editorial. The Obama administration and campaign claim thier support of equality yet, here one more time, we clearly see manipulation, murkiness and lack of spine. Saying you are for equality is different from doing something about it. Memos as you wrote, are nothing but paper (and you know the type I speak of) and the GLBT community again, swallows the show without knowing the substance. Blindly slavelike, we have follow without question, when we should question ALL leaders--it is our Constitutional duty to do so. I am told "give him time, he has only been in office 5 months" yet, still no lifting of travel bans for HIV/AIDS visitors this restriction could be lifted in a simple memo, but nope, he got what he wanted--power, and now, the heck with us. GLBT partners of federal employees deserve the same rights as straight partners. Period. Discrimination is not dead in America, and it is even more sinful that the persecutor is now a black man. No more HOPE, time to fight, we will never be GIVEN what is ours. We will be oppressed, hated, abused and attacked still more. Obama lied when he said he was for us. Here is the proof.

[Glenn, Texas]

How did we allow a Republican to infiltrate the Democratic Party and become elected President ? Now I understand why the Republican-owned media supported Obama !

[Jeremy]

jesus H!!

why isn't this on the front page of gay.com!?!?

[Me]

So are we officially UNDER THE BUS yet? Or we're still at the BACK OF THE BUS? I know we're officially at the BACK OF THE BUS ever since Hussein's inauguration day when he publicly insulted Gene Robison and the rest of us. What's our status in terms of the NObama bus? You know the bus he's using to drive this whole country to hell?

[jeremy]

Why isn't this story on the gay.com main page?

[mike riggans]

Repulican,democrat,in the long run there one in the same. I still would rather see Obama in office then risking Sarah Palin maybe becoming President.

[jonathan plessner]

Indeed a change in Washington, D.C. has taken place place. We are all baring witness to a shift from the previous power mongers who profited from fossil fuels to those who now profit from the so callled green energy revolution...The more things change the more they stay the same.

[cbdcs4u]

Obama's name has changed to Obummer.

Now, that's change I can sink my teeth into!