for the 60th seat?

Al Franken is decidedly pro-LBGT rights. And Senator Franken would prevent GOP legislative shenanigans. Maybe this will be his first bill??

Libertarians don't care how you live your lives. They don't care about your personal habits,like or dislikes. This is the spirit of our founding fathers. This is almost July fourth and what many forget or were never made aware of was the first debates in Congress included proposals to end slavery. These were British oppessive laws and out of control taxes ,fees,fines and intrusion into personal rights and we wanted none of it. After several days of heated debate Congress, for the first timeof many, kicked an issue down the road for a future generation to pay for. Like what we are doing financially now. It cost us hundreds of thousands of american lives to achieve a consensus of opinion on slavery. British law enabled slavery here, libertarians always opposed it.

The black community has been co-opted into submission to the very blue blood descendants and holders of European style views of governments , elitism and opression, who seek control through voluntary submission of personal rights for empty promises . Gays now find themselves sold out and asked to buy the "wait","wait" we'll get to you . It took a civil war the last time to give Washington the will to address past human rights wrongs. It's been like pulling teeth since. We even had hypocryte Democratic Progressive Presidents like Woodrow Wilson re-segregate the military and Federal employee systems, some that had been desegregated since 1863. President Wilson is still held up as an ideal to follow by fellow modern progressives like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Each person should be judged by thier character without regard to sex,gender,age,race or political afilliation. That is what gays want,there is never a right reason to do the wrong thing. Libertarians stand by gays who are justified to want Obama to honor pledges he made to them when he ran for President. The policy should be changed to don't ask, doesn't matter today!!. I hope they don't fall for the BS and they stand firm. Transparancy and character matter.

For me as a gay man, and I think I speak for many gays and lesbians, my growing anxiety over this administration hasn't been the fact that no actions on Obama's numerous promises to his gay supporters have been taken yet. We understand Obama inherited tremendous problems on all fronts and that our continuing legal inequality (and the fears and hatred that that helps to stoke and justify) isn't foremost in the minds of most sympathetic heterosexuals. Many of us also understand that the Pavlovian media would have pounced if he appeared to be embroiling himself in our issues early in his presidency, thanks to the legacy of Clinton. But Obama brought this gay "proto-rebellion" on himself with his complete silence so far and then the unnecessarily vigorous defense of DOMA by his justice department. He should have known that after the horrendous betrayal of us by the previous Democratic president that we're on hair-trigger alert. His pattern of silence until now isn't new either. He never could be bothered to reassure us after his unnecessary flirtation with the outspoken homophobe, gospel singer McClurkin, or his courtship of equally homophobic pastor Rick Warren. The dance is on and he brung us. Maybe he doesn't have to dance with us just yet, but a little conservation is in order.

People need to understand that it's not the "delay" in dealing with key issues for the LGBT community, it's the fact that the guy who promised to be a "fierce advocate" has made some bad moves, and hasn't taken some easy steps. Patience is a virtue, but when you're repeatedly poked in the eye, you tend to lose patience.

I, for one, am not a single-issue voter. I wanted Obama as president to reverse eight years of misrule and the trashing of our Constitution (not a great record on that so far). I wanted someone who could actually implement some form of universal health care, deal with the financial crisis and get our troops the hell out of Iraq.

I was not expecting within six months that we would have gay marriage across the nation and full federal equality. However, I was surely not counting on having a legal brief filed that was both unnecessary and extreme in defending a law that the president had pledged to work to repeal. I would have expected the "commander-in-chief" to order the suspension of discharges under DADT, fully within his authority and based on legitimate national security grounds, while the policy and law were changed.

There is a sordid sort of politics behind all this, thinly veiled with homophobia, and it's nothing we haven't seen before. The administration must continue to feel the pressure unless and until they take some concrete steps to show that they are serious. Bashing Obama is not really a strategy though, and a full-court press on Congress is also required. I do retain the belief that if the legislation that we want on any issue important to the community does get through, Obama will gladly sign it. That is in no way what I would call a fierce advocate, but nobody said this was going to be easy.

I agree that, while a good start, there is a danger that gay activists might get used to these white house fireside chats. Constant references to making history can get tiring for the people that history traditionally forget about. People making history are often the first to forget that. Madden's caution is sensible, and justified, especially after Rick Warren's invitation to the President's Inauguration. I'll be taking my time to make up my mind if this President will have the same courage to take on LGBT human rights with the same zest that he's done with Israel. Don't gays, all over the world, deserve that same courage?

When did GLBT folks become a race of people? The use of the word "racism" in the subject line of your post suggests that you see them as a race.

BTW, great points about Pres. Wilson....arguably the most racist Dem POTUS of all time (although some American Indians might bestow that distinction upon Andy Jackson).