President Obama who claims to be an admirer of Abraham Lincoln should remember that Lincoln understood that he could not end slavery throughout the United States because it would take an constitutional amendment to do so, still, as the Commander-in-Chief, issued the Emancipation Proclamation at great political cost as reflected by the 1862 Congressional elections. Yes, it would take an act of Congress to end "Don't ask, Don't tell, but President Obama can show the same courage as Lincoln did in September of 1862 by declaring that he will issue an order as commander-in-chief that all administrative proceedings that would result in the dismissal of loyal and highly skilled members of our armed forces because they are gay will cease.

If a highly religious country such as Israel that is loved by the religious right allows openly gay people to serve in its military, then there is no reason why the United States can't allow ALL patriotic Americans to serve in the armed forces.

...with your (ignorant, factually incorrect) harping on the diseases supposedly "spread" by homosexuals, you're implying lesbians are God's chosen people? (Lowest incidence of HIV in any population group, ergo by your logic...)

And perhaps you should learn to spell hors d'oeuvres before you come play with the grownups...

Are you married? If so, how many orphaned or abandoned children have you and your spouse adopted?

I'm not trying to be snarky; you seem to be thoughtful and accessible to logic, so I just want to throw some logic at you.

Let's assume that you're correct – it's "best for children" to be raised by a "traditional couple" (I don't believe the research proves that, BTW, but I'll assume you're correct for the sake of this argument...)

Are you saying that in the absence of a "traditional couple", children would be better off growing up in state care, or left to fend for themselves on the streets? Would you support legislation to remove children of single parents into state care? How about a former member of a "traditional couple" who finds him- or herself widowed before the children are grown? Should the kids be removed to state care, or to be adopted by a "traditional couple"?

Or are you prepared to admit that in the absence of a "traditional couple" alternative, a single parent, or gay married parents, might not be "best" for the children, but would at least be "better" than putting them into state care or letting them fend for themselves?

If you are prepared to admit that, then I think you need to reassess your earlier argument. Allowing single parents, gay or straight, or gay couples, to raise children is not the same as those parents invading "traditional" homes and stealing the kids for their own selfish ends. They are being parents to a child in need – children who, through no fault of their own, don't have access to the "best" parenting, in your opinion. Or would you prefer children in that situation to have no parents at all?

It is always a lesson in legerdemain to see what happens when people say LGBT--what they really mean is gay. And gay only.

In the article--and the letters as far as I got reading them--there is nothing about a trans-inclusive ENDA. There is nothing about a trans-inclusive Matthew Shepard hate crimes law.

Every few weeks we read about another trans person--usually trans woman--being assaulted, usually killed.

I didn't read about any trans leaders among those who attended the White House. Maybe they were there, but it wasn't a concern of Mike Madden? Maybe they weren't there at all?

This is precisely why transgender and transsexual people remain second class.

This is precisely why there is even less prospect of the dangers facing transsexual and transgender being addressed than all the prominent LGBT--read gay only--issues.

By that logic....

African Americans are roughly 13% of the population, so therefore their civil rights shouldn't be of as much of a concern as those of the larger population...correct?

Absolutely fucking ignorant. If you had to live through even a tiny abridgement of your civil rights, you'd crap your pamper.

Can't you tell by his expression that he wishes they would all go away? I'm Barack Obama, crafting the takeover of the United States into the image of ACORN and Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers and lots of money for me and my buddies (just the flip side of Bush crafting the takeover for Haliburton, KBR, etc.)and so what value does the LGBT lobby have for me? If I had all their votes and all their money would it make a difference? One call to the Saudi King would trump that. We have flawed leaders in a flawed system. As far as I'm concerned the POTUS may as well be a blogger when it comes to his speeches about high minded ideals. When it comes to his actions, it's just about how do I keep and increase my power? LGBT is not going to fly with the overall voting bloc and he knows it. I look forward to the hope and changers continuing to be surprised he's not the man they thought he was.

I don't know about the rest of you Obama supporters, but I'm wondering when our new president will begin to be presidential.

So far, I see failure on: the economy, ending the endlesss wars, ending the Bush human rights abuse policies, closing the illegal prisons around the world, restoration of habeas corpus, openness in government, stopping domestic spying, support for sexual freedom, holding our public servant criminals accountable, consistency in our foreign policy, and on and on and up and down.

We keep hoping, but I fear there is nothing there to hope for or any change to believe in.

What I see is a beautiful talking head lacking the feet to move in any direction, let alone the correct direction. Someone else is running our government using Obama as the cheerleader to convince us we are on the right track.

LGBT rhetoric will turn into actions when the President deems it will be successful to do so. Don't kid youselves. This president has (as shown in the past) a plan of action for these issues. Hang in there and trust him. He will come through as he is on other issues. It can't all be done overnight.