Barack Obama State of the Union Address – The Gay Excerpt

The Barack Obama speech of 2010 during the state of the union address was delivered in one of the friendliest environment. But this year it was a bit different even with the whole intergraded sitting arrangement to show unification after the Arizona shooting. There were many great moments but some things just bothered me too much not to talk about it.

The worst of them was during his talk of the military, when he said “Our troops come from every corner of this country -- they're black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love.” Here there was a small pause for applauses but who was shown not applauding the military represented that evening. Why? It’s as if their backwards thinking will never allow people to serve openly. Obama continued to day, “And with that change, I call on all our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.”

I’m just glad President Obama actually does practice what he preaches. Today he appointed two prominent gays to important positions in his administration and nominated an openly gay attorney to a judgeship for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Read more about Roberta Achtenberg, Jeffrey Levi and J. Paul Oetkin on LGBTQ Nation.