I am now starting to dislike him after being one of his top fans since the primaries.. if he will not make his position known on our RIGHTS, then I don't think he should be president.

More of the same from the fierce advocate. It's up to us to keep pushing congress for the passage of the Hate Crimes Bill and ENDA this year, to contact the Chairman/woman of the appropriate House subcommittee to ask why the DADT repeal bill hasn't been brought to a floor vote despite a whopping 150 cosponsors, to push for the passage of the UAFA or omnibus immigration reform that includes binational LGBT couples, and to throw our full weight behind Jerry Nadler's DOMA repeal bill which is rumoured to be coming before the fall. Forget the Prez and his flowery rhetoric. This man won't lift a finger unless legislation for health care reform and climate change lands on his desk to sign before the mid-term elections, only then and only maybe will he be prepared to "risk" some political capital on the gay community. Rahm Emmanuel is still clearly shell-shocked from the experience in 1993.

President Obama was pragmatic when it came to the second part of his statement but was powerful when it came to the first part of his statement. It's good that President Obama said the truth that a conservative interpretation of Christianity is against LGBT rights, thus wrong. Since he's a member of the United Church of Christ, he should have told the truth about his church's teachings than trying to pass as a more conservative person who's less into LGBT rights.

It's very frustrating to me, one of many who worked to help ger him elected, to see him getting so wimpy on the subject of our rights. Guess what, Mr. President? I'm a Christian too, and I'm also gay. I think the bible has been used to beat us over the head for centuries. God made me gay, and he doesn't make mistakes!

Mr. President, Since our nation is one based on secular law, YOUR religious faith is IRRELEVANT to the rights of MILLIONS of American tax-paying, law-abiding citizens whose only "flaw" as you would suggest is that we are HONEST about who we are as people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That said Mr. President, you still have a choice in this battle, either be on the side of justice or continue being a coward because you are afraid of offending the American-Christian Taliban.

There's a HUGE part of me that wants to believe that because Obama is a member of the same church my husband belongs to that he personally has no question about LGBT rights - he's not only for them, but belongs to a church that celebrates them. 

None of us should ever feel shame in admitting we believe what our church believes (after all, isn't that why people choose one church over another?), and I get sick of Protestant church members trying to pander to the Catholic leaders.  The whole point of belonging to a Protestant denomination is to PROTEST the practices of Catholicism! 

For the first time, I have hope that the words coming out of a president's mouth really bear no resemblance to what he actually believes.  Just waiting for him to step up and actually show some leadership on this issue.

When will the reality finally dawn that the media-created Messiah Obama is nothing more than a politician? If it looks, walks and quacks like a duck...

For every once of hope he gives me, he says something else to take it away.

I'm a social conservative who's personal beliefs would also seem at odds with thie civil rights of this issue. But Dave Hershey stated it correctly in his statement above:

"Mr. President, Since our nation is one based on secular law, YOUR religious faith is IRRELEVANT..."

The same would hold true of my personal beliefs insofar as public policy should be concerned. All of our freedoms are better protected if we have equal rights including equality for the gay community. Those very same rights further strengthen my right to believe and practice what I choose to.

We all shoud have the right to "life, liberty. and the pursuit of happiness". We may choose different paths to that and that is fine providing that we do not deprive others of the same rights. When we seek to to curtail other people's rights (even if we have strong conviction about it) due to our own religious beliefs, we then are really trampling upon our own rights without realizing it.

Too many (not all) religious and political leaders, along with media sources on both sides are exploiting our differences to their own ends. We can remove this wedge by understanding that governments roll in marriage is civil, not religious. Government is to guarantee certain rights and responsibilities with married couples. As a CIVIL issue, this should be equally applied to all. Let the religious side of people's beliefs (or lack of religious beliefs) remain in the private sector.

From my observation over almost 6 months of Obama's presidency, I find that in every critical issues he likes to say things to please both sides of the aisle. 

Not only does his style discourage my faith in him, but also it worries me that he won't be able to do anything.

He makes me perceive him as an indecisive and cautious leader.  At the end of his term, people will view him as a leader who just gets C+ grade.  This is not a very pleasant outlook.  I hope he will change his style by next year; I really really HOPE so.

I just don't get it - what is there to struggle over?

There are man's laws and God's laws (of many different religions!) and they ARE different, or at least should be in a democracy. It's called "separation of church and state" and it is one of the basic tenants this country was founded upon and not upon "the Bible" as many people like to mislead others into thinking.

Obama was a lawyer, he knows all this but is too afraid to stand up for what is right and just. Why?

The argument that the Bible forbids homosexual behavior is really ridiculous and ironic.ANy thinking person can see this.

What about all the other things the Bible says, which get disregarded or forgotten by "so called Christians"? Why are only the passages about homosexuals held onto with such a vengeance, while passages with respect to other behaviors (usually things that "heterosexuals" want to do, like get a divorce or commit adultery) get ignored and swept under the rug.

Funny how there are no religious groups protesting divorce or adultery. Why not? Maybe because their minister, their friends or their neighbors might be one of those that they would then be condemning?

According to the Bible, God also never meant for people to eat pork or shellfish, commit adultery or divorce their spouse - yet these have become the norm and acceptable by society and most religions, as well. The Bible also recounts many a man who had more than one wife. So why don't Christians think we should behave that way today? What is the justification for holding onto SOME Bible passages while completely disregarding these others?

Jesus Christ never said anything about homosexuals or homosexual behavior. If it is such an abomination, why not?

The 10 Commandments do not mention homosexuals either. Ironically, one of the Ten Commandments DOES say, "Thou shalt not commit adultery".  If that is true then aren't gays who are monogamous and faithful more likely to enter the kingdom of heaven than a heterosexual who commits adultery? 

With regards to the argument that homosexuality is not "natural" because the animal kingdom does not engaging in homosexual behavior... . that is not true. There are many, many species that are not exclusively "heterosexual".

In addition, many species of animals are not monogamous at all. If Christians insist on believing (the untrue statement) that animals do not engage in any type of homosexual behavior and therefore the animal world dictates some "natural order" which humans should imitate, then following that reasoning - shouldn't humans have multiple mates and be non-monogamous, just as many animals are.

Remember also that the Bible was used (in the not too distant past) to justify enslaving anyone without white skin, which is another fact that many Christians like to "forget about". 

Would Christians use the Bible to justify enslaving people today? Of course not! So why is it OK to use the Bible to keep homosexuals on the margins of society, never fully accepted, always blocking their path to anything that might even hint that society does not want to keep them as a scapegoat?

All in all, using the Bible to justify "family values" and "standing up against immoral lifestyles", discriminating against or hating Gays (or any other group of people for that matter) is a lot like trying to use Swiss cheese for a towel. There are way too many holes in it to be effective and most people with half a brain can see right through it. A true Christian would let God do the judging and would concentrate on their own life, behavior and deeds.  

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned, forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."  ~Luke 6:37~

What frustrates me right now is the incident in Cambridge where all resources of the administration and all the media and all the support of this adminstration are using to calm down the problem that the President made comments.

I was, amand will be his supporter, but this incident with the president's involvement takes so much time.  I would rather see him spend time saying some supportive comments about LGBTs.

I said it before and say it again that I will give a year to see what the president will say about LGBT and most importantly what he will do about only two things - repeal DADT and repeal DOMA, which he specifically promised LGBTs on every media before the election.

Let's make sure we show up on Oct 11 for Millions March in DC.  Please try to get there.

the audacity of hopelessness . . .