Two small but important steps forward for same sex couples
I hesitate to make too much of small things. On the one hand i don't want to blow them out of proportion. On the other i don't want to jinx a process that might be just in its early stages. But despite those two concerns I am excited by two recent policy changes that the Obama administration has made which seem to indicate at very least a less restrictive interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act and perhaps more than that: perhaps a slow chipping away at the act itself.
First of all, today the New York Times printed an AP story reporting that the Census Bureau would in fact count same sex married couples as married. That reverses a Bush administration policy that I wrote about here explicitly stating that these couples could not be counted because DOMA prohibited the federal government from recognizing same sex marriages in any way. Apparently the Obama administration disagrees. Then again, the Obama administration also understands the need for accurate research and solid data when making policy decisions, and data provided by a census that did not count such marriages would be inherently flawed.
Earlier this week President Obama signed a memorandum guaranteeing some employment related benefits (for example access to long term care insurance, use of sick leave to care for sick partners or children) to same sex partners working for the federal government. This does not go far enough, and does not relate to the recognition of marriages per se, but it indicates a small step toward increased recognition of same sex relationships by the federal government.
I don't know exactly what to make of these two decisions coming in one week. It could simply be a way for President Obama to deflect some of the criticism directed at him for not actively taking up the civil rights agenda he said he would champion. It could also be an indication that, while he needed initially to focus on the emergencies created by two wars and a crumbling financial system that he now has some time to spend on civil rights issues.
I'm curious about your own reactions: cynical or hopeful? Pessimistic or optimistic? Is one of those decisions more important or more telling than the other? Leave your reactions in the comments.
Cautiously Optimistic
Like you, I don't want to make too much of a little thing, and of course it doesn't go far enough, but...
yeah.
Baby Biologist, just trying to make the world a better place.
these are very tiny steps,
these are very tiny steps, that are skirting around the way the federal government is crippled by DOMA. I fear that Obama thinks this will "make up for" the DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell briefs.
I share your fear Adam.
i share your fear Adam. I still remember clearly feeling betrayed by the Clinton administration when it signed on to both those policies after making many promises to LGBT supporters.
I also wonder to what degree the established mainstream LGBT lobbying organizations are accepting unacceptable compromises in order to maintain their access to policy-makers. I guess I'm thinking mostly of HRC. It's a frustrating situation.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Protection for transgender federal employees?
The New York Times reports this morning that the Obama administration is adding "transgender" to the list of categories of federal employees who are protected by antidiscrimination laws. This follows on Diane Schroer's winning a discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress after it hired her and then withdrew its job offer upon learning she had had a sex change.
Link.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
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