Obama celebrates with gay rights group

President Obama joined the nation’s largest gay rights group in celebrating the new ability of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military, saying that “we believe in an equal America that values the service of every patriot.”

Obama’s remarks came at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala dinner Saturday night, held just a couple weeks after the demise of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. That policy was repealed by Congress last December and came to an official end Sept. 20.

Saying that some people might want to overturn such strides for equality, Obama declared: “We believe in a big America. A tolerant America. An equal America that values the service of every patriot. E pluribus unum — out of many, one. And that includes everybody.”

Addressing a sold-out dinner that organizers said drew 3,100 people, Obama began by joking that last week he had “some productive, bilateral talks with your leader, Lady Gaga.”

He moved on to describe what he said his administration, with the help of groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, had achieved for the gay community — and what was left to do. In addition to changes in the military, Obama hailed the expansion of the federal hate crime law and a provision that hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid give visitation rights to gay partners.

“Every single American — gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender — deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition,” Obama said.

“We have a ways to go in the struggle,” he added, saying that because of their sexual orientation or identification, some Americans still felt like second-class citizens, had to lie to keep their jobs and were afraid to walk openly down the street.

Obama condemned bullying against young gay people and lashed out against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, saying that just like the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, it should be relegated to “history books.”

And he took a shot at Republican presidential candidates who stood silent at a recent debate when a soldier who posed a question about “don’t’ ask, don’t tell” was met with boos from the audience.

“You want to be commander in chief, you can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States,” Obama said.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, introduced Obama by saying the organization had accomplished “more in the last two years than we have in the previous 40.”

Solmonese, who steps down next year, said before the dinner that “unquestionably, the overarching theme of the night is going to be a celebration of the end of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

“It’s been a long road, and this is the first occasion the president has to be with members of the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community and celebrate together,” he said.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was to receive the Ally for Equality Award at the dinner. Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was to speak after Obama; she’s a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 2012, and would be the first openly gay U.S. senator if elected.

Greyson Chance and Cyndi Lauper provided the entertainment at the glamorous event. One man wore a glittering crown; another a kilt. Some working the event wore T-shirts that read “Born this Way.”

Among the military veterans on hand was retired Staff Sgt. Eric Fidelis Alva, 40, of San Antonio, who stepped on a land mine early in the Iraq war and lost a leg — the Marines’ first serious casualty of the war. Alva later battled to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Obama also spoke at the Human Rights Campaign dinner two years ago, when a warm reception belied some members’ belief that he was not moving fast enough on gay rights issues.

Today, the frustration among gay activists is Obama’s support for same-sex civil unions — not same-sex marriage. He’s unlikely to budge before the 2012 election.

Solmonese, in an interview, noted that Obama “has said to us, in many different ways, in many different settings, that he is ‘evolving’ on the issue of marriage, and he has encouraged us to stick with him, work with him and keep pushing him.

“In my mind, you only evolve in one direction. You evolve in the direction of [same-sex] marriage, not away from marriage.”

Obama is the second president to address a Human Rights Campaign national dinner; Bill Clinton was the first, in 1997.

The president spoke for 18 minutes, skipping the meal and musical acts at the event, held at the Washington Convention Center.

kskiba@tribune.com