HomoQuotable - Evan Wolfson

"In campaigning for the White House, President Obama committed himself to many gay civil rights priorities -- passage of an inclusive federal civil rights bill, toward which the pending Employment Non-Discrimination Act is an important start; ending the oppressive regime under which gay military personnel today serve our country in the armed forces; undoing current federal discrimination against legally married same-sex couples, including the full repeal of so-called "DOMA;" and moving the nation toward equal protections and respect for our families, youths, and seniors. In his speech, I want to hear some specific timetables for action: a commitment to pass ENDA in 2009 alongside health care reform, a plan for undoing military discrimination by 2010, an endorsement of the Respect for Marriage Act and a pledge to build congressional support to bring it to his desk this term.

"But I also want to hear that case for why America needs to do this. As I urged in a Huffington Post piece in honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday, I want this President to summon the nation to, in Lincoln's words, "think anew" about ending anti-gay discrimination and exclusion. President Obama has the perfect context in which to make that case: a clear and unequivocal call on the people of Maine to vote no in November on the anti-gay ballot measure aimed at undoing the freedom to marry enacted earlier this year." - Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson, on what Obama should say at the HRC dinner tomorrow. Wolfson goes on to provide a sample text for the president.