Obama Makes the Case for Fairness 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In his Tuesday evening State of the Union address before afractious Congress, President Obama made his economic case for "a return to theAmerican values of fair play and shared responsibility" -- a theme pertinent foran LGBT community facing disproportionate poverty rates and legal barriers toequal rights.

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking numberof people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by,"Obama said in the address, calling for an overhaul of the tax code to bridgethe widening gap between the rich and poor. "Or we can restore an economy whereeveryone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone playsby the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values orRepublican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them."

The president's address didn't specifically mention the effectof the economy on LGBT Americans and echoed his stump speech last month inOsawatomie, Kansas, where Obama pushed for extensions in a payroll tax breakand assailed precipitous income gains by the country's top earners even asmiddle-class wages stagnate and unemployment remains high.

The evening's Republican reply came from Indiana governor MitchDaniels, who slammed the central premise of Obama's address as unfettered classwarfare -- an attempt, he said, "to curry favor with some Americans bycastigating others."

Despite lingering stereotypes of gays as affluent urbanites,social science research has recently shown just how LGBT people are economicallydisadvantaged. One 2011 report by LGBT and progressive groups illustrates instark terms how discriminatory laws, both state and federal, create barriers togovernment programs and impose greater tax burdens on LGBT families. Childrenraised by same-sex couples are twice as likely to live in poverty as thoseraised in heterosexual households. The denial of marriage rights by the federalgovernment and a majority of states tells part of the story as to why this isthe case.

The president has not come out in full support of marriageequality, though the White House has supported repeal of the federal Defense ofMarriage Act, has declined to defend the law in court, and has issued generalstatements against antigay ballot measures to go before voters in severalstates this year.

Responding to a legislative push to repeal marriage in NewHampshire, the White House reissued a statement crafted from a 2008 position bythen-candidate Obama on California's Proposition 8 that the administration hasfrequently used to address state marriage battles.

"The record is clear that the president has long opposeddivisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sexcouples," said White House spokesman Shin Inouye. "The president believesstrongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away."

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force tied the lack of full marriage equality to economic unfairness in its reaction tothe president's speech.

"The fact is, the state of the union for LGBT people remainslargely one of inequality," said Rea Carey, the group's executive director. "Inmany parts of the country, we can still be fired from or denied employment forsimply being who we are, and marriage inequality relegates our families tosecond-class status."

Obama did not make any revelatory, specific statements onLGBT issues in Tuesday's populist-charged address, nor was he expected to. Butthe president's third State of the Union address before a joint session ofCongress came during a frenzy of legislative action throughout the country onmarriage equality.

On Monday, the Washington state senate reached critical massof support for a marriage bill, one unveiled earlier this month by Gov.Christine Gregoire and now expected to pass (though it may well face a voterreferendum, as threatened by antigay marriage forces). In New Jersey, marriagelegislation passed through a senate committee Tuesday but faces a veto showdownfrom Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who floored state LGBT advocates Mondaywith the nomination of an openly gay mayor to the state supreme court, yet saidTuesday that he supports putting the marriage issue on the ballot.

One LGBT mention came toward the end of the speech as Obamatouted First Lady Michelle Obama's and Dr. Jill Biden's "Joining Forces"military families initiative.

"Those of us who've been sent here to serve can learn fromthe service of our troops," Obama said. "When you put on thatuniform, it doesn't matter if you're black or white, Asian, Latino, NativeAmerican, conservative, liberal, rich, poor, gay, straight. When you'remarching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the missionfails. When you're in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit,serving one nation, leaving no one behind."

Republican presidential candidates angling to ensure thatObama is a one-term president are split on whether open service by gay andlesbian service members should continue. Mitt Romney has said that while he hadopposed repeal, he does not favor a return to DADT. Newt Gingrich has pledged an"extensive review" of repeal, while Rick Santorum has supported a reinstatementof a ban on openly gay service members -- in theory a possibility, given that the billpassed in 2010 merely provided for repeal of the 1993 law. "Their service isnot protected by federal statute," Servicemembers Legal Defense Networkexecutive director Aubrey Sarvis said last week of gay service members. "Ithink there's a misconception among some folks that gays and lesbians areserving today under a new law that permits their service."

Mentions of LGBT-specific rights issues in previous ObamaState of the Union addresses focused on "don't ask, don't tell" -- including apledge to forge a path for repealing the policy in 2010 and a pronouncementin 2011 that "no American will be forbidden from serving the country they lovebecause of who they love."

On Tuesday night, two lesbian women -- one a militaryofficer, another a plaintiff in a sex discrimination case -- were on Mrs. Obama's guest list.

Sitting with the First Lady, Dr. Biden, and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett was Col.Ginger Wallace, who as an Air Force intelligence officer had served inthe Iraq War and other operations. In December, when she was promoted to hercurrent rank, her partner, Kathy Knopf, attended the ceremony and participatedin the pinning of Wallace's new rank on her uniform, becoming the firstsame-sex partner to be involved in such a ceremony. Wallace is scheduled to bedeployed to Afghanistan in the spring.

Also a guest of the First Lady was Lorelei Kilker ofColorado, who had sued the Western Sugar Cooperative, alleging that it deniedwomen training and promotions and barred them from certain jobs. She and otherwomen involved in the class-action suit last year received a financialsettlement that was negotiated between the company and the U.S. EqualEmployment Opportunity Commission, which will monitor Western Sugar's personnelpractices. The company denies anywrongdoing.

Trudy Ring contributed reporting.