Political panel: Barack Obama and the pace of change
http://www.gaypolitics.com/?p=1091The 24th International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference started off by looking forward — examining the 2008 election and analyzing how the new Congress and President-elect Barack Obama address LGBT issues. Preceded by a keynote address by John Mercurio, executive editor of The Hotline, Advocate Senior Political Editor Kerry Eleveld moderated a panel of political experts including Bill Smith, national political director of the Gill Action Fund; Hilary Rosen, Washington editor of The Huffington Post; and Steve Elmendorf, president of Elmendorf Strategies.
While all of the panelists on the opening session expressed optimism for positive change for the LGBT community following the 2008 election, they claimed that the change will take time.
The panel agreed that different issues would take shorter or longer amounts of time to materialize into legislation. While a version of ENDA may pass within the next two years and a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell could happen within four, none of the panelists thought that a full or partial repeal of the Defense of Marriage act would happen within the Obama's first term.
"Dramatic change doesn't happen even with a Democratic majority," Rosen said. She quoted a phrase saying that the LGBT movement "creeps and leaps," and stated that Congress is part of the equation that "creeps." Members will take small political risks for equality, and if they don't get hurt they will take bigger and bigger risks.
The panelists also paid significant attention to the concept of a generational shift in attitudes regarding LGBT issues.
