Obama, Clinton vow to defend gay rights, adding 'it's not who we are as Americans'
By Elise Labott, CNN Senior State Department Producer
June 23, 2010 1:48 a.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/22/gays.lesbians/Washington (CNN) -- President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to end violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians at home and abroad Tuesday, as the Obama administration moves to extend further benefits to gays working in the federal government.
"It's not right, it's not who we are as Americans, and we're going to put a stop to it," Obama told a raucous White House reception honoring Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
Earlier, Clinton received several standing ovations from a standing-room only crowd of several hundred during her address at an event co-hosted by the State Department's Office of Civil Rights and GLIFAA, the organization for Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies.
