Monday Muse: Rachel Weiner, Huffington Post




President Obama celebrated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots to at the White House Monday, and he used the opportunity to address some grumblings in the gay community.

"We seek an America in which no one feels the pain of discrimination based on who you are or who you love, and I know that many in this room don't believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that," he said. "It's not for me to tell you to be patient anymore than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half century ago. But I say this: We have made progress, and we will make more. And I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises that I made, but by promises that my administration keeps ... We've been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration."

Obama added that he was working with the Pentagon, as well as Congress, to end "Don't Ask Don't Tell." He called this period a "transition" toward that end but said it had to be done pragmatically, so the new policy works in the long-term.

Many gay donors dropped out of a recent Democratic National Committee fundraiser in protest of the Obama administration's legal brief defending the anti-gay Defense Of Marriage Act. Gay rights advocates are also dismayed that the president has yet to take action on the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.

In an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd following Obama's remarks, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president's promise to end "Don't Ask Don't Tell" would be fulfilled.

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