An open letter to President Obama

The following letter was submitted to President Obama today via the Contact page at whitehouse.gov. It concerns the Presidential Memorandum scheduled to be signed this evening which would grant limited benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.

Mr. President,

I have read that this memorandum you're signing today regarding same-sex partner benefits (which does not include the important benefits like health care, which you seem so intent on providing to every American) is intended as a way to "contain the furor" of the LGBT community.

You've made a grave miscalculation. This is not going to pacify us, rather it is an insult that will only redouble our furor and our pain. Your actions and those of your administration have only served to reinforce the fact that we are second class citizens, somehow not worthy of the rights, privileges, and protections afforded to our heterosexual neighbors.

We live and work in America. We volunteer. We raise families. We serve in the military even though we may be thrown out at any moment simply for being who we are. We hold political offices at all levels of government. We participate in the political process, including exercising our right to vote. Many of us voted for you because your campaign gave us hope that we could be acknowledged as full citizens and human beings, not sent to the back of the metaphorical bus. You seemed to be the best chance we had at this, and we were counting on you. We still are. We know that you are doing and will continue to do great things that will benefit all Americans; we simply want to be fully included as Americans, without the asterisk, without the exceptions, without the discrimination.

You have at least 3.5 years left in office. Can we count on you? Can we expect to see the same man in the oval office that we saw on the campaign trail? Can we please be Americans too?

Sincerely,
Jen Hintz
Second Class Citizen