Dear Mr. President:
I have had the privilege of meeting you on several occasions, when
visiting the White House in my capacity as president of the Human
Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization representing millions of
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people across this country.
You have welcomed me to the White House to express my community’s views
on health care, employment discrimination, hate violence, the need for
diversity on the bench, and other pressing issues. Last week, when
your administration filed a brief defending the constitutionality of
the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,”[1] I realized that although I
and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy
makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are:
human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I
know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if
someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and
equality had weighed in with you.
Read the whole letter at HRC's Backstory