The state of equality

First openly gay president brings positive spotlight to Armstrong, Michigan campus

On March 29, LSA junior Chris Armstrong was officially sworn in to his position as president of the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA), securing his place in the University of Michigan’s history as the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the position. Armstrong’s landslide victory and his party’s “electoral sweep” garnered national news coverage.

Although Armstrong and his running mate, Business junior Jason Raymond, won by over 1000 votes on March 25 and all 17 of the MSA candidates in their party were elected, Armstrong said he never felt completely secure in their success during the campaign.

“We always felt throughout the campaign that we were losing,” Armstrong said, adding that he and his running mate “knew [they] were the underdog.”

MForward, a student government party started this year by Armstrong and Raymond, faced off against student government incumbent the Michigan Vision Party (MVP). According to Armstrong, MForward was somewhat intimidated by MVP’s past successes.

“This was their third election, they had sort of campus prominence,” Armstrong said. “They had a lot of support from past years, and they had a system that worked. We were really testing the waters.”

Though Armstrong ran as an openly gay candidate, he said he and MForward did not attempt to capitalize on the issue.

“It was never like that was what we were mobilizing people on,” Armstrong said. “It was part of that overall understanding that we are the underdog and we need to work.”

A great deal of support came specifically from the campus’s LGBT community, and Armstrong believes this support was necessary for MForward’s victory.

“I think that the University of Michigan is incredibly supportive,” he said. “I will say that first and foremost because I think I would not be in the position I am if Michigan did not have an incredibly diverse, vibrant, LGBT community on campus.” He added that LGBT students were extremely supportive during the campaign.

Armstrong said he and his team knew that a platform of social progressivism and student activism coupled with an openly gay presidential candidate would present a struggle, but their success would send a profound message to the progressive community on campus.

“It was part of this sense that if we win, this could be big,” Armstrong said.

Since his election, Armstrong has been profiled by numerous media outlets, such as the Advocate and gaypolitics.com. Armstrong said he humbly appreciated the attention, but that he was “a little bit embarrassed” by all of the press coverage.

“I know so many people worked on this, and part of me feels somewhat undeserving,” he said.  “The amount of work that got put into that campaign doesn’t match, I think, the amount of work I put in. We all were part of it.”

The national media coverage helped bring to light issues plaguing the University’s LGBT community. Ann Arbor and the University consistently cultivate progressive activism, but Armstrong said that, at times, this progressivism gets taken for granted, and LGBT issues can become lost among other political concerns.

“I think a lot of individuals just expect Ann Arbor to be liberal, and expect these kinds of things to happen,” he said, reminding people that his election is truly a landmark.

Armstrong is also aware of the benefit MSA could receive from the press coverage, and said that he felt it would be good for the student body to hold MSA accountable to the goals it laid out during the campaign.

One of the largest issues Armstrong will tackle in his presidency is the institution of gender neutral housing, which remains unavailable at the University. Armstrong said he realizes how massive this undertaking may be, but is seeking help from other organizations such as the University’s chapter of the ACLU.

“[The issue] has a lot of momentum right now,” he said. “What will be difficult will be really nailing down a set policy that we can implement.”

Though he is the former chair of the LGBT Commission, Armstrong will not give priority only to LGBT issues. Instead, he plans to utilize the skill set he gained from having held an organization’s highest position to advocate for the entire student body.

“I’m excited to be a president for all students,” he said. 

Obama’s “lackluster” commitment to gay rights disappoints many

In an open letter to LGBT Americans released on Feb. 28, 2008, President Barack Obama assured members of the LGBT community that he “will never compromise on [his] commitment to equal rights to all LBGT Americans.”

Now, more than a year into Obama’s first term, LGBT rights advocates are questioning how deeply the president’s commitment runs.

On the campaign trail, Obama pledged his commitment to passing four major legislations related to LGBT rights: the Matthew Shepard Act, the Federal Employment-Non Discrimination Act, and repeals of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). He also stated that he would “use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws.”

Nine months after his inauguration, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010. Its passing marked the end of a 12-year legislative journey and signifies the first of the president’s promises to be fulfilled.

LSA undergraduate Adrian Madriz, leader of Spectrum of Faiths, a student organization that explores the issues of faith and sexuality within the LGBT community, commends HCPA’s passing.

“I’m certainly grateful for it,” Madriz said.

However, he added that “it is just one step of many that have to be taken in the same direction.”

PolitiFact.com, a website dedicated to tracking the progress of promises made during political campaigns, rates the status of each one of Obama’s pledges. The site considers his commitment to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell “in the works,” while his pledge to repeal the Defense of Marriage act is “stalled.”

The site regards his pledge to “bully” states into enacting laws that would give same-sex couples full equality and adoption rights as “not kept.”

A House committee did not allow a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to move forward at the end of 2009, which worried some gay rights advocates.

Their worry came with just cause. The Advocate reported that Nancy Pelosi had “privately assured skittish first-term democrats that the House wouldn’t bring controversial bills to the floor” in 2010.

Obama stated in his inaugural address that he would “work with Congress and our military to finally repeal” the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. He added that it is “the right thing to do.”

Earlier this year, Independent senator Joseph Lieberman introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act to the senate. The legislation specifically calls for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But like HCPA, the repeal of DADT would likely come as part of a larger bill. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, according to Rep. Barney Frank, would “likely be included as part of next year’s Department of Defense authorization bill.”

The fact that both HCPA and the repeal of DADT must come as part of larger bills to successfully pass signifies to some gay rights advocates that their concerns are being overshadowed by more “mainstream” legislative efforts.

“The pace at which we are going now is extremely glacial,” Madriz said. “[...]People feel marginalized, and have every right to feel marginalized.”

The White House website is very careful to specify that Obama “supports” civil unions and “opposes” a ban on same-sex marriage, but does not state in any literature regarding the Defense of Marriage Act that Obama supports a redefinition of marriage to include homosexual couples. The administration defended the act in 2009, when the Department of Justice dismissed the Smelt v. United States case.

Obama’s administration stated in a press release on August 18, 2009 that it “believes [DOMA] to be discriminatory and should be repealed by congress.” But in October of 2009, also stated that, “they have an obligation to defend laws enacted by Congress while they are on the books.”

“I understand their reason behind defending the law,” Madriz said. In contrast to the Bush administration, Madriz does not feel that Obama has used the Department of Justice to push his own agenda. “I have to respect that,” he said.

On April 16, Obama unexpectedly issued an executive order extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners, a relatively noncontroversial directive.

Though the president has made strides like this one toward fulfilling the promises he made to the LGBT community, Madriz feels that “the job is not done.”

“It’s a big process,” Madriz said. But added, “I haven’t lost faith that he is trying.”