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John Berry Speaks on the Obama Administration and LGBT Legislation by Gizem Unsalan June 15, 2009 |
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In two separate speeches made last week, John Berry, the White House director of the Office of Personnel Management— as well as the highest-ranking gay official in the Obama administration— offered assurance that the current administration will deal with LGBT issues. Berry also spoke about his own thoughts on what marriage equality means.
First, Berry gave an impassioned speech in front of 200 Department of Justice employees at their annual Pride Awards last Wednesday. After paying tribute to the “patrons of the Stonewall bar” and to Frank Kameny, the gay rights activist who fought against discriminatory practices in the workforce, Berry compared the struggles his LGBT peers face to those faced by some of America’s most groundbreaking historical figures.
“Who can forget the courage of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin, when many of their neighbors and countrymen saw their pursuit of liberty as treason and would have cheered their hanging?” Berry offered. “Whether it was securing a woman’s right to vote or ending 'separate but equal'— make no mistake— Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were not unanimously acclaimed and embraced by all their country.”
In the final moments of his heartfelt speech, Berry spoke about losing his partner of 10 years to AIDS, which reduced his 190-pound athletic body to 90 pounds by the end of his life.
“I was his primary caregiver— and I held him in my arms as he died. I would have gladly traded my life for his that night, just as I would do so now for my current partner of 12 years if ever need be. Were we married? No, but I dare anyone to say we were not in love. I was blessed by two supportive families and dear friends who honored our relationship. If I hadn’t been— I shudder to think— because no power on earth could have kept me from his side. Again, I ask: Where do you stand? Honoring love as precious and true wherever you find it, or with those who would demean or deny it? I urge you. Stand where you can be proud. Stand with service and truth. Stand with love. Stand for liberty and justice for all,” Berry concluded his speech.
A few days after he gave the address, Berry attended Washington D.C.’s Capital Pride Festival on Sunday, where he announced that the Obama administration hopes to secure passage of the Hate Crimes bill this week and that President Obama will soon announce an initiative that will provide federal LGBT employees with benefits equivalent to those provided to heterosexual federal employees. He also said the Obama administration fully intends to pass an employment nondiscrimination bill, repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” as well as overturn the Defense of Marriage Act “before the sun sets on this administration.”
Prior to his announcement, however, Berry spoke with The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld and said he was “authorized [by the administration] today to say everything that I’m going to be saying.”
Berry first told Eleveld that there is no secret “deal” the White House cut in terms of passing LGBT legislation and that the administration is working in partnership with all LGBT groups.
“We have four broad legislative goals that we want to accomplish,” Berry said, “and legislation is one of these things where you’ve got to move when the opportunity strikes, so I’m going to list them in an order but it’s not necessarily going to go one, two, three, four. Obviously, I think the first opportunity is hate crimes and we’re hopeful that we can get that passed this week. We’re going to try, but if not, we’re going to keep at it until we get it passed. The second one ENDA, we want to secure that passage of ENDA, and third is we want to repeal legislatively “don’t ask don’t tell,” and fourth, we want to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.”
“Now, I’m not going to pledge— and nor is the president— that this is going to be done by some certain date. The pledge and the promise is that, this will be done before the sun sets on this administration – our goal is to have this entire agenda accomplished and enacted into law so that it is secure, Berry said.
To read the full interview, check out http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid90371.asp
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