Barack Obama: What More Can The President Do To Promote Gay And Transgender Rights?

Barack Obama has aptly been nicknamed “the first gay president” by Newsweek, despite the fact he is hetrosexual, mainly due to his liberal stance when it comes to the gay, lesbian and transgender communities.

President Obama has always been open and clear about the fact that he endorses same-sex marriage, and has even extended his advocacy to the least understood group, transgenders. Obama could be the first president of America to have used the taboo word “transgender” in a speech.

Barack Obama’s track record when it comes to the “rainbow” community in general is very good indeed. During his first term in office, for example, the president personally signed hate crime legislation that was to provide the first federal protection rights for transgender people in the U.S.

The administration has also been quietly working behind the scenes to to make it easier for transgender people to update their passports, get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and to get treatment at Veteran’s Administration facilities, among other things.

The executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Mara Keisling, said about Barack Obama: “He has been the best president for transgender rights, and nobody else is in second place.”

And while the conservative Evangelicals of the Bible Belt have always been quick to condemn Obama’s position vis-a-vis, homosexuals, they have been much slower in reacting to his administration’s actions when it comes to actually making life easier for homosexuals and transgendered people.

To that end, the head of the Traditional Values Coalition said that there is little they can do as the gradual changes come directly through executive orders issued by the president, and not via Congress.

The president’s reach also extends further. On Monday the White House announced that Barack Obama intends to sign an executive order that bans federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation.

There is little question that President Barack Obama has been extremely brave in his personal mission to advocate for the rights of gay and transexual communities since he took his position in the White House.

It remains to be seen how much more he can achieve in paving the way for same-sex marriage and transgender rights for the duration of his term, as he signs executive order after executive order on behalf of the gay community in America.