In autumn of 2010, President Obama uploaded an eloquent video to the It Gets Better Project, receiving applause from the community. Next week, he will increase his anti-bullying efforts by holding a conference to instruct community leaders on bullying prevention methods.

“On Thursday, March 10, President Obama, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services will welcome students, parents, teachers and others to The White House for a Conference on Bullying Prevention,” a White House statement reads. “The conference will bring together communities from across the nation who have been affected by bullying as well as those who are taking action to address it. Participants will have the opportunity to talk ...

Well this certainly turns last week's DOMA cheer into a hangover.

In the first real-world test of the newfound unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Justice Department has declared that last week's order from the Obama Administration is irrelevant and, despite the president's pledge to immediately suspend defense of the Act, will continue to defend it in court cases.

Regardless of the Obama Administration's orders to stop defending DOMA, on Monday, Chiefs from the DOJ demanded that Karen Golinski's plea to add her wife to her health benefits be denied because of the discriminatory law.

The Justice Department says it will only stop defending DOMA when Congress repeals the Act.

It's been only two days since the Obama Administration momentously announced the unconstitutionality of the Defense Of Marriage Act, but the Department of Justice has already taken action. Late Thursday, the DOJ announced it will stop defending the discriminatory law in two federal court cases. 

In regards to Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. Health and Human Services, Assistant Attorney General Tony West has notified the First Circuit clerk that the DOJ will not defend Section 3 of DOMA in these cases based on the President's executive move. 

Mary L. Bonauto from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and the Gill suit's lead attorney says, “It is increasingly clear to everyone ...

The fallout from the fringe homophobic right to President Obama's unprecedented DOMA move has been swift and shrill, but nothing quite like Pat Robertson's rambling nonsense. During the latest broadcast of the 700 Club, Robertson, foaming at the mouth, tells his three listeners that "these radical gay groups are willing to do anything in the world to have their way of doing sex legitimized by this country. They'll tear down any institution in order to have their way."

(Open the post to get your daily dose of crazy.)

Wow. In 2010 it was DADT, and, as many in the LGBT community had hoped, in 2011 it will be DOMA that the Obama Administration fights to topple. The news come as quite a surprise to experts and bloggers alike as quite a fundamental -- and welcome -- shift in policy and attitude from the Administration. 

Earlier today, President Obama (by way of Attorney General Holder) issued a statement to the Justice Department instructing it to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court cases. The basis for the President's request is that he finds Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. 

From Att. Gen. Holder:

...and he refuses to pay. The amount is being billed to Lt. Dan Choi for the remaining time he didn't serve -- because he was kicked out under DADT. He's written a letter to President Obama explaining why he will not pay the bill, and has made his plea public. 

A new HRC report on the LGBT-issues surveyed in America over the past few years shows that President Obama could not be more at odds with the American majority. In 1996, when Obama voiced support for marriage equality, the majority of Americans were against it (75%). In 2010, when Obama vocally opposed marriage rights for gay couples, a majority of Americans (52%) supported equality.

Other fun facts gleaned from HRC's Polling Report (found at www.hrc.org/pollingreport) include:

In 2009, 89% of Americans believed LGBT should have equal rights when it comes to employment.

In 2010, 77% of people polled said they know someone who identifies as LGBT, compared with 42% in 1992. 

We're about 30 minutes away from hearing Obama eloquently speak the words a staff of talented speech writers penned for him (perhaps with his  suggestions), but don't get too excited if you expect any detailed talk about equal rights for LGBT Americans.

Stop reading here, if you'd rather not read an excerpt from what the White House Media Affairs Office says are the actual words included in his prepared speech.

We only found one mention of gay, friends. And here it is:

"Our troops come from every corner of this country – they are black, white, Latino, Asian and Native American. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving...

During today's press briefing at the White House Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the president's support of equal marriage in 1996, and things apparently got a little tense. 

From The Blade:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs nearly shut down a news conference on Monday following inquiries about President Obama’s position on same-sex marriage. Gibbs was responding to questions from the Washington Blade on whether Obama had “backtracked” from a statement of support for same-sex marriage in a 1996 questionnaire during his campaign for an Illinois state Senate seat.

“I think there’s a whole host of issues that I would direct you to the campaign on — on different questionnaires...

Sure, President Obama's speech at Wednesday night's emotional, often raucous memorial for the victims and survivors of the Tucson shooting might go down in history as the defining moment of his presidency. The man can orate. But Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year old (!), openly-gay intern of five days for Rep. Gabbie Gifford credited with helping save her life, was the true stand out. He had the best seat in the house (sandwiched between President Obama and AZ. Gov. Jan Brewer), gave the second best speech of the night, and has, to me, embodied everything that's great about this country since day one of the tragedy. In his honor, here are two videos worth spreading, including his speech at the Tucson memorial service, followed by...

In the wake of his *huge* DADT repeal success, President Obama quickly moved on to touch upon what will likely be the next big civil rights target while he's at the White House helm: DOMA. After signing away military discrimination, the President volleyed some LGBT-related questions from the press, including one about his "evolving" view of marriage equaltiy. In short, President Obama still insists a fully-equal civil union bill is the way to go, but, because of friends and White House staffers in long-term gay relationships, wrestles with what is the right thing to do, and admits his opinion on the matter is "constantly evolving." I have a feeling the President knows anything less than full-equality is unacceptable, but here's a video of him...

We like to keep up with whatever Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach is up to (and it's not just because he's handsome). Yesterday he appeared on MSNBC to discuss President Obama's signing away the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.