After avoiding contentious social issues for six months, House Democrats are throwing bones to advocates for gay rights and immigrants — key liberal constituencies — in an effort to keep a lid on simmering tensions until they finish with larger priorities: health care and energy.
President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders adopted a strategy early in his presidency to avoid hot-button cultural and social issues, fearing that doing so would bog down their agenda as it did to then-President Bill Clinton in 1993 when fights over gays in the military and gun rights divided the party and gave Republicans fuel for their 1994 revolution.
But patience has quickly worn thin in the gay and immigrant communities. Even Obama’s effort to appease the gay community by signing an executive order extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees appeared to fall flat. But House Democratic leaders are starting to show signs that they are now ready to push key aspects of the gay rights agenda....
Democratic Leaders Show Signs Gay Rights Agenda Back on Deck
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igualdad 1054 days ago
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Promoting public awareness of the need for fairness in immigration policy particularly as it relates to the rights of same-sex bi-national couples in the United States who seek equal immigration rights; Providing information regarding political issues relating to gay immigration equality issues, rights and policy.
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