(No) progress on gay rights: What's Obama waiting for?

AT A LUNCH with gay leaders at the White House on Monday, President Obama said, "It's not for me to tell you to be patient" to get equal rights.

But then he sort of did.

As we celebrate the 233rd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and its still-unfulfilled promise of equal rights, members of the military continue to be bounced because they're gay. The Obama Justice Department defended the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act in court last month by seemingly comparing gay marriage to incest and child sexual abuse. Hate-crimes legislation and protections against discrimination in employment still are just hopes, not actual change.

The president promised the 250 leaders of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities that "by the time this administration is over . . . you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration." Whatever happened to the "fierce urgency of now"?

To be sure, it was a historic moment: The 40th anniversary of the gay protests at the Stonewall bar in New York, recognized as the galvanizing event of the modern gay-rights movement, was being celebrated at the White House. As Obama himself observed, 40 years ago, "no one could have imagined that you - or, for that matter, I -would be standing here today."

There are some people, both LGBT and not, who believe that Obama's strange inertia on issues for which he claims to be a "fierce advocate" is part of a strategic plan: He wants the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" and DOMA to "take" over the long term, to be enduring. That's why he isn't using his executive power or even his "bully pulpit," but instead is building support for congressional action.

There are other people who listened to Obama's beautiful words with increasing skepticism that he will do anything more than talk.

In either case, the response should the same:

Impatience.

It took substantial pressure to turn presidents Kennedy and Johnson into civil-rights heroes. Congress and the administration should feel the pressure - not just from LGBT citizens, but from all voters who believe in equality.

After all, citizens like National Guard Lt. Dan Choi, an Arab linguist, don't have time to wait. The day after the White House lunch, a military review panel recommended he be discharged because he is gay. *