An Open Letter to the Obama Administration

To the Obama White House,

I have been extremely pleased in the last few days to see that members of your administration, such as Secretary Clinton and President Obama, have recorded videos as part of the It Gets Better project. Feelings of hopelessness and alienation are unfortunately commonplace among LGBT individuals, and those feelings are preserved or enhanced when society refuses to extend a helping hand toward those who are suffering out of the fear that such a humane attitude might "condone" or "encourage" homosexuality, whatever that means. The significance of having members of the administration, who represent all Americans, appear in these videos cannot be understated.

However, it occurs to me that making a video, though important, is not enough. The project is called It Gets Better so that LGBT individuals will be encouraged about the possibility of a better life in the future. Supporting this goal, however, means that legal obstacles to a better life must be torn down. It seems to me that it is difficult for your administration to proclaim that "It gets better" when you are currently defending policies like Don't Ask Don't Tell and other examples of LGBT discrimination. In the most cynical of views, this might even approach hypocrisy. You, the members of the Obama administration, are in the rare position of being able to pursue policy to put an end to institutional discrimination against those who don't fit the common heterosexual mold. I thank you for contributing to the message that it gets better, but I urge you to act so that it actually does.

Sincerely,
Tom Butcher