Colorado Rep. Jared Polis on Saturday
came to the aid of President Barack Obama's record on gay rights
issues.
The openly gay Democrat made his
remarks after bloggers attending the progressive conference Netroots
Nation taking place this weekend Minneapolis called Obama too weak on
LGBT issues.
Obama is “the best president this
country haw ever had on LGBT issues,” Polis
told The
Huffington Post. “[Gay Americans] have never had anything
close to this much of an advocate in the White House in the United
States.”
Polis noted that Obama advocated for
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the 1993 law that bars gay and
bisexual troops from serving openly, and that his administration
decided to no longer defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), the law that forbids federal agencies from recognizing the
marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
“We were ultimately successful [at
ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell], and the president's steadfast support
of ending the policy the whole way through was very helpful in that
regard,” Polis said. “I think he also deserves strong accolades
for his decision not to appeal the DOMA case. That's really a
landmark decision, it's been very rare in the annals of history.”