President Obama to Speak at HRC Dinner Before National Equality March

A day before gay activist and straight allies meet in Washington, DC for the National Equality March, a demonstration for full legal protection for the LGBT community, President Obama will be speaking at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner. HRC is a leading advocacy group for LGBT rights, and his appearance Saturday night shows significant support of gay rights since recently many gay and lesbian activists have questioned his commitment to their community's issues. 

President Obama has said he supports overturning the ban of gays in the military, as it is discriminatory, but has yet to be active in supporting equality for the LGBT community as much as many people had hoped. 

The Justice Department is defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal marriage law, to the dismay of gay rights advocates. President Obama is so far noncommittal regarding exactly when he will begin the process to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for the military. 

At a meeting of about 250 gay rights leaders invited to the White House in June, Obama recognized their unhappiness with the slow rate of change for issues of inequality. 

His attendance at the dinner this Saturday will be the second time the sitting president has addressed HRC. President Bill Clinton was the first to do so in 1997, which was also the first time ever that a president addressed any gay rights group or organization. 

President Obama's speech coincides with the National Equality March taking place on Sunday in Washington, DC. Originally Obama was not going to be in town for the weekend's events, and congress was going to be on a break for the holiday. However, last week Sen. Harry Reid, who has publicly endorsed the march, canceled the break, and congress will be in session throughout the weekend.