If anyone in this favored land is discriminated against, civil society is weakened and we are all diminished. Bigotry has no place in America and should have no sanction of even the most covert sort. Here let me be clear. Violence, which is unfortunately not unusual against the gay and lesbian community, is best averted by advancing rather than contracting protection under the law. Executive orders of this nature and civil rights laws in general can not by Presidential signature or majority vote change people's attitudes, but they can help protect individual rights and remove impediments to the exercise of individual aptitudes.
Political leadership involves more than the crafting and execution of laws.
An essential role of leadership is to do everything possible to bring people together rather than accentuate differences which have the effect of rupturing society. Political debate should thus be measured as to whether it is directed to the best or the least in us all. In the American creed individual rights are not selective. They do not apply to some people and not others. Equal opportunity and protection under the law can not be denied any law-abiding American no matter how controversial his or her lifestyle may be.