I left the following letter at whitehouse.gov...

Dear President Obama:

Over the last few months, I've become increasingly disappointed in your inability to take action on certain issues concerning equality for gay Americans. I voted for you, Sir. I trusted your word that you wanted real change. And yet, you seem to be just like all the other presidents before you. It's easy to make campaign promises, apparently. It seems to be another issue entirely with following through with them. That is called integrity - something I felt you had. That is why I voted for you.

So today, I'm losing hope in that CHANGE you spoke of; your failure to do anything about Don't Ask, Don't Tell, as very qualified military personnel continue to be drummed out of the service solely because of their sexuality, ON YOUR WATCH, AS YOU DO NOTHING.

And just last week, your Justice Department actually defended the Defense of Marriage Act, an Act that you yourself stated was unconstitutional during your campaign. You had stated that you were going to get rid of DOMA, not defend it. I've been with my partner for 35 years. And when we get married next June, we'd like to be on equal footing with other married couples in this country, at least as far as our federal government is concerned. We can't do that. Not as long as the Defense of Marriage Act stands. Honestly, you were our last hope at seeing equality in our lifetime. How disappointing this has been for us.

I understand that you have "bigger issues" to cover than tending to a small minority of people. But Mr. President, the U.S. Constitution, that you swore to defend, is not being lived up to. We have a minority in this country where it is the day to day business to discriminate against that minority. That should be a huge issue to you. It flies in the face of equal protection, and you do nothing. When are you going to act, if ever? What are you waiting for?

And here's a bit of irony for you. You have vowed to have universal health care for all Americans. So today I read that you were extending the benefits for the partners of gay federal workers, EXCEPT FOR HEALTH CARE. How ironic is that?

We aren't asking for too much. We aren't asking for anything that other people don't already have. We are simply asking for the basic dignity that comes with equality. Of all people, I would have thought you would understand that. As our President, you should be fighting for that.

Sincerely,

Bill Cannon
Connecticut