After boldly promising to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and reverse “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on openly gay and lesbian service members, gay voters, en bloc, went to the polls for then-Senator Barack Obama. But following months of concealing their bitter disappointment, gay rights advocates have begun publically airing their grievances with the Obama Administration over its concerning pace of progress on gay rights issues.

Yesterday, amid fears neither of those lofty campaign pledges may be actualized, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solomnese penned a stinging open letter to President Obama in response to a brief filed by the Department of Justice that defended DOMA’s legitimacy.

Concerned the President does not view gay men and women as “human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal” to his own, Solomnese mockingly offered to “reintroduce” the LGBT community to their capricious ally in the White House.

After reintroducing gays—as scorned tax payers, donors, and voters—to Obama, Solomnese proceeded to question the president’s commitment to marriage equality for gays. Cautiously optimistic, he asks, “The question is, Mr. President—do you believe that [the brief is] good enough for us?”

“If we are your equals, if you recognize that our families live the same, love the same, and contribute as much as yours, then the answer must be no.”

Gay rights advocates want action, and they want it now.

After having found himself to the ideological right of former Vice President Dick Cheney, no amount of rhetoric, it seems, will rescue Obama from his present malady. But does Obama care?

The exact number of “gay” persons living in the U.S. is quite subjective—some studies arguing one in ten, while others, more accurately, note one in twenty. Gays are, ultimately, an insignificant political group, at least in terms of sheer voting numbers.

The collision of Obama’s shallow campaign promises with gays’ limited ability to affect elections suggests but one thing: Gay outreach and token appeasement will always be subordinate to Obama’s determined outreach to larger identity groups—namely, African Americans, Hispanics, and Evangelicals.

Donors no more?

Strapped for cash with competitive gubernatorial elections on the horizon, the Democratic National Committee announced last week it would host its 10th annual LGBT Leadership Council Dinner featuring former Governor and DNC Chair Howard Dean, Representatives Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, and Jared Polis, and Vice President Joe Biden.

According to Americablog’s John Aravosis, the fundraiser is “starting to fall apart over [the] rupture between Obama and gay community.” Citing the administration’s “sickening document,” top gay blogger Andy Towle and LGBT kingmaker David Mixner have both withdrawn from the poorly-timed event.

Scheduled to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the cash-deprived DNC was hopeful the event would emphasize the Democratic Party’s continuing allegiance to the LGBT community. But given its coincidence with Obama’s snubbing of the gay community, the DNC is more likely to witness “Stonewall 2.0” – a pocketbook rebellion against the shallow campaign promises of Obama, and, indeed, the entire Democratic Party.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com.