Yesterday I posted about drastic reduction in President Obama’s stated stance on LGBT civil rights issues on the White House website. What had been an extensive list was changed to two sentences, with several issues left out completely.

Well there’s been another change, this one in the right direction. Last night John Aravosis of AMERICAblog (who is infinitely better connected than li’l old me) received word that the change was due to a site wide refocus. At the same time, the White House site was changed again to include several of the deleted commitments.

John also pointed out a worrisome change in language, though, with the site stating that President Obama “supports changing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way”. Previously and repeatedly, the President’s stance was that he wanted a full repeal (not a change) of the law that keeps lesbians and gays from the military.

But –more good news– tonight John Aravosis reports that the word “repeal” is back on the White House site.

So what are the takeaways from this panicked 24 hours? As I see it there are two:

1. For us: Good things can happen when good people question questionable actions.
2. For President Obama: The way to keep the White House phone from ringing when things like this happen is to give us some evidence of the fierce advocacy that you’ve claimed.

I voted for you, Mr. President. I agree with most of what you’re doing. But damn it, the time for civil rights is never later. Let’s get started with the list.