He added other constituencies to his scope when Clinton named him Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Public Liaison in February 1997. In the fall of that year he directed the White House Conference on Hate Crimes and received a Courage Award from the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of the 50th Anniversary Summit of NATO in April 1999.

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All of these positions involved Socarides in planning, communications, and acting as spokesperson for administration policies. The latter role was often thorny when addressing glbtq constituencies.

Gay men and lesbians, a reliable voting block for Clinton in 1992, had great expectations of his presidency. However, fierce opposition from Republicans and social conservatives impeded progress on sexual minority rights. Many gay men and lesbians perceived Clinton as yielding or seriously compromising on these issues in order to salvage the rest of his program.

Clinton's early promise to integrate gays into the military backfired, producing the counterproductive "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. When Hawaii's courts ruled favorably on same-sex marriages, Clinton felt obliged to sign the Defense of Marriage Act prohibiting the federal government from recognizing such unions and permitting other states to refuse to recognize them as well.

Though the White House fervently endorsed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, both of which would have added sexual orientation to federal statutes, both failed in Congress, thanks to Republican opposition.

Socarides cited the closeness of some of these votes and support from high-ranking officials as signs of incremental progress. He urged gay voters to view the rancorous debates surrounding these measures as part of a necessary process of public education. He developed a reputation as an effective bridge builder within the administration.

Indeed, there were some successes. Clinton's nomination of philanthropist James Hormel as Ambassador to Luxembourg made him the first openly gay American to hold such a post. Executive orders banning sexual orientation discrimination in federal employment and issuance of security clearances survived Congressional opposition. In addition, White House influence averted Congress's attempts to ban gay men and lesbians from adopting children in the District of Columbia and to withhold federal funds from localities that enacted domestic partnership benefits.

At Socarides' urging, Clinton addressed the 1997 Human Rights Campaign annual dinner, the first time a sitting president had appeared before a designated gay and lesbian audience.

The Private Sector

In October 1999 Socarides resigned from the White House staff. He accepted vice presidential positions handling media relationships, first, at Robinson Lehrer & Montgomery Communications and, later, at AOL Time Warner. He also served as Vice President of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company, helping to oversee an annual budget of $20 million in corporate giving.

In October 2003 he became a senior vice president at New Line Cinema, where he managed media relations and helped position installment three of The Lord of the Rings to receive its record-setting eleven Academy Awards.

Socarides has credited the Clinton administration with "a record to build on." Encouraging gay men and lesbians to persevere in the ups and downs of electoral politics, he predicted that Clinton would be remembered as "a hugely important and transformational figure" in glbtq political progress.

A form of behavior modification that employs unpleasant and sometimes painful stimuli, aversion therapy was one of the more popular treatments for homosexuality and cross-dressing in the 1950s and 1960s.

Hate Crimes are crimes towards persons or groups motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Reparative therapy is a dangerously misguided attempt, supported by homophobic religious organizations, to change a person's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

Although work remains to be done, the expansion of protection from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation stands as one of the significant accomplishments of the American lesbian and gay civil rights movement.

American activist and politician Roberta Achtenberg is the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the United States Senate for a major political post.

Political activist Midge Costanza has a long and distinguished record as a champion of gay and women's rights.

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, in effect since 1993, was a compromise intended to end discrimination against gay men and lesbians in the U. S. military, but it has failed to halt discharges based solely on sexual orientation.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a watchdog group dedicated to promoting accurate representations of the glbtq community in the media.

Political operative and advisor to President Clinton, Bob Hattoy was deeply concerned about glbtq rights and the environment.

Philanthropist and political activist James C. Hormel became the first openly gay United States ambassador despite the vociferous opposition of conservative groups.

The largest glbtq political organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign has emerged as the leading national organization representing glbtq concerns.

Kevin Jennings transformed his anger at bullying and gay bashing in schools into founding the first national organization to address the homophobia experienced by glbtq youth in schools.

The largest glbtq legal advocacy group in the United States, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has been fighting for the civil rights of queer Americans and people with HIV/AIDS for over three decades.