That’s what New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich posits, post-Stonewall, in his piece “Forty Years Later, Still Second-Class Americans.”

He opens with a telling look back: the Times wouldn’t even permit the use of the word gay until 1987. And “as David Carter writes in his book Stonewall, at the end of the 1960s homosexual sex was still illegal in every state but Illinois. It was a crime punishable by castration in seven states. No laws — federal, state or local — protected gay people from being denied jobs or housing. If a homosexual character appeared in a movie, his life ended with either murder or suicide.”

After so many steps forward — in legislation, cultural climate, awareness and general attitudes — Rich wonders where we are now. And after conversations with gay, lesbian, bi and trans activists on both coasts, he responds to those who keep saying to cut the current administration some slack (“After all, he’s only five months into his term and must first juggle two wars, the cratered economy, health care and Iran.”):

No president possesses that magic wand, but Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking. So is his utterly uncharacteristic inarticulateness. The Justice Department brief defending DOMA has spoken louder for this president than any of his own words on the subject. [Jennifer] Chrisler [of the Family Equality Council] noted that he has given major speeches on race, on abortion and to the Muslim world. “People are waiting for that passionate speech from him on equal rights,” she said, “and the time is now.”

Check out the entire column here.