Am I supposed to be supporting the liberal Republican who championed equal rights for gay people? Or the conservative religious zealot who trashed gay and lesbian Americans on national TV? Or the newly fashioned quasi-moderate who just doesn’t want to talk about the subject?

Am I supposed to be supporting the Massachusetts Republican Governor who created a public health care system in which people pay for private plans in a government marketplace, or am I supposed to be supporting the presidential candidate who belittles a public health care system in which people pay for private plans in a government marketplace because it’s a crazy liberal policy, like those crazy liberals in Massachusetts?

Am I supposed to be supporting the Mitt Romney of yesterday who supported bailouts for automakers, or am I supposed to be supporting the Mitt Romney of today who thinks bailouts for automakers is socialist? What will Mitt Romney think about the subject tomorrow?

Am I supposed to be supporting the Mitt Romney of yesterday who liked a cap-and-trade approach to regulating carbon dioxide emissions, or am I supposed to be supporting the Mitt Romney of today who thinks cap-and-trade is ridiculous?

Way back, Mitt Romney was a credible centrist. Then Mitt Romney reinvented himself as a fire-breathing conservative. Now he says he’s a reasonable businessman with no axe to grind any more. Which of these faces am I to believe?

About the only thing I know I’m supporting with Mitt Romney’s candidacy is the hair-care industry.

Gosh, it’s hard to be a good Republican. I’m beginning to think that maybe there’s some part of that identity I should shed.

As President, Barack Obama is working to deny equal rights to gay and lesbian Americans. This week, Obama sent his lawyers out to argue that the Defense of Marriage Act, legislation that blocks marriage equality at the national level, should be maintained.

Among the arguments Obama used to justify the Defense of Marriage Act is that the law does not discriminate against same-sex couples because it allows gay men to marry women just like heterosexual men can, and it allows lesbians to marry men just like heterosexual women can. That Obama would make such an argument with a straight face is in itself cause for concern. It’s as ridiculous as claiming that racial segregation of school children is not discrimination so long as children of all ethnic backgrounds have the equal ability to go to school with other children of their own ethnicity.

It ought to be clear now that, in spite of the hopes of 2008, gay and lesbian Americans cannot rely on Barack Obama to respect their standing as equal citizens deserving protection under the law. That’s why, for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, the message self respecting GLBT Americans will give to Obama is No we can’t.