As President Barack Obama plans to address the Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner gala Saturday in an effort to appease an uneasy Democratic constituency frustrated with the White House’s slow pace, we urge him to listen to the thousands of men and women who will be marching and rallying just outside his doorstep.

The dinner falls on the eve of the National Equality March, which is expected to draw thousands of gay and lesbian activists to the National Mall on Sunday. Many have been critical of Obama’s slow pace on redeeming campaign promises to end a ban on gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military and not pushing tough nondiscrimination policies.

Nearly a year into office, Obama has failed to deliver on any of his commitments to GLBT Americans. Moreover, he has avoided even engaging around these issues.

While he has expanded some federal benefits to same-sex partners, he has not given health benefits or pension guarantees. He has, however, allowed State Department employees to include their same-sex partners in certain embassy programs already available to opposite-sex spouses.

But that remains far short of Obama’s campaign rhetoric.

“At its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans,” Obama said in a 2007 statement on GLBT issues. “It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”

Since then, he publicly has committed himself to repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy that allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they don’t disclose their sexual orientation or act on it.

But as president, Obama hasn’t taken any concrete steps to urge Congress to rescind the Clinton-era policy that some former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have acknowledged is flawed.

Yet the office of the current chair, Adm. Mike Mullen, signed off on a journal article that called for lifting the ban, arguing that the military is forcing thousands of military members to live dishonest lives.

Obama also pledged during his campaign to work toward repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. But in a court brief lawyers in his administration defended the law. White House aides said they were only doing their jobs and that they were backing a law already on the books.

Even before Obama took office, he disappointed GLBT activists who objected to Rev. Rick Warren’s invitation to participate in the inauguration despite the evangelist’s support for repealing same-sex marriage in California.

We hope that after this weekend and in the upcoming months he will begin to openly address the issues at hand.

As Obama addresses the GLBT community at the HRC gala we want to remind the president of our one single demand: Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. We will accept no less and will work until it is achieved.

Equality Across America, which worked to organize the March for Equality this weekend, exists to support grassroots organizing in all 435 Congressional Districts to achieve that goal.

We are guaranteed equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize their rights. Full equality necessarily includes all members of the GLBT community and encompasses, but is not limited to the right to:

• Work our jobs and go to school free of harassment and discrimination.

• Safety in our daily lives, and protection from hate crimes.

• Equitable healthcare, and the right to donate blood.

• Equitable immigration policies.

• Marry.

• Serve in the military openly.

As members of every race, class, faith, and community, we see the struggle for GLBT equality as part of a larger movement for peace and social justice.

Many bills currently exist to address some of these issues, but the GLBT community does not support a piecemeal strategy. We seek one federal solution to full equality.

The march will be the first step toward a larger goal of creating a national movement – the 50 State Legislative Outreach Campaign – in all 435 congressional districts to demand our elected representatives grant us full equality under the law.

The march is just the beginning. We are not expecting to wake up on Monday morning with a federal bill on the president’s desk to sign. At the same time we will no longer be told to wait. This march is our chance to demand full equal protection under the law, and it will help us realize the dream of Equality Across America: a committed group of grassroots activists in all 435 Congressional Districts.