The Restore Honor to Service Members Act Languishes Under Republican Party Obstruction

Mark Pocan (D-WI) will have to be a magician if he's going to get his Restore Honor to Service Members Act (H.R. 2839) out of committee and passed into law. Sure, Pocan rounded up 144 cosponsors for his bill, but only one-- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen-- is a Republican. Her colleagues are accustomed to writing off her pro-LGBT actions because she doesn't hassle them over their homophobia and because she has a huge LGBT population in her blue-leaning district. The bill would require "appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Permits such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable." It directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that:"

(1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and

(2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances, such as misconduct, that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable.

Over in the Senate, one of the LGBT community's most dependable allies, Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the same bill there. So far he's gotten 22 of his colleagues to sign on as cosponsors. Are you senators on the list with Schatz?

• Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
• Mark Udall (D-CO)
• Al Franken (D-MN)
• Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
• Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
• Mark Begich (D-AK)
• Michael Bennet (D-CO)
• Ben Cardin (D-MD)
• Ed Markey (D-MA)
• Ron Wyden (D-OR)
• Cory Booker (D-NJ)
• Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
• Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
• Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
• Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
• Chris Murphy (D-CT)
• Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
• Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
• Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
• Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
• Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

This week a Board member of Equality Hawaii, veteran Kory Rosette, wrote a heartfelt letter about his own travail around this issue.

I’m a proud combat veteran of the Iraq War, having served two tours of duty and receiving three awards for meritorious service. But because of the faulty Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, I was kicked out of the military, simply for being gay.

Even though the policy was repealed three years ago, thousands of veterans like me still bear the scars of this discrimination, with dishonorable or less than honorable discharges staining our military records and marks on our records that compromise our right to privacy.

Help right the wrongs of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Sign on as a Citizen Co-Sponsor of Senator Brian Schatz’s Restore Honor to Service Members Act.

Many of the 114,000 brave men and women wrongly discharged from the armed services since World War II because of who they love are barred from receiving the benefits they earned. In the worst cases, some are even legally prevented from calling themselves a veteran.

This is an affront to the people who put their own self-interest aside to serve our country. The time to end this disgrace is now.

Ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was a proud moment for gay veterans like me, but too many veterans still are treated unequally and are not receiving the correct honor they deserve. After decades of institutionalized discrimination, It’s time to finish righting those wrongs.

This legislation to make sure my service is honored means so much to me and other current or former service members and our families. It’s one of the many reasons that I’m proud to say that Brian Schatz is my U.S. Senator.

Senator Schatz, on introducing the bill said that "[t]he repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was a watershed moment, ending institutionalized discrimination that unjustly targeted gay and lesbian members of the military. Yet thousands of former service members still bear the scars of that discrimination, with their military records tarnished with discharges other than honorable and marks on their records that compromise their right to privacy. Many of these brave men and women that served our country are currently barred from benefits that they earned and are entitled to, and in the most egregious cases they are prevented from legally calling themselves a veteran. This needs to be corrected now."

A far more conservative Democrat, Colleen Hanabusa, is primarying Senator Schatz from the right. A corrupt corporate shill backed by EMILY's List, Hanabusa would be a major downgrade in the seat in terms of women's issues, LGBT issues, environmental issues, economic equality issues and everything related to the Military Industrial Complex, which has significantly financed Hanabusa's shady career. If you'd like to help reelect Schatz, remember, no contribution is too small.

Why is NYC Fleet Week 2012 different from all previous ones? (Hint: Just ask a gay, lesbian, or bi sailor)

Crowds watched yesterday as ships sailed into the harbor for New York's first Fleet Week since the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." (photo: DNAinfo/Paul Lomax)

"I mean, we always tried to bag a sailor, but this time they're allowed to want it back. . . . I just want to reward our troops, if you know what I mean."

-- Chelsea resident Jonathan Francis O'Donnell

by Ken

Fleet Week has always been a fun time hereabouts, what with all those ships in the harbor and all those sailors on shore. It hadn't occurred to me, though, until I saw this DNAinfo piece, that for a lot of sailors this Fleet Week is very different from Fleet Weeks past. This week, for the first time, gay, lesbian, and bi sailors can enjoy their time on shore the same way their straight colleagues have always been able to, without looking over their shoulders or worrying who might see-and-snitch. (If I'm understanding this correctly, trans folk are still excluded from this party.)

Primitive-brained homophobes like to make believe that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks are making outrageous demands for some kind of "special privileges." This is, I assume, because the primitive-brained homophobes are too stupid or dishonest to grasp that LGBT folk just want the same rights that everyone else has, including primitive-brained homophobes. If some of the enjoyment they seek ashore should happen to partake of a sexual nature, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that military personnel have ever been endowed with an expectation of chastity.

From time immemorial any port that hosts naval personnel has had a small industry devoted to extending, shall we say, hospitality to those naval personnel -- just as the needs and wishes of military personnel are serviced wherever they're stationed around the world. It's a privilege, though, that has been fraught with peril for military personnel of disapproved sexual orientations.

I admit that this story may have hit me with particular force because it speaks to an old fantasy: providing, er, hospitality to some of those hunky sailor fellows unloosed on the Big Apple. Of course I never had any idea how one mighty actually go about doing it. Now I'm hoping all those young men and women on those ships have themselves one hell of a time.

LGBT Sailors Urged to Come Out for Fleet Week
Updated May 23, 2012 1:55pm
May 23, 2012 1:55pm | By Matthew Katz, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

Active LGBT Servicemembers march in the San Diego Pride Parade in July. The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell has thrilled gay military members for Fleet Week. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

HELL'S KITCHEN -- For the first Fleet Week since Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed, New York's gay nightlife scene is encouraging men and women in uniform to come out.

Bars and hotels have set up Fleet Week-themed specials and planned a host of parties to attract gay servicemembers for their first open Fleet Week in the celebration's 25-year history.

Zeke Stokes, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which represents LGBT troops, said that at previous Fleet Weeks, military attendees at such events would often risk getting discharged.

"If they chose to go, they were always looking over their shoulders, just like they were all the time," he said. "This is a new day for servicemembers because they're now free to serve openly without fear of being fired."

The city's gay venues have taken notice of the sudden influx of soldiers.

The OUT NYC, the city's first gay hotel has kicked off their Served With Pride Package for Fleet Week, but will keep the discount program going indefinitely. Military personnel staying at the hotel at at 512 W. 42nd St. will get 30 percent off their rooms, a complimentary "Served With Pride" T-shirt or tank top, along with free wifi and complimentary continental breakfast.

Inside the hotel, the XL Nightclub will transform into the "USS Rockit" Friday, during a porn-star-hosted Fleet Week party featuring a free-flowing vodka open bar from 10 to 11 p.m., along with "hot sailors and surprise acts."

The party, hosted by porn star Pierre Fitch, has a $10 cover.

The Maritime Hotel at 363 West 16th Street is offering its own discounts to sailors, with rooms for $99 a night for any active-duty seaman or woman in their Navy whites.

The hotel's restaurant, La Bottega, has put together its own line of nautical-themed specialty cocktails, including the Anchor, the Albatross, and the Do Ask, Please Tell.

Sue Fulton, a spokeswoman for Outserve, said that many of her organization's more than 5,500 actively-serving LGBT military members were excited to participate in the events.

"People are getting leave so they can get together with friends," said Fulton, a former Army Captain.

"There's a level of celebration in Fleet Week -- there's always been -- and now LGBT servicemembers can really be a part of that, part of the military family."

The newly-open Fleet Week also has the city's non-military LGBT community abuzz.

"I mean, we always tried to bag a sailor, but this time they're allowed to want it back," said Jonathan Francis O'Donnell, a 32-year-old Chelsea resident who said he plans to attend as many LGBT Fleet Week events as possible.

"I just want to reward our troops, if you know what I mean."

Sweet!

#

The Congressional Homophobes... Where Are They Now?

We're coming up on the 5th anniversary of the passage of HR 1592, John Conyers legislation that included the LBGT community in federal Hate Crimes protection. The final vote, on May 3, 2007 was 237-180, 25 Republicans abandoning their hateful, bigoted party and joining 212 Democrats to strike another blow for LGBT equality. Shamefully, 14 so-called Democrats crossed the aisle in the other direction to show the world that they are unrepentant homophobes. Most have them have either been subsequently defeated or forced into retirement in the face of impending defeat. Only 5 are still in Congress. These are the Democratic anti-gay hate-mongers who voted with Eric Cantor (R-VA), John Boehner (R-OH), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Steve King (R-IA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and the GOP self-loathing closet cases like Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Adrian Smith (R-NE), David Dreier (R-CA) and Trent Franks (R-AZ).

Marion Berry (Blue Dog-AR), an alcoholic he retired when polls showed he had virtually no chance to win in 2010.

Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), retiring from Congress at the end of this session to become a lobbyist. He has voted more frequently with Republicans than any other Democrat in Congress and is always counted on by Boehner and Cantor when they want to call any piece of insane right-wing legislation "bipartisan." Boren was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), defeated in 2010 when Democratic voters sat on their hands in NE Pennsylvania; now working for an arms merchant and last seen begging Pennsylvania voters to turn out tomorrow for his corrupt Blue Dog crony Tim Holden.

Bud Cramer (Blue Dog-AL), retired in 2008, a banner year for Democrats when it became apparent that Democrats would no longer support his far right voting record; now working as one of the capital's most notoriously sleazy lobbyists and running a corporately-funded Blue Dog PAC; last seen raising money to smear Democrat Matt Cartwright in the hope of saving the ass of his Blue Dog crony, Tim Holden.

Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), defeated in a landslide in 2010, losing to teabagger Scott DesJarlais 57.1% to 38.6%-- the third-largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle, and the first time an incumbent had been unseated since the district's creation in 1983. One of his final votes in Congress was against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), rather than go down to certain defeat running for reelection, he's decided to go down to certain defeat running for a Senate seat this year. One has to wonder how the DSCC can run a bigot like Donnelly-- who is said to already be lining up a lobbing job for next year-- with a clear conscience.

Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), realizing he would probably lose his House seat in 2010, he decided to go out in a blaze of Blue Dog glory by running for the retiring Evan Bayh's open Senate seat. He was badly defeated by lobbyist and corporate whore Dan Coats, winning barely 40% of the vote and even losing his own congressional district. He immediately got a job as a gloried lobbyist.

Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), forced into retirement when he saw polls showing he had no chance of being reelected in 2010 and immediately got a job as a sleazy K Street lobbyist.

Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), still managing to hang on to a congressional seat, although he votes with the GOP on most important issues. The DCCC is wasting inordinate amounts of money to save his seat this year... so he can continue voting with the Republicans. Like Boren, McIntyre was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Charlie Melançon (Blue Dog-LA), defeated in 2010 by David Diapers Vitter, then in the middle of his myriad sex scandals, mostly because Democrats just stayed home rather than voted for the ultra-conservative Melançon. He immediately took a job as a lobbyist.

Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), a paragon of corruption, he's one of the only homophobes left and still in a safe seat, far off in rural, isolated northwest Minnesota. Peterson was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), another hopelessly corrupt crook headed for K Street as he retires this year after a disgraceful career in Congress. Ross was another one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), looking at polls, he went from almost declaring a run for governor to realizing he couldn't even win a primary in his own district. K Street-bound, of course.

Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), defeat in 2010 by clueless teabagger Steven Palazzo, Democrats just sitting on their hands and letting him go down to ignominious defeat when it came out that he had not just voted with the GOP on almost everything but that he had also voted for McCain for president in 2008. One of his final votes before leaving Congress was against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Blue America has a special bipartisan page devoted to replacing homophobes in Congress. Take your pick. Just click the thermometer or the link above. And, remember, there's no such thing as a contribution being too small.

Don't Ask Don't Tell Ends-- No Birds Fall From The Sky

Not ready to turn the station over to far right psychopath Cindy Jacobs (see video above), Fox News seems to have been studiously avoiding the historic nature of this week's ending of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Funny, but for all President Obama's insistence at the UN this week that "democracy" is blooming in the Middle East-- wishful thinking, at best-- democracy in a general sense was better served by our own national decision to extend a bit of equality to millions of our fellow citizens right here at home. And this is even more so because of a concerted and coordinated effort by modern day fascists like Rick Scott, Scott Walker, Rick Snyder, Tom Corbett, John Kasich, and other hard right Republican governors to undermine democracy in their states. Corbett, another conservative carbuncle, is the governor of Pennsylvania but I'd like to share a powerful OpEd about the ending of DADT from an esteemed Pennsylvania civic leader, former Admiral and former Congressman Joe Sestak.

On September 20, "don't ask, don't tell" will be repealed by the Defense Department, and from today forward all Americans will finally be able to serve in our military, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. As a young Navy captain, I was asked by the admiral I worked for what I thought of DADT when it became official policy during the Clinton administration. I now think ruefully about my reply: that I soon expected DADT to be overturned by the Supreme Court on the basis of discrimination. Over the years, I remember a number of instances when a young sailor would approach me to let me know he was gay, intent upon no longer living a lie, and wishing I could say, "Please don’t tell me, you’re too good and I don’t want to lose you."

I had been to war for our nation with such sailors; how could I come home and not believe they deserved equal rights from the country for which they had fought with the same common purpose as their shipmates? But that wasn’t the only reason I co-sponsored the legislation to repeal DADT when I later became a congressman from Pennsylvania. I also did it for the betterment of our military.

I came to understand in the Navy that the best part of our nation’s character is that America has always been driven by an alliance of rugged individualism and common enterprise; by people striving for their individual achievement, but never measuring it apart from the greater effort. Ours is the first nation founded on principle, not power. But our nation is built upon the belief that individual principles-- freedom, suffrage, civil rights, equality-- are not attained until they extend to all. It is the success of this long struggle to embody the vision set by our founders for everyone that makes our nation-- our military-- so powerful. It is the recognition that a fair opportunity for all ensures even greater service to our common effort, our common purpose.

Shortly after arriving in the Indian Ocean during the war in Afghanistan, I launched attack planes from the aircraft carrier of my battle group, one of which had a young woman pilot. Over Afghanistan that night, she disregarded a standing order not to dive low without permission. U.S. Special Forces had been ambushed by the Taliban; four were dead and she felt there was no time to ask permission to save the rest. She immediately dove and strafed the enemy, and in her covering fire, the remaining men extracted their dead and themselves.

When I joined up during the Vietnam era, there were no women on aircraft carriers, never mind flying attack aircraft off them. Because women were later given an individual opportunity to achieve all they might desire in our Navy, our common mission that night in Afghanistan was better and saved U.S. soldiers.

My belief in the repeal of DADT is based upon my experience of the conviction that the more people given a fair opportunity for their own achievement means a greater effort for the common purpose of America. I saw during my 31 years in the Navy that America’s success is born out of the basic idea that everyone should contribute to their fullest and should be given the tools and opportunity to do so. This simple notion has been the bedrock of our achievement, where shared opportunity is shared attainment.

This is why today is important: once again we’ve looked into the national mirror and said “we are better than that.” And it is why no one should ever sell short the character of Americans, with our enormous capacity to change and grow for the better. Our courage to face the truth about the need to live up to our best ideals is why America will-- despite any challenge-- always grow stronger and move forward as one, united nation.

Yesterday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, near the home of virulently homophobic Blue Dog Dan Boren, one of only 15 Democrats-- almost all of whom were subsequently defeated for reelection-- who voted against repealing DADT, military recruiters, for the first time ever, visited a gay and lesbian social center.

There were a ton of awesome, supportive statements and the Republicans mostly kept their bigoted traps shut for a change. Military leaders and national security experts like Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who helped implement Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the first place, John Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been very outspoken about ending this foolish, dysfunctional policy. Speaker Pelosi and Jerry Nadler were just two of the congressional leaders who worked hard to end the policy and who made inspiring statements about the success in ending this shameful episode. Pelosi:

“With the long-overdue end of the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, our nation will finally close the door on a fundamental unfairness for gays and lesbians, and indeed affirm equality for all Americans.  When the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate took action last year to end this wrongheaded policy, we reaffirmed the core American principle that anyone who wishes to serve, secure, and defend this country must be judged by their abilities and honored for their dedication and sacrifice.

“For those gays and lesbians discharged unfairly, including those who seek re-accession, we must correct their paperwork so that it properly reflects their service.  We must continue efforts to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, but in the meantime, I urge the Obama Administration to investigate opportunities to extend the same support and benefits to all our troops and their families. We cannot allow there to be two classes of service members in our military – those who receive benefits for their families and those who do not.

“This landmark progress comes after the President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense have all certified that repeal will not hurt military readiness or unit cohesion.

“America is the land of the free and the home of the brave because of our men and women in uniform. And tomorrow, we honor their service by recommitting to the values that they fight for on the battlefield.”

Jerry Nadler (D-NY): "As we argued for 18 years, it is fundamentally unfair and un-American to discharge soldiers based on their sexual orientation. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is also counterproductive to maintaining a strong and effective military, with trained professionals and high troop morale.  During its 17 years on the books, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell led to the dismissal of more than 14,000 qualified servicemembers, not counting the many others who left voluntarily or chose not to serve because of the policy. Among the thousands dismissed were nearly 800 specialists, whose skills have been particularly important during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and in our efforts to fight terrorism. I am very proud that we have finally changed course and enacted a policy of fostering a strong, unified, and effective military that is open to all Americans who bravely choose to serve. We are now joining the ranks of the 35 nations that have welcomed gays and lesbians into their militaries.”

I was glad to see that the Democrat Blue America endorsed for Congress to fill the open Albuquerque seat (NM-1), Eric Griego, went right to New Mexico voters to explain the importance of the end of DADT.

With the official repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” yesterday, our nation hit an important milestone for civil rights and equality. The repeal means that every man or woman can serve in our nation’s military without fear of legal discrimination for who they are and who they choose to love.

But there is more work to be done.

Diversity makes a workplace stronger and more productive. That is why Congress should also pass and the President should sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act so that all workers will be valued and respected. The military is leading the way and it’s time for Washington to step up.

As Congressman I will be a champion for equality and fight against hate and discrimination... As a nation, we should also value and respect any two persons to love and marry one another without government interference. I believe that love between individuals is a sacred right protected in the Constitution and that is why I also support the full repeal of DOMA.

Many in the LGBT community feel that Obama moved too slowly and too tepidly on this-- and on equality for gay and lesbian Americans in general. Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network isn't among them and penned a strong defense of Obama's role. "[M]ake no mistake. The President directed his forces with precision, methodically insisting all options be examined and re-examined. He realized almost from the beginning that success would depend upon the military, that he would need Gates and Mullen and his senior commanders and the troops with him to bring about this change. And he also knew that would take time. He was determined not to be rushed. The last time this was rushed without a plan and military support the results had been disastrous. He would not make that mistake... Some will rightly quibble over how long it took Obama's White House to pull off this remarkable achievement and who should get credit for what, but one thing few can argue is that repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would not have happened without a determined President Obama, the essential and unwavering buy-in and support from our military, and an awful lot of very good luck."

President Obama ended his own statement on repeal in a way bigots and fanatics would do well to think about long and hard, since it goes to the heart of the Republican Party counter-revolution they're trying to gin up on all levels right now:

For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America’s promise to all our citizens. Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans. Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation’s founding ideals.

Conservative closet queens and hypocrites Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Aaron Schock (R-IL), Miss McConnell (R-KY), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Trent Franks (R-AZ), etc all voted against equality and against honesty. They must be very ashamed this week.

After Congress Fails to Repeal, Judge Ends Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

I'm biting my tongue to keep from blasting President Obama for the "fierce advocacy" he never showed a trace of. But now a federal judge has finally told him and the Pentagon, which he supposedly controls-- just kidding-- "NO MORE!" No more lies and hypocrisy. And no more of this shameful policy carried out in our names.

Every time I talk to Blue America endorsed congressional candidate Ed Potosnak he wants to talk about his ideas for reforming the education system. He seems very dedicated to the idea that unless we have an educated population we'll continue to fall behind better educated societies in all fields. He's right, of course, and that's very much why he's running for Congress. Lord knows his opponent, Wall Street shill and career politician Leonard Lance, doesn't care a whit about education one way or the other... as long as the cost can be held down. But Ed is one of the sharpest progressives running this year and he's also the only openly gay Blue America endorsee. So... while so many people in the LGBT community were fuming at the Washington Post this week for desecrating
National Coming Out Day by publishing a hate screed by deranged professional homophobe Tony Perkins, we asked Ed to give us a reaction to the overturning of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Now That's An Order! Not A Military One, Or An Executive One, But Finally One To End Don't Ask Don't Tell

-by Ed Potosnak, Candidate For Congress, NJ-07

On September 9, 2010, Judge Virginia Phillips ruled that the military’s disgraceful “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy is unconstitutional. Judge Phillips followed that ruling with an order yesterday to the Department of Defense to halt any enforcement of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” While the policy should be completely removed from the books, this is an important step in the right direction. Our judicial system has recognized a homophobic, discriminatory policy for what it is: a violation of the First and Fifth amendments of the Constitution. 
 
As an American, I am so grateful for the service of the young men and women in uniform and the sacrifices that they and their families make. At a time when we are trying to bring two wars to a close and bring our troops home safely and securely, it shouldn’t take a court order to halt the dismissal of qualified troops. Lieutenant Dan Choi, a distinguished graduate of West Point serving our military honorably as a much-needed Arabic linguist, was dismissed because he admitted that he was gay. Katie Miller, a cadet who ranked at the top of her class at West Point, left the Army to live a life of integrity rather than continue to live a lie. It is ridiculous that we have spent the last 17 years dismissing skilled men and women and turning away patriotic recruits who refused to hide who they are.
 
Earlier this year, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, testified before Congress, “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” I call upon the President and the Justice Department to find the remarkable political courage showed by Admiral Mullen and act in the best interests of our fighting men and women, rather than their own political interests. The President must allow the judge’s order to stand without appeal. The safety and honor of our men and women in military should be of paramount concern. Allowing all of our men and women in uniform to serve openly and honestly will ensure that those who are most qualified are able to do their jobs without fear of reprisal or dismissal.
 
My opponent, Congressman Leonard Lance, voted against the repeal of DADT… supporting an unconstitutional policy that jeopardizes our national security and violates the civil rights of thousands of soldiers. He voted to continue the policy that has cost us nearly $100 million in recruitment and retention costs, discharged 13,000 soldiers from active duty, and institutionalized homophobia and harassment within our armed forces. I have been saying for months that Congressman Lance is on the wrong side of the issues… with Judge Phillips’ ruling, he is now on the wrong side of the Constitution as well.



UPDATE From Potosnak Headquarters

Although the turgid DCCC is too busy trying to rescue doomed Blue Dogs (so they can continue opposing the Democratic agenda), the much more vibrant and meaningful PCCC just endorsed Ed Potosnak's campaign against Wall Street puppet Leonard Lance. This could help push Ed's neck-and-neck race over the top. If you can afford to, please consider making a donation to Ed's campaign today at the Blue America ActBlue page.

Some Gays Still Believe The Hope And Change Stuff-- Buy Into Obama's Hot Air On Don't Ask Don't Tell

No one threw rotten eggs

As he can always be counted on to do, Obama-who-is-better-than-Bush gave a real purty speech for 3,000 gays, lesbians and friends at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington last night. The repetition of his old campaign promise to end Don't Ask Don't Tell-- plus an acknowledgment that it's taking longer than people expected-- was enough for many in the audience, excited to even be engaged by the president after 8 years of malevolent homophobia from the White House. Obama said, basically, "Trust me." And many of them-- noting that at least he wasn't Louie Gohmert or Jason Caffetz-- were happy to fall right in line. But not all.

Cleve Jones, a pioneer activist and creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, said Obama delivered a brilliant speech, but added "it lacked the answer to our most pressing question, which is when."

"He repeated his promises that he's made to us before, but he did not indicate when he would accomplish these goals and we've been waiting for a while now," said Jones, an organizer of a major gay-rights rally expected to draw thousands of gay and lesbian activists to the National Mall on Sunday.

Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners.

He expressed strong support for the Human Rights Campaign agenda-- ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people-- but stopped short of laying out a detailed plan for how to get there.

...Obama also addressed those who do not favor advancing gay rights. A recent Pew Research Center poll asked about homosexual behavior, and about half said it is morally wrong. "There's still laws to change and there's still hearts to open," Obama said.

Many gays see right through that kind of bullshit and point out that blacks would still be slaves if we had waited for the same kinds of narrow-minded bigots, who are the most homophobic today, to open their hearts to blacks in the 1860s. Obama's in a tough place. If he doesn't deliver for gays by the time of the midterm elections, donations and voter enthusiasm will fall off appreciably. Having appointed a gay lawyer, David Huebner, ambassador to New Zealand won't cut it-- and passing the same anti-hate crimes bill every few months is going to wear thin sooner or later too.

Bil Browning, a blogger for Bilerico Project, a Web site aimed at a gay audience, said moments after the speech ended that the site was flooded with critical comments by people who said they had heard nothing new. “I could have watched one of his old campaign speeches and heard the same thing,” one wrote.

Even inside the room, reaction was mixed. Terry Penrod, a real estate agent from Columbus, Ohio, said some gay rights advocates were being impatient with the president, while Raj Malthotra, 29, a management consultant from Washington, said he thought the speech was a rehash of Mr. Obama’s past promises.

“For him, it’s buy more time until he needs our votes again,” Mr. Malthotra said.

...“An opportunity was missed tonight,” Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which represents gay and lesbian soldiers, said in a statement afterward.

Mr. Obama spoke for about 20 minutes inside the packed Washington Convention Center; outside, a small band of protesters on the sidewalk carried banners urging the president to live up to his promises. Among them was Mark Katzenberger, a software trainer from San Francisco, who said that despite his disillusionment with Mr. Obama, he would probably vote for him again.

Capturing the feeling of many in the gay community, Mr. Katzenberger said, “Even our friends sometimes need a kick in the butt.”

Gays and their allies will have to fight and win their own battles. At least Obama won't be fighting against them. Right now the biggest battle is in Maine, where right-wing religious fanatics and bigots are trying to overturn the state's hard-won equality rights. That campaign is the only endorsement Blue America '10 has made so far.



Bloggers who watched the speech, Joe Sudbay, Andrew Sullivan and John Aravosis seemed substantially less than impressed. Joe: "The expectations were very high. The president spoke for approximately 25 minutes. And, tonight, he did not deliver anything new or exciting. He did not assuage our concerns. I'm sure HRC is happy. This was a big night for the institution. But, I'm not sure what it did for the movement-- or HRC's actual mission of full equality."

Today's gay rights march in Washington (see photo above) couldn't be termed "pro-Obama."

Patrick Murphy, Conservatism And Don't Ask, Don't Tell-- Is There Ever Such a Thing As a Good Blue Dog?

Short answer: no. Longer answer: some Blue Dogs are better than others. In fact, some are MUCH better. If you missed this OpEd in yesterday's Washington Post you might not be aware that the battle to end the discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell military policy in Congress is being led by Pennsylvania Blue Dog-- and Iraq War vet-- Patrick Murphy. Patrick's district includes New Hope, a pretty gay area. His overall congressional voting record has been fairly abysmal since he first won office in 2006-- the 202nd "most progressive" Democrat in the House. In terms of the Pennsylvania delegation only proto-Republicans-- and fellow Blue Dogs-- Chris Carney and Jason Altmire vote more frequently with the GOP than Murphy.

However, Murphy has endeared himself to one segment of the progressive coalition-- gays-- by getting out front on this important issue. Today he sent out a fundraising mailer to his supporters reminding them of his role and recommending everyone check out his excellent Let Them Serve website. Patrick's newsletter mentions that "After adding 13 new co-sponsors, we are now up to 163, but we need 218." He doesn't mention that when the House passed the Matthew Shepard anti-hate crimes bill-- which he supported-- the only Democrats opposing it were 15 rabid homophobic Blue Dog colleagues of his who joined every single Republican voting that day in opposition.There has been some hope that because Murphy is himself a Blue Dog who votes so badly on most things he could lure some of the other Blue Dogs into supporting the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The 15 anti-gay Blue Dog Democrats are Dan Boren (OK), Chris Carney (PA), Travis Childers (MS), Joe Donnelly (IN), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Parker Griffith (AL), Baron Hill (IN), Frank Kratovil (MD), Mike McIntyre (NC), Walt Minnick (ID), Heath Shuler (NC), Gene Taylor (MS), Charlie Melancon (LA), Lincoln Davis (TN) and Mike Ross (AR). Patrick hasn't made any progress with any of them yet-- at least none that is public.

Also opposing the abolition of DADT are the 5 best known Republican closet queens and congressional gay hypocrites, David Dreier (R-CA), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Adrian Smith (R-NE).

Obviously not everyone in Pennsylvania agrees with Murphy on this issue. Many, in fact, are as a viciously anti-gay-- to the point of suspicious hysteria-- as Republican homophobes Charlie Dent, Jim Gerlach (an old pal of GOP child molester Mark Foley) and the rest of the Republicans in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation plus, of course, anti-gay fanatic Chris Carney. Today WCSH in Lewiston, Maine reports that a conservative group in Pennsylvania, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, is up in Maine campaigning against marriage equality. The name of the group immediately reminded me of Mike Lux's brilliant new book The Progressive Revolution-- How The Best In America Came To Be. The Pennsylvanians say "gay marriage is harmful to society because children do not have a mother and father. They also claim that marriages performed at City Hall, without God present, are not really marriages. However the group is not arguing that issue while in Maine."

Their arguments are next to identical to the kinds of arguments Lux points out in his book that conservatives have made since they first argued against the Declaration of Independence. In fact, conservatives have been on the wrong side of every crucial argument that has uplifted America right from the beginning. Had we listened to their siren songs of the status quo which emphasize "adhering to tradition, empowering elites, and championing individualism" over public purpose, this is what would be missing from American history today, each of which was opposed by conservatives as hysterically as they are opposing gay equality today:

* The American Revolution

* The Bill of Rights

* Universal white male suffrage

* Public education

* The emancipation of the slaves

* The national park system

* Food safety

* The breakup of monopolies

* The Homestead Act

* Land grant universities

* Rural electrification

* Women's suffrage

*The abolition of child labor

* The eight-hour workday

* The minimum wage

* Civil rights for minorities and women

* Voting rights for minorities and the poor

* Cleaning up our air, our water, and toxic dump sites

* Consumer product safety

*Medicare and Medicaid

The battle between reactionaries and progressives is ongoing. The arguments are largely unchanging. It's nice that Patrick Murphy is on the right side of history in this case. It remains to be seen if he can bring some of his Blue Dogs cronies over with him.

Senate Votes To Build That Fence! High!

Yesterday the Senate passed, 54-44 an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 authored by South Carolina extremist Jim DeMint that requires he completion of at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010. Most Democrats voted against it and most Republicans voted for it. However, it was, obvioulsy far from a party-line vote. Some mainstream Republicans, concerned about their party's xenophobic, anti-Hispanic face-- like Mel Martinez (R-FL), George Voinovich (R-OH), Dick Lugar (R-IN), and Susan Collins (R-ME) --voted with the Democrats.

Most of the Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with the anti-Hispanic Republicans are from Evan Bayh's anti-Obama Bloc of Conservadems: Bayh himself, of course, plus Max Baucus (MT), both Nelsons (FL & NE), the two Arkansas cretins (Pryor and Lincoln), Arlen Specter (PA) and Mary Landrieu (LA). Funny that Gillibrand, in a tough election battle, voted no while Schumer's reactionary side slipped out on this one. The newest member of the Senate, Al Franken, voted no, while Amy Klobuchar, also from Minnesota, voted with the Republicans.

Earlier, Democrats were beaten-- despite their 60 vote majority, unable even to get to 51-- when they attempted to kill an anti-immigrant amendment by Alabama KKK member Jeff Sessions. Every Republican voted in favor of turning the screws on immigrants trying to work while a dozen Democrats strayed over to the Dark Side, again led by the hard-core conservatives inside the Democratic caucus: Bayh, Baucus, Ben Nelson, Lincoln, Pryor and Landrieu. Lieberman voted with them.

I've been reading Dave Neiwert's excellent new book, The Eliminationists and he goes into a disturbing thread throughout American history dealing with xenophobic and Know Nothing anti-immigration sentiments. It may be Mexicans and Central Americans radical right kooks like DeMint, Burr, Isakson, Vitter, Grassley and their followers are targeting now but their political antecedents were justas hate-filled towards Jews, Germans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Italians and Slavs at one time or another.

The immigration debate is rapidly becoming the most prominent current example of the American Right's attempt to persuade the public to launch into another monumental mistake on the basic of provably false information. And... the nation's media have played an outsize role in helping it happen.

In the spring of 2008, a coalition of progressive immigration reform groups commissioned a poll to help political candidates who were looking to change their strategy and the nature of the immigration debate. One aspect of the polling stood out as a prime example of how deeply right-wing misinformation infects the public discourse. One of the first sections of the poll, headlined "Biggest Concerns About Illegal Immigration," featured the public responses to a set of concerns identified by the pollsters as the most common issues raised in focus groups. Poll respondents named their "one of two biggest concerns about illegal immigration today." These were the results:

- Immigrants receiving free public services such as health care (48%)

-Immigrants not paying taxes (35%)

-Takes jobs from Americans and lowers wages (20%)

-Too many immigrants aren't learning English (20%)

-Weakens our security against terrorism (18%)

-Causing crime problems in many communities (17%)

If you look down that list, something stands out: each item reflects a fear based either on outright false information or on gross distortions from a highly selective set of facts.

This kind of misinformation has been-- and still is-- used to justify and even encourage hate crimes, hate crimes Republicans and many right-wing Democrats refuse to outlaw. Neiwert examines the effectiveness of hate crimes in terrorizing immigrant families. He quotes a study by Yale political scientist Donald Green: "If the point of hate crimes is to terrorize the population into maintaining boundaries between these perpetrators and the victimized populations, at least in some areas-- certain parts of town, certain parts of the country, etcetera-- you know, certain kinds of romantic relationships , whatever-- then it does succeed in that. Because people really do feel they have to constrain their behavior lest they open themselves up for attack." ... There is no small irony in the conservative movement's steadfast opposition to hate-crimes legislation. Their flimsy pretense is that they are doing so in the name of protecting people's free-speech rights."

Again, this is pattently-- and provably-- false, although you might not know about that by listening to the barrage of hate-tinged right-wing radio and TV, not just Limbaugh, Dobbs, O'Reilly and Coulter but even from more mainstream sources. Last time an anti-hate crimes bill came up for a vote, not only did every single Republican in the House oppose it, but 15 reactionary Blue Dog Democrats joined them, homophobic bigots within the Democrat caucus, frequently crossing the aisle to vote with the GOP, like Dan Boren (OK), Chris Carney (PA), Travis Childers (MS), Joe Donnelly (IN), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Parker Griffith (AL), Baron Hill (IN), Frank Kratovil (MD), Mike McIntyre (NC), Walt Minnick (ID), Heath Shuler (NC), Gene Taylor (MS), etc. When Iraq War vet Patrick Murphy (D-PA) took over the sponsorship of the House bill to repeal the homophobic Don't Ask Don't Tell military policy, he declared that "he is targeting fellow Blue Dog Democrats" as sponsors. Is it possible that Patrick is so blind that he missed the fact that every single homophobic asshole in the Democratic caucus is a Blue Dog and that the only Democrats to oppose the Hate Crimes bill were all Blue Dogs? Or is he just playing word games to please wealthy donors in the New Hope area? In this case, their fangs were barred towards gay and lesbian families. But these are among the same right-wing Democrats who also target immigrants and whose violent rhetoric encourages hate crimes from deranged people who feel empowered by them. It's bad enough we have Republicans like this; it is unconscionable that there are, in 2009 Democrats this narrow-minded as well. (Funny, many of these are part of the same crew also opposing health care reform, some actually saying they oppose the public option out of fear that immigrants' children may wind uo being treated!)

A headline in yesterday's Oregonian explained why both of the state's Democratic senators, moderate Ron Wyden and progressive Jeff Merkley, voted to get tough on immigration. it's clear that immigration policy-- even for two of the better members of the Senate-- like so much of our government processes, are a gobblygook of ineffective laws and regulations primarily determined by special interests and campaign donations. The Senate should never have been included as part of the government and should have long since been abolished as the anti-democratic throwback it always was meant to be. At least one disgrace to that disgraceful body, Roland Burris, has decided to not run for a full term.

The Beginning Of The End Of Don't Ask Don't Tell?

Since there are plenty of people-- gay and straight-- who feel the government should have nothing to do with the institution of marriage, there are some who just roll their eyes when the topic of same sex marriage comes up. No one, however, rolls their eyes when the subject of gay men and women being drummed out of the military because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." This is something that is immediate and urgent. The stories about capable and patriotic young men and women being kicked out of the service because they feel dishonored to live a lie, should have been ended in the first hour that Barack Obama entered the White House. He's the Commander-in-Chief and even if it takes an act of Congress to change the law, it just takes an order for the White House to change a military enforcement policy.

Yesterday 76 House Democrats, and a Republican representing a very gay district in South Florida, sent Obama a letter asking him for a presidential moratorium on the heinous and destructive policy. Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings took the lead role, and a wide array of congressmembers signed on:

Barney Frank (D-MA), John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Pete Stark (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), José Serrano (D-NY), James Moran (D-VA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), James Clyburn (D-SC), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Melvin Watt (D-NC), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Jane Harman (D-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Donna M. Christensen (D-VI), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Rush Holt (D-NJ), John Larson (D-CT), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), David Wu (D-OR), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Mike Honda (D-CA), James Langevin (D-RI), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Diane Watson (D-CA), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Debbie Wasserman Schulz (D-FL), André Carson (D-IN), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Phil Hare (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Laura Richardson (D-CA), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Jared Polis (D-CO), Mike Quigley (D-IL), and Gregorio Sablan (D-MP).

People in Palm Springs might want to ask why Mary Bono Mack wasn't a signer.

The complete letter:

Dear President Obama:

The United States of America prides itself on having the finest military in the world because of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifices of our brave servicemen and women. And yet, under 10 U.S.C. § 654 (Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces), better known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the talents and contributions of our openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) service members continue to be ignored simply because of who they are. Every day, we lose approximately two service members to this misguided, unjust, and flat-out discriminatory policy. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not only an injustice to them, but a disservice to the U.S. military and our country as a whole.

As you know, Don't Ask, Don't Tell was signed into law in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton as a compromise to allow gay and lesbian service members to serve in the military -- so long as they did not disclose their sexual orientations. Fifteen years later, Don't Ask Don't Tell is instead negatively impacting the lives and livelihoods of these military professionals and depriving our Armed Forces of their honorable service. Since you took office on January 20, 2009, more than 250 gay and lesbian service members have been discharged under this law, which continues to undermine and demoralize the more than 65,000 gay and lesbian Americans currently serving on active duty.

Although we are confident that you will remain true to your campaign promise to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell, our LGBT service members and our country's national security will continue to suffer if initial action is delayed until 2010 or 2011. We urge you to exercise the maximum discretion legally possible in administering Don't Ask, Don't Tell until Congress repeals the law. To this end, we ask that you direct the Armed Services not to initiate any investigation of service personnel to determine their sexual orientation, and that you instruct them to disregard third party accusations that do not allege violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is, we request that you impose that no one is asked and that you ignore, as the law requires, third parties who tell. Under your leadership, Congress must then repeal and replace Don't Ask, Don't Tell with a policy of inclusion and non-discrimination. This bilateral strategy would allow our openly gay and lesbian service members to continue serving our country and demonstrate our nation's lasting commitment to justice and equality for all.

As the United States continues to work towards responsibly ending the War in Iraq and refocus on the threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, our LGBT service members offer invaluable skills that enhance our country's military competence and readiness. Despite the great strain on our military's human resources, the Armed Forces have discharged almost 800 mission-critical troops and at least 59 Arabic and nine Farsi linguists under Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the last five years. This is indefensible. The financial cost alone of implementing Don't Ask, Don't Tell from Fiscal Year 1994-2003 was more than $363.8 million. Our nation's military has always held itself to the highest standards, and we must recruit and retain the greatest number of our best and brightest. To do anything less only hurts our country's military readiness and our service members.

We also want to bring to your attention the most recent examples of the failed Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in action. New York National Guard First Lieutenant Dan Choi and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fehrenbach are two exceptional servicemen who have dedicated their lives to defending our country and protecting the American people. Their bravery and abilities have been tested in combat, and now they face impending discharge under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

First Lieutenant Choi, a current National Guardsman with the 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry in Manhattan, is a West Point graduate, Arabic language specialist, and Iraq War veteran who is under investigation for refusing to lie about his identity.

Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach, Assistant Director of Operations for the 366th Operations Support Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, has honorably served his country for 18 years as an F-15E pilot. He has received nine air medals, including a Medal for Heroism during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was hand-picked to protect the airspace over Washington, D.C. after the Pentagon was attacked on September 11, 2001. Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach, who has flown combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan against the Taliban and al Qaeda, continues to serve while the recommendation for his honorable discharge moves forward to a review board, and eventually to the Secretary of the Air Force. Just two years away from his 20-year retirement, he stands to lose $46,000 a year in retirement and medical benefits for the rest of his life if discharged.

The American people and service members of the Armed Forces overwhelmingly support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. According to a national Gallup poll conducted in May 2009, 69% of Americans, including 58% of Republicans, favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military. Furthermore, a 2006 poll of 545 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan by Zogby International and the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, revealed that 73% are personally comfortable with gay men and lesbian women. John Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Clinton administration, and more than 100 retired admirals and generals support this repeal, in addition to the Human Rights Campaign, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point alumni cofounded by First Lieutenant Choi.

Mr. President, we cannot afford to lose any more of our dedicated and talented service members to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. On behalf of First Lieutenant Choi, Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach, and the more than 12,500 gay and lesbian service members who have been discharged since Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented in 1994, we stand ready to assist you in repealing this dishonorable and debilitating law as soon as possible, and in restoring justice and equality in our Armed Forces.

Please know that we will continue to monitor this situation and are hopeful that, together, we can address this urgent issue soon. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your response.

Sunday Senator Chris Dodd had written an editorial for the Meridien Record-Journal about the evolution of his thinking when it comes to equality for gay people. And yesterday Change.org published 5 powerful quotes from 5 former military leaders about why DADT should be repealed, starting with a very strong statement-- made yesterday-- by Clifford Alexander, who was the former Secretary of the Army under President Jimmy Carter and the first African American to hold the post. "The policy is an absurdity and borderline on being an obscenity. What it does is cause people to ask of themselves that they lie to themselves, that they pretend to be something that they are not. There is no empirical evidence that would indicate that it affects military cohesion. There is a lot of evidence to say that the biases of the past have been layered onto the United States Army."

The other quotes are from 2 current members of Congress, Iraq War Vet Patrick Murphy and Retired United States Navy Vice Admiral Joe Sestak, both from Pennsylvania. The quote they use from Sestak he's actually said to me as well: "We have to correct this. It's just not right. I can remember being out there in command, and someone would come up to you and start to tell you-- and you just want to say, no, I don't want to lose you, you're too good."

Equality, Equality Now-- Isn't That What Differentiates Democrats From Republicans?

Reid needs someone to sponsor the abrogation of Don't Ask Don't Tell? Let's elect Jennifer Brunner in Ohio

In a whiny excuse for inaction, Harry Reid said yesterday there is no sponsor for getting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the Senate. He suggests the White House do it-- or the House. Oh, really? No Kirsten Gillibrand? No Barbara Boxer? No Chuck Schumer? All three are up for re-election-- and the first two can't be re-elected without gay support. Democrats in office have taken gay voters for granted too long.

Today's NY Times castigates the Obama Administration for another Bush-like response over gay rights. Democrats are playing a dangerous game. When gays like someone they stick with them forever-- look at Cher and Lisa Minelli-- and when they turn... it is over.

The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week. It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages and denies same-sex married couples federal benefits. The administration needs a new direction on gay rights.

...In the presidential campaign, President Obama declared that he would work to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Now, the administration appears to be defending it out of a sense of obligation to support a validly enacted Congressional law. There is a strong presumption that the Justice Department will defend federal laws, but it is not an inviolable rule... In a letter to President Obama on Monday, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said, “I cannot overstate the pain that we feel as human beings and as families when we read an argument, presented in federal court, implying that our own marriages have no more constitutional standing than incestuous ones.”

The brief also maintains that the Defense of Marriage Act represents a “cautious policy of federal neutrality”-- an odd assertion since the law clearly discriminates against gay couples. Under the act, same-sex married couples who pay their taxes are ineligible for the sort of federal benefits-- such as Social Security survivors’ payments and joint tax returns-- that heterosexual married couples receive.

President Obama has talked about the fact that when his black father and white mother got married, in half the states in the U.S. that marriage was illegal. Yes, until the Supreme Court threw out all the state's "miscegenation laws" in 1964-- a result of Loving v Virginia (something we've looked at before in relation to the release of Nanci Griffith's new album, The Loving Kind)-- interracial marriage was prohibited in many states. Had the federal government not overturned those archaic, discriminatory laws in 1964, it's unlikely that Obama would be president today.

As John Aravosis pointed out yesterday, gay donors are bailing on a $1,000 a head DNC gay fundraising dinner scheduled for June 25 honoring Joe Biden. Instead of writing $1,000 checks, rich Democrats should be standing outside the Mandarin Oriental with protest signs. Funny that Rahm Emanuel's Frankenstein Supplemental bill-- which contains a little something for everyone, from used car salesmen and parents worried about their children catching the flu to crooked European banksters looking for a bailout-- didn't include a Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal. That would have been the way to pass it.

Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, states unequivocally that she will sponsor the bill when she's elected to the Senate next year. Her record on gay equality bears out her promise.

“’Don’t ask, don’t tell,’ has outlived its usefulness. It may have been a first step to inclusiveness in the military, but it has proved to be another ‘separate but equal’ concept that is used to exclude those who understand that forced silence is demeaning and unacceptable. It’s time to allow people to be free to speak of who they are, to respect them and allow them to be fully a part of the community that will move us forward through the coming social and economic change.”

Forget that $1,000 check for the DNC and donate to Jennifer Brunner's campaign instead.



UPDATE: Reid Says "Oops"

He say he meant that... whatever he didn't say yesterday. I tried getting answers out of senators who are up for re-election in 2010 and who get substantial support from gay people. They all said teh same thing: "No comment." Bright side of the coin: this'll be the first time ever that I don't have to write a check to Barbara Boxer. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign did the right thing and pulled out of the Biden DNC dinner; others followed.

I spoke with Barney Frank's office and was told that Barney isn't concerned because he was completely confident that there would be a Senate sponsor but that right now Congress is concentrating on passing ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). I wish I was as confident as he appears to be. I don't think this has been publicly announced anywhere but Barney rounded up 7 co-sponors, besides himself: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Mike Castle (R-DE) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). I wonder if he asked any of the homophobic GOP closet cases like Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Aaron Schock (R-IL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) or Adrian Smith (R-NE) to co-sponsor. I forgot to ask. ENDA hearing in July.


Better Than Nothing

Can we recall that LGBT military exclusion is a national security issue, not just a "gay" one?

by Ken

I'm encountering a lot of understandable and welcome anger among LGBT colleagues, and increasingly in the mainstream media as well, regarding the Obama administration's apparent write-off of any attempt this year at undoing the military's dreadful "don't ask, don't tell" policy of excluding healthy, qualified LGBT candidates from U.S. military service. One pair of points we keep hearing is:

* the role played by the issue's relative importance to the LGBT community (i.e., "Just how much do they care?"),

* and the role played by the importance of the LGBT community to the Obama administration (i.e., "How much do we care how much they care?").

The theory is that the Obama people aren't persuaded that the issue is important enough to LGBT folk, and that the urgencies of LGBT folk aren't important enough to them, to cause the administration to assign the issue immediate priority.

The point I'm not hearing, and it's one point that needs to be made clear in the DADT fight, is that this is at least as much "a national security issue" as it is "an LGBT issue." I've been grappling of some way of communicating this (not that anything I write here will make a difference). While I continue to try to puzzle it out, here is the basic argument:

Even if the Bush regime hadn't done so much to decimate the U.S. military, it strikes me as literally insane to be depriving our fighting forces of the contributions of this entire category of able-bodied and -minded folk who want to serve their country. But when you factor in the state to which our military was reduced by eight years of unchecked Cheneyism, pressuring desperate military recruiters to overlook virtually all service disqualifications except the dreaded LGBT one, the policy of exclusion goes beyond insane. ("Beyond insane" -- I think I've finally found my shorthand description of the mentality of the Bush regime.)

When you then factor in specialized areas like linguists and translators, where we are known to be perilously short-handed and the shortage is known to be wildly exacerbated by LGBT exclusion, the case becomes unarguable to me that defenders of the status quo, and in general opponents of welcoming LGBT candidates into our armed forces, really don't care about the nation's security -- or at least not as much as they care about maintaining their personal bigotries.

Cheney Says NO To Moderation But Will Obama Go Along To Get Along-- At Least In Terms Of Equality For Gay People?

The always despicable Dick Cheney was interviewed by North Dakota radio host Scott Hennen yesterday. Cheney urged his political party to stick to an extremist strategy:

Hennen: Some people are wringing their hands saying, "This is an example of why the party needs to change, to hear the message of Specter," that, as Colin Powell said, the Republican Party needs to moderate. Do you think the Republican Party needs to moderate? Is that the message of the Specter defection, or the state of the party these days?

Cheney: No I don't. I think it would be a mistake for us to moderate. This is about fundamental beliefs and values and ideas...what the role of government should be in our society, and our commitment to the Constitution and Constitutional principles. You know, when you add all those things up the idea that we ought to moderate basically means we ought to fundamentally change our philosophy. I for one am not prepared to do that, and I think most us aren't. Most Republicans have a pretty good idea of values, and aren't eager to have someone come along and say, "Well, the only way you can win is if you start to act more like a Democrat." I really think we go through these cycles periodically Scott, and I've been through them before. I remember campaigning across the country with Gerald Ford in 1974 when I was his Chief of Staff. This was the Watergate Election, the first one since Nixon had to resign. It was a train wreck; I mean, we got blown away in every part of the country. In 1976 we lost the presidency. By 1980 Ronald Reagan was president, we'd had a major resurgence in the party and we'd captured control of the Senate, and obviously embarked upon the Reagan Era in American politics. So I think periodically we have to go through one these sessions. It helps clear away some of the underbrush...some of the older folks who've been around a long time (like yours truly) need to move on, and make room for that young talent that's coming along. But I think it's basically healthy.

Most Americans think Cheney should follow his own advice and move on, but he's become-- along with Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Michele Bachmann-- the voice of an America-hating fringe element that is actually driving the Republican Party off a cliff. They're defining themselves by what they oppose and what they obstruct-- even if they don't know themselves what they're opposing and obstructing, like Obama's Supreme Court nominee; they just know that whoever it is, they're against it.

My concern though isn't with the nuts and kooks still knife fighting each other in the ever shrinking Republican pup tent. Back in mainstream America there is some serious business that's being attended to and last night Rachel Maddow highlighted one aspect that hasn't been getting much attention lately: the human tragedy of American military men and women still being drummed out of the service just because they are gay-- one of the awful Clinton legacies, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, something supported by only 33% of Americans.

Obama clearly states he's against it-- as you can see in the letter he wrote this week to Sandy Tsao, a young woman who's being kicked out of the military because she's a lesbian.


Last night Rachel Maddow interviewed Dan Choi, a gay West Point graduate who is also being kicked out of the service for being gay-- not for doing anything gay, but just for being open about the fact that he is gay. It makes as much sense as kicking someone out of the military for being redheaded. You can watch the segment below. It includes an interview with Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired admiral who is also the highest ranking ex-military officer to have ever served in the House and one of the co-sponsors of a bill to get rid of the heinous Don't Ask, Don't Tell legislation.

It's politically inconvenient for Obama to do what he knows-- and says-- is the right thing. Just now. So he sent Rahm over to get the Inside-the-Beltway gay sell-out groups to go along with putting all this inconvenient stuff on the backburner. But when will something like this ever not be inconvenient? I did a reality check with the guy who really understands how these Inside-the-Beltway advocacy group work, Lane Hudson. He told me this morning that they do "appear to have unprecedented access to the White House. While we'd think that meant they were inside fiercely advocating for full civil equality as soon as possible, public comments indicate they are instead taking orders from the White House. That's not how it is supposed to work. If Obama isn't being the 'fierce advocate' he promised and our advocacy organizations aren't being a 'fierce advocate', then then we're dangerously close to squandering this unique, precious, historic moment ripe for major advances towards equality on the Federal level."

Dan Choi, Sandy Tsao and thousands of other gay American men and women serving our country are being treated like trash. It's outrageous that it should go on for even one more minute, just so some unreconstructed right wing hatemongers can feel the satisfaction of waking up in the morning and knowing their sociopathic hatreds and bigotry trumps the president and the American people.

[F]or more than a month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen and most recently national security adviser and former Marine General James Jones have made clear that if repeal is on the agenda, it is pretty far down.

In a Washington Post profile, Jones said that when Obama was under pressure recently to review the ban on gays in the military, Jones went to see him and advised him to avoid taking on another issue. He said Obama agreed.

"Don't ask, don't tell" is a compromise forged during a pitched battle between the military and former President Bill Clinton that consumed the first months of his administration. Since then, at least 12,500 gays and lesbians have been discharged. An estimated 65,000 are believed to be currently serving in the military.

...Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, a public policy think tank at UC Santa Barbara that has studied the issue of gays in the military and was the first to call attention to Choi's case, said Obama could lift the ban now by executive order.

"The president obviously wants to avoid a fight with conservatives in both parties in Congress, but what's tragic about the delay is that he could suspend the discharge process for gay soldiers with the stroke of a pen," he said.

Belkin said military law experts have found that while the law requires the military to discharge service members found to be gay, "nothing requires the military to reach such findings" and Obama could just order the military to stop.

Polls show strong public support for repeal, but some surveys say the majority in the military that supports it is smaller.

These are real men and women with real lives and what's happening to them is happening right now. I appreciate that Obama is letting it leak out that two lesbian judges are on his short list-- despite raging homophobic asshole John Thune's (R-SD) threats-- of Supreme Court nominees. (Looks like someone got Jeff Sessions the official talking points in time for him to step back from his completely uncharacteristic "all men are created equal" messaging of the other day.) And it's still unacceptable for a indefensible policy like Don't Ask Don't Tell to continue ruining the lives of thousands of people. As Eugene Robinson suggested in today's Washington Post, it's time for Obama to stop playing footsie with gay Americans and get off the sidelines and show some leadership... now. We're not talking about a Cheney vision of the world here; this is the Barack Obama presidency.