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By Michael Dobbs
$19.11
$3.99
$19
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Senate Republicans and a couple of conservative Democrats killed a measure that would have made it possible to end the ban on gays in the military. Because the bill probably won’t be brought up again until after November, and the next Senate is expected to grow more conservative, it could be years before gays are allowed to serve openly.
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Listen up, Senate monsters. Lady Gaga wants you to do something about the persecution of gays in the military.
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U.S. Army / Mike Strasser
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“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled late Thursday, striking down the military’s 17-year-old homophobic compromise that allows gay participation in the armed forces as long as they shut up about their orientation and do not “engage in homosexual acts.”
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AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
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Twitter is abuzz with the news that Judge Vaughn R. Walker has lifted a stay on his historic Prop. 8 ruling, meaning gay couples in California can once again legally marry beginning Aug. 18. Officials are standing by.
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By Eugene Robinson — The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used it Wednesday to flay and shred all the specious arguments—and I mean all of them—that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay and lesbian Americans. Bigotry has suffered a grievous blow.
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Flickr / clementine gallot (CC-BY)
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Federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker on Wednesday found California’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. In his decision, the George H.W. Bush appointee wrote: “Proposition 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation.” (continued)
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Today on the list: the 76 countries where it’s illegal to be gay, a WikiLeaks editor is interrogated at the border, and the tyranny of high heels.
Posted on Aug 4, 2010
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By Amy Goodman — “As we mark the end of America’s combat mission in Iraq,” President Barack Obama said this week, “a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there.” He should have added “unless you’re gay.”
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Flickr / CarbonNYC (CC-BY)
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A U.S. district judge in Massachusetts decided in two separate cases that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act signed into law by Bill Clinton encroaches on the states’ right to regulate marriage and violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
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Flickr / bobster855 (CC-BY)
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Hawaii’s Republican governor has taken a very mainland approach to same-sex partnerships, vetoing a civil union bill that would have protected the rights of gay couples. Way to be laid back, Hawaii.
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Flickr / fumpt (CC-BY)
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Sources tell AP that the Labor Department is about to extend the Family and Medical Leave Act to include same-sex baby-daddies and -mamas. Employers would be required to give up to 12 weeks of leave a year, as they already do for straight couples.
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Flickr / Rob Shenk (CC-BY-SA)
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Democratic Sen. Jim Webb says he won’t vote for the compromise ending the ban on gays in the military until the Pentagon completes its review of the policy, even though the whole point of the compromise is that the ban wouldn’t actually end until the military completes its review. (continued)
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US Army / Mike Strasser
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The White House, congressional leaders, the Pentagon and gay rights activists have hammered out a deal that could finally end the military’s ban on gays serving openly. A vote could come as soon as this week, but the ban would remain until the president and military leaders agreed to lift it. (continued)
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U.S. Navy / Petty Officer 2nd Class Gina K. Wollman
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Servicemembers United, having just won a Freedom of Information Act request, says the military has not been counting National Guard or Reserve veterans who were discharged under the military’s anti-gay policy.
Posted on May 20, 2010
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Flickr / GaijinSeb
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A gay couple in Malawi who made history and controversy when they were wed in a symbolic marriage ceremony in December now face 14 years in prison with hard labor in a country where homosexual acts have been declared illegal.
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AP / Alex Brandon
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On Thursday, Supreme Court hopeful Elena Kagan observed the nominee tradition of making the rounds on Capitol Hill by dropping in on key senators from both sides of the aisle, and it seems she made some key gains—even Scott Brown might vote to confirm her!
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Flickr.com
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Addressing an important rights issue, President Barack Obama has written a memo ordering hospitals in the U.S. to grant to gay and lesbian partners the same visitation privileges already enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.
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U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II
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The Pentagon is expected to announce on Thursday a softening of “don’t ask, don’t tell” rules, as promised, while a full review is under way. Only Congress can overturn the policy, but the military can make limited changes, like reforming the way it handles outings by a third party.
Posted on Mar 24, 2010
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By Ruth Marcus — Gen. Norton A. Schwartz’s claim, echoed by Gen. George Casey, that letting troops serve openly would “perturb” the military is just silly.
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Somehow Joe Lieberman, who just finished demolishing health care reform, is leading the way on another big Democratic plank: The Connecticut senator will sponsor legislation to overturn the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Of course if the Democrats show any interest in his bill, he’s likely to threaten a filibuster.
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Opponents of gay marriage say they want to protect the sanctity of the institution, but what if marriage were limited to people who love each other? The Onion has this satirical take on the marriage brouhaha.
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According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, a massive 75 percent of Americans are all for letting gays serve in the military, although the White House has opted for a slow and steady approach to ending the ban. In other poll news, Americans are miffed at the Democrats, but the president and his party are still outscoring Republicans. (continued)
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By Ruth Marcus — No one would question an African-American judge’s capacity to preside over a race discrimination lawsuit or a female jurist’s handling of a sexual harassment case. Does it matter if the judge hearing the lawsuit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage is gay?
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DoD / MC1 Chad J. McNeeley
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Only Congress can overturn the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but the military may unilaterally make it harder to enforce—or at least hold up its end of the deal by actually not asking. The Pentagon will reportedly stop acting on accusations of homosexuality by third-party snitches and gay-baiters and will disempower anyone but generals and admirals to discharge people. Update
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Original: U.S. Navy / MCC Josh Thompson
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President Obama has taken some heat for not moving more quickly to end discrimination against gays in uniform, as promised during the campaign. According to reports, Obama will use his State of the Union address to call for an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
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Flickr / A Outra Vouz
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“The large print giveth and the small print taketh away”—T. Waits (1990). So goes the news that Portugal has become the sixth European nation to pass a law allowing same-sex marriage, though parliament rejected proposals to let gay couples adopt children.
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Flickr / Esparta
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Mexico City, one of the largest metropolises in the world, is set to become the first city in Latin America to legalize gay marriage. The mega-city and its surrounding suburbs are home to roughly 20 million people, just under one-fifth of Mexico’s population.
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flickr.com / David Ortez
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Thanks to Annise Parker’s victory in a runoff election Saturday, Houston will become the largest U.S. city to have an openly gay mayor. Parker was the target of anti-gay rhetoric but mobilized gay rights groups in her defense.
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Wikimedia Commons/The Boss~Live!
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Gay marriage advocates in New Jersey can count The Boss among their supporters. On Wednesday, Bruce Springsteen posted a statement on his Web site saying that he “couldn’t agree more” with Gov. Jon Corzine’s assessment that the marriage-equality legislation that’s under consideration in the Garden State represents “a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law.”
Posted on Dec 9, 2009
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adamofficial.com
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Janet Jackson escaped unscathed this time, but it seems that the FCC may have gotten on ABC’s case for airing “American Idol” alum Adam Lambert’s public displays of homoeroticism during his American Music Awards performance last month. A law firm associated with the late Rev. Jerry Falwell ... (continued)
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Flickr / CarbonNYC
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The expression “as Maine goes, so goes the nation” has troubling implications if applied to the same-sex marriage movement, although “as goes California” might be a more accurate maxim. On Tuesday, voters in the Pine Tree State overturned a law that would have legalized gay marriage. (continued)
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AP
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By The Rev. Madison Shockley — The marriage equality movement has been severely damaged by the argument that those opposed to same-sex marriage would be forced to perform weddings against their will.
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Flickr / SEIU International
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Hillary Clinton is all the rage with American gays, but their Russian counterparts are disappointed that the secretary of state rubbed elbows with Moscow’s homophobic mayor, who, the AP reports, once said gays “can be described in no other way than as satanic.”
Posted on Oct 14, 2009
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By Amy Goodman — Since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, 13,500 soldiers, sailors and Marines have been discharged from the military.
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Wikimedia Commons / Daniel Nicoletta
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has changed his tune about Harvey Milk Day, signing a bill on Monday to make May 22, Milk’s birthday, a day of official commemoration for the slain San Francisco supervisor and gay rights activist.
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Whatever happened to President Obama’s campaign pledge to revoke the pesky “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that keeps gay and lesbian military members in the closet as they serve their country? Well, it seems the president has a little “too much on his plate” to confront that particular issue at the moment, as Jon Stewart has duly noted.
Posted on Oct 7, 2009
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Flickr/jsmjr
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This may not be one of his easiest speeches to deliver, considering his less than harmonious relationship with the audience, but President Barack Obama is reportedly planning to make some remarks during the Human Rights Campaign’s dinner Saturday in Washington, D.C.
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AP / Dawn Villella
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The largest Lutheran organization in the U.S., the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, voted Friday to bring gay and lesbian clergy members into its fold—provided they are in committed relationships—signaling another seismic shift in the American Protestant scene this year.
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Flicr/iliturgitana
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In the same month that the California Supreme Court voted to uphold a ban on gay marriage, seniors at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles voted Sergio Garcia as their prom queen, proving once again that if you wish to find more open-minded folk, you can always turn to the youth.
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The anti-Proposition 8 protests were one form of gay rights activism taking place recently around Los Angeles, but a related issue was the subject of a rally led by former Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arab linguist who was discharged from the Army National Guard earlier this month for coming out publicly: Choi wanted to remind the visiting president about his pledge to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
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Wikimedia Commons / Daniel Nicoletta
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Friends and admirers of the late San Francisco supervisor and gay rights activist have been rallying to establish an annual commemorative day in his honor, and on Thursday, the California Senate approved a bill that would officially make Milk’s birthday, May 22, Harvey Milk Day in the Golden State.
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gayjourney.com
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Proving once again how awesome Iowa is and how the battle for civil rights continues, Iowa’s Supreme Court has ruled that its ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, making it the third state to legalize gay marriage.
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Marching in Chicago: Resisting Rahm Emanuel’s Neoliberal Savagery
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