Rachel Maddow's Special Segment On the DADT Repeal

This video is from a Special MSNBC Rachael Maddow segment about the DADT Repeal. The first few minutes of the video are clips from previous programs that show the process that DADT has gone through over the past two years or so. After those clips are finished, she sits down with a number of service personnel who have been effected by DADT.

The entire video lasts about 15 minutes, but if you missed it the other night on MSNBC, it is well worth watching.

Don't Ask Don't Tell is Back in Effect

Well I hope none of you ran out and re-enlisted in the Military openly stating that you were a lesbian just because you thought the Don't Ask Don't Tell law had been repealed...because guess what, it's back.

Today The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Obama administration’s request for a temporary freeze of the California federal judge’s order telling the military to stop enforcing the DADT (Don't Ask Don't Tell) policy.

Lawyers for the Government wanted to suspend the ruling while appeals were pending, arguing that it would pose a major problem for the military if service members were to reveal their sexual orientation before the issue is fully decided.

So now what? Well the original judge's decision to stop DADT is basically brushed aside, at least for the moment, and lawyers for the gay rights group that brought the case to court have until Monday to file arguments against this suspension. Now we just have to wait and see if after receiving and considered all arguments, the appeals court decides whether or not they will prolong the suspension during the appeal.

And I really do wonder...what happens to all those Gay & Lesbian soldiers that over the past couple of days either openly enlisted, openly re-enlisted or came out while serving?

The House Voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell!"

Just hours ago HRC, the Human Rights Campaign, announced that the House of Representatives voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This historic action follows a vote earlier today for a repeal in the Senate Armed Services Committee and is another step toward ending the ban on "OUT" gays and lesbians in the military.

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese remarked, “Lawmakers today stood on the right side of history. This is a historic step to strengthen our armed forces and to restore honor and integrity to those who serve our country so selflessly.”

The debate will move to the Senate this summer, before being sent to the President for his final approval.

Senate panel has enough votes to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell Law

By The Associated Press

Supporters said Wednesday the Senate Armed Services Committee has enough votes to approve a bill overturning the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

The prediction came after several lawmakers on the panel signaled their support, including Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska who had been considered a holdout.

“In a military which values honesty and integrity, this policy encourages deceit,” Nelson said of the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.

The bill would still face scrutiny by the full Senate, where 60 votes are usually needed to overcome Republican objections.

But an endorsement by the Senate Armed Services Committee, led by Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, was considered a crucial first step by gay rights’ groups.

The measure is more likely to survive because it was being tucked into a broader defense policy bill that typically includes popular provisions like a pay raise for the troops.

The committee planned to vote on Thursday.

“We are increasingly confident about the (bill) and that this could very well be a historic week in the United States Congress,” said Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., who is co-sponsoring the legislation.

Gay rights groups were cautiously optimistic.

“This one will go down to the wire, and it won’t be over until the vote,” said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for Human Rights Campaign.

The legislation was a compromise between the White House and a small group of Democrats – including Levin and Lieberman – who fear that repeal efforts will be doomed if Republicans regain control of one or both houses of Congress after fall elections.

The plan would overturn the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law but still allow the military to decide when and how to implement any changes to accommodate the new policy.

Nelson said this caveat was key to his support because it “removes politics from the process” and ensures repeal is “consistent with military readiness and effectiveness.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he supports repeal but would prefer that Congress wait to vote until he can talk to the troops and chart a path forward. A study ordered by Gates is due on Dec. 1.

Some lawmakers, including Democrats, took a similar stand this week and cast doubt that the measure might pass.

“I see no reason for the political process to pre-empt it,” Sen. Jim Webb, a conservative Democrat from Virginia, said of the military study.

At least one Republican – Sen. Susan Collins of Maine – has said she will support the measure.

The House planned to consider an identical bill on Thursday. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., was expected to introduce the legislation as a floor amendment to the 2011 defense authorization bill.

South Dakota Cops Out Lesbian Seargent

28 year old lesbian Air Force sergeant Jene Newsome was honorably discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and informed the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

After reviewing the incident, The Rapid City Police Department conclude that their officers did nothing wrong by contacting the Air Force. However, Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) have filed a complaint against the South Dakota police department, claiming the officers violated her right to privacy when they informed the military of her sexual orientation. The case also highlights concerns over the ability of third parties to "out" service members, especially as the Pentagon has started reviewing the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law.

Rachael Maddow Talks About the Don't Ask Don't Tell Hearing

My favorite Lesbian Pundit, Rachel Maddow, was at the Senate hearing on “don’t’ ask, don’t tell” this afternoon, and before going back to prepare for her own show, she went on MSNBC to give a first-hand report.

President Obama Signs Hate Crime Bill into Law

On Wednesday President Obama signed a law that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

The expanded federal hate crimes law, hailed by supporters as the first major federal gay rights legislation, was added to a $680 billion defense authorization bill that Obama signed at a packed White House ceremony.

The hate crimes measure was named for Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year.

Shepard's mother, Judy, was among those at the ceremony that also included Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Eric Holder and leading members of Congress and the Pentagon, who were on hand for the appropriations bill signing.

To loud applause, Obama hailed the hate crimes measure in the bill as a step toward change to "help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray."

He cited the work of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and others "to make this day possible."

Later Wednesday, Obama stood with Shepard's parents and relatives of Byrd at a separate White House event honoring passage of the expanded hate crimes law.

Noting reports of 12,000 crimes based on sexual orientation over the past 10 years, Obama called the bill another step in the continuing struggle for protecting human rights.

"Because of the efforts of the folks in this room, particularly those family members standing behind me, the bell rings even louder now," Obama said. When he finished his remarks, he hugged the weeping relatives as the audience applauded.

Several religious groups have expressed concern that a hate crimes law could be used to criminalize conservative speech relating to subjects such as abortion or homosexuality. However, Holder has said that any federal hate-crimes law would be used only to prosecute violent acts based on bias, not to prosecute speech based on controversial racial or religious beliefs.

Former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure, but Obama brought a reversal of that policy to the White House.

When the bill won final congressional approval last week, Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese called the hate crimes measure "our nation's first major piece of civil rights legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

Earlier this month, Obama told the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay rights group, that the nation still needs to make significant changes to ensure equal rights for gays and lesbians.

"Despite the progress we've made, there are still laws to change and hearts to open," he said in an address at the group's annual dinner. "This fight continues now and I'm here with the simple message: I'm here with you in that fight."

Among other things, Obama has called for the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military -- the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He also has urged Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and pass the Domestic Partners Benefit and Obligations Act.

The Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage, for federal purposes, as a legal union between a man and a woman. It allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. The Domestic Partners Benefit and Obligations Act would extend family benefits now available to heterosexual federal employees to gay and lesbian federal workers.

However, some advocates for stronger rights for the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community have complained that Obama's administration is moving too slowly on his legislative promises.

Opponents of the expanded hate crimes bill challenged the need to specify one particular community in federal legislation. They contended that existing federal hate crimes laws were sufficient to protect the rights of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

More than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, or "nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade," Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee in June.


Source: CNN