Tag Archives: DADT

Women Comprise Bulk Of DADT Victims

Even though only 15-20% of military personnel are female, they comprise almost half of the ejections under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Army and Air Force discharged a disproportionate number of women in 2007 under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military, according to Pentagon statistics gathered by an advocacy group. …

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DADT Setback

The Federal Court of Appeals has issued a setback to the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that the military did not violate the constitutional rights of 12 gay and lesbian servicemembers when it discharged them. The First Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, had been told that …

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Court Challenges DADT

An encouraging first: A US federal court of appeal has reinstated a lawsuit by a decorated Air Force nurse who is suing after she was discharged for being a lesbian. Major Margaret Witt’s case is the first time a court has not automatically backed the US military’s argument that gays hurt morale and operations as a good enough reason for …

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Grey’s Anatomy Shows America How Gay Men Really Kiss

Last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy featured a subplot that saw two handsome active duty military men engaging in a steamy and prolonged hospital bed kiss as the unloved Dr. Grey looked on with tearful envy. The ill soldier was awaiting brain tumor surgery and his boyfriend, who was about to be deployed overseas, had offered to go AWOL to …

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Wingnuts Seek “Online Army” Of Hate

The Center For Military Readiness is seeking an “online army” to fight against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I’d suggest signing their petition with infantile names like Jack Mehoff or Pussy Fandango, but they’ll probably just send Congress the total count.

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Counterproductive To Military Readiness

Calling it “counterproductive to military readiness”, yesterday Ronald Reagan’s former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb pleaded for an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before a joint meeting of the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee and the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee. “First, repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,” Korb told the joint hearing. …

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Obama Says Nothing New To Advocate

UPDATE: One paragraph in the interview is bringing wide media attention. In it, Obama says that he won’t make the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” a “litmus test” for his potential Joint Chiefs of Staff appointees. The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund agrees with Obama’s position. Victory Fund spokesperson Denis Dison says, “In terms of any kind of litmus …

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Gays Face Battles With 2008 Congress

Congress returns from their holiday break over the next week with three major pieces of pro-gay legislation still to be resolved: the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and the bill that ripped apart LGBT and progressive groups – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). With so many issues facing this session of Congress (the …

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Huckabee On Larry King: Takes On AIDS Comment, DADT, Creationism

Huckabee’s comment on AIDS and DADT start about four minutes into the clip. Huckabee agreed to meet Ryan White’s mother last week, but so far she hasn’t heard from him. In the next segment of the show, Huckabee shillster Chuck Norris chimes in. (Via – HRC Back Story.)

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PhoboQuotable – Matt Barber

“The military is no place for such radical San Francisco-style social experimentation, especially during a time of war. It’s been the Department of Defense’s long-standing position that to allow open homosexual behavior and other immoral conduct harms unit cohesion and troop morale. I know this to be true from personal experience. I served 12 years in the military. During basic …

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Gen. Kerr On The O’Reilly Factor

Openly gay former Brigadier General Keith Kerr appeared on the O’Reilly Factor last night to deny allegations that he was planted in the audience at CNN’s YouTube debate among Republican candidates. Watch until the end of the clip. Does O’Reilly actually admit that he might be wrong on DADT? ::THUD::

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Gay General Rips GOP Candidates
During YouTube Debate

Openly gay Brigadier General Keith Kerr, who works with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, provided the one interesting moment during last night’s CNN-YouTube debate of the GOP candidates. Watch Mitt Romney retreat from his former support for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and get booed in the process. After the debate, conservative blogs and forums lit up with …

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HomoQuotable – Stephen Benjamin

“Mark Twain wrote in one of his journals that, ‘In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.’ Gays and lesbians who serve under the Ban are those patriots. The personal cost can be …

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Gen. Pace: Gays Are Counter To God’s Law

His retirement mere days away, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, felt emboldened to make a final parting shot at the gays during a defense appropriations hearing after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said he found Pace’s previous comments on gays in the military to be be hurtful and demoralizing. Pace responded, “Are there wonderful Americans who …

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HomoQuotable – Stephen Benjamin

“As the friends I once served with head off to 15-month deployments, I regret I’m not there to lessen their burden and to serve my country. I’m trained to fight, I speak Arabic and I’m willing to serve. No recruiter needs to make a persuasive argument to sign me up. I’m ready, and I’m waiting.” – Arabic translator Stephen Benjamin, …

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Pride’07 Launches

Pride Magazine 2007, the 10th annual issue of the official publication of gay pride nationwide, has shipped to gayborhoods, LGBT organizations, and local pride committees all over the country. Published in partnership with InterPride, the mentoring, networking, and education coalition of gay pride committees worldwide, by this weekend you will find Pride’07 stacked ass-high from Chelsea to Castro. Contact your …

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HomoQuotable – Stephen Benjamin

“I was always discreet, I never considered it would be an issue. I thought if I don’t say anything, they’re not going to ask me. But it was more aggressive than I thought.” – Arabic languages specialist Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Benjamin, who was dismissed from the Navy in another round of DADT-related firings. Benjamin admitted sending his …

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Another Challenge to DADT

Log Cabin Republicans have forced a legal challenge to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, after a California federal judged ruled that their case against the government will proceed on June 18th. A similar suit filed by the Servicemembers’s Legal Defense Network is awaiting a ruling from a Boston federal judge, after the SLDN sued for the reinstatement of 12 soldiers discharged …

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Sanchez Investigated By USMC

I promised that I wouldn’t write about Matt Sanchez anymore, but I’ve gotten 50 or so emails in the last 24 hours, wondering why I haven’t commented on the USMC investigating him for wrongfully soliciting “deployment funds”. From yesterday’s Marine Corps Times: The Corps on Friday was slated to wrap up an investigation into allegations that a corporal in the …

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Alva On CNN

Openly gay Iraq vet Eric Alva appeared on CNN’s Paula Zahn Wednesday night to challenge Gen. Peter Pace on DADT..

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