Tag Archives: Obama administration

Party Pooper

Press secretary Robert Gibbs says that there will be no new announcements of action on LGBT issues at Monday’s gay cocktail party at the White House.

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Signorile Vs. Barney Frank

Surf over to Michelangelo Signorile’s site and listen to him tangle with Rep. Barney Frank over the way gay activists have reacted to the Obama administration on LGBT rights. Things get quite heated. Signorile: Barney became very unhappy with me and pretty heated when I played Howard Dean’s comments on the DOMA brief, trying to stop me and saying he …

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Gibbs: No Stop Order On DADT

Yesterday White House press secretary said there will be no stop order on DADT because the administration wants a “durable legislative solution.” Americablog points us to tomorrow’s “March On The White House” by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Facebook page here. Like those who drew a line in the sand 40 years ago at the Stonewall Inn in New York …

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Despite Protests, DNC’s LGBT Fundraiser Yields Record $1M

Although protesters outside Washington DC’s Mandarin Oriental shouted, “Shame, shame!” and “Don’t go in!” last night’s DNC fundraiser netted $1M in donations. A long list of LGBT activists had also registered their discontent by simply declining to attend the dinner: activist David Mixner, former Clinton advisor Richard Socarides, millionaire Bruce Bastian, prominent Obama supporter Stampp Corbin, blogger Andy Towle, and …

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HomoQuotable – Jennifer Chrisler

“Malpractice is defined as engaging in professional wrongdoing that will result in harm. As one of those many leaders across the country fighting for equality for LGBT families, failure to accept the President’s invitation to meet with him at the White House this coming Monday would be committing “Movement malpractice.” “For more years than I care to remember we have …

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Feds Working On Trans Protection

The New York Times reports that lawyers for the Obama administration are “quietly” working on workplace guidelines banning discrimination against transgender federal employees. The guidelines will be in an updated federal handbook for managers and supervisors to be distributed and posted online in the next couple of months, and they could also be included in other materials for managers. They …

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NYT On White House Cocktail Party

The NYT’s Caucus blog has weighed in on next week’s White House cocktail party for gay leaders. The party is ostensibly to mark the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, but most are seeing it as an olive branch to LGBT organizations after the DOJ-DOMA flap. As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has …

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HomoQuotable – Michelangelo Signorile

“But now, a cocktail party? No, that’s not business — it’s schmoozing and sucking up, and it’s all about buying off gay leaders by seducing them, very cheaply, so the White House can help get the money coming back in, since the DNC gay fundraiser for next week is collapsing. The response so far has only been about the money …

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2010 Census To Count Gay Couples

As White House press secretary Robert Gibbs hinted on Friday, the 2010 U.S. Census will now include questions about LGBT relationships. US Census Bureau officials have said that the 2010 census will count married gay couples, despite previous statements that they would not be recognised. Steve Jost, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said the organisation was already working on …

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Gibbs On Possible Census Change

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs actually gave an OK answer about the proposed counting of LGBT couples in the 2010 census.

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DOJ To Meet With GLAD, Lambda Legal, Others Over DOMA Challenges

More reaction from the Obama administration. The DOJ has agreed to meet next week with Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and other LGBT orgs to “hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.” Via Greg Sargent: The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next …

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White House Working On Including Gay Relationships In 2010 Census Count

In the second bone tossed to the gay community this week, the White House said yesterday it is looking into including same-sex marriages and partnerships data in the 2010 Census. The administration has directed the Census Bureau to determine changes needed in tabulation software to allow for same-sex marriage data to be released early in 2011 with other detailed demographic …

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Robert Gibbs On The DOMA Brief

ABC’s Jake Tapper asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about the DOMA brief and got a typically Gibbsian response. TAPPER: Does the president stand by the legal brief that the Justice Department filed last week that argued in favor the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act?GIBBS: Well, as you know, that the Justice Department is charged with upholding …

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NGLTF’s Rea Carey On New Fed Benefits

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DNC Fundraiser Turning Into PR Disaster

Yesterday I posted a message from noted activist David Mixner, who says he will not attend next week’s Democratic National Committee $1000/head fundraiser at the DC Mandarin Oriental. Since then, other well-known LGBT folks such as blogger Andy Towle, Empire State Pride Agenda head Alan Van Cappelle, and former Clinton aide Richard Socarides have all announced they will not attend. …

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NYT Slams DOJ-DOMA Brief

The New York Times has published an editorial slamming the DOJ-DOMA brief. If the administration does feel compelled to defend the act, it should do so in a less hurtful way. It could have crafted its legal arguments in general terms, as a simple description of where it believes the law now stands. There was no need to resort to …

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Maddow On DOJ-DOMA Flap

Rachel Maddow hosted Howard Dean to rip into the DOJ-DOMA flap. Dean: “I think this was a big mistake.” Dean doubts “very much the president knew this was coming.”

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Top Obama Gay John Berry: It’s Going To Be A Long Time On LGBT Rights

John Berry, the director of the Office of Personnel Management and the president’s highest ranking openly gay appointee spoke to the Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld after his speech at DC Pride yesterday (which I heard). Berry, who said he was speaking with the authorization of the White House, outlined a four-point list of LGBT rights that the Obama administration hopes to …

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Coalition Of LGBT Groups Join To Condemn DOJ Motion To Dismiss DOMA Challenge

A coalition of LGBT groups have issued a joint statement condemning the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense Of Marriage Act. Via press release: We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in …

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BREAKING: SCOTUS Rejects Challenge To Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

The U.S. Supreme Court has just refused to hear a challenge to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting an Obama administration request to maintain the Clinton-era “don’t ask, don’t tell” directive. The court said it will not hear …

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