Progress in America: DADT goes down

Sit Back In Your Easy Chair: An HRC VP Believes Passage Of ENDA Is On Auto-Pilot
[S]ome gay Activists say the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal will inevitably lead to more successes in their effort to erase the official barriers to complete parity in society. "If you can fight and die for your country, there's absolutely no reason why you can't be granted the full set of rights" that others have, including the ability to marry a same-sex partner, said Fred Sainz, a vice president at the Human Rights Campaign, a Gay Rights group. With the Military's policy repealed, he said,...

What's Next for the Gay Rights Movement?
(Credit: AP / CBS) Just days after Saturday's historic passage of a stand-alone Senate Bill repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," David Brock, founder and CEO of the liberal Watchdog group Media Matters for America, has announced the launch of Equality Matters - a New Media initiative that aims to promote Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, and Transgender equality. The initiative, which Brock describes in a Press Release as a "communications war room for gay equality," comes as Activists start to shift the...

Senate votes to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles — The Senate voted to allow gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the Military, approving a bill that Repeals the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Saturday. The 65-31 vote came after an earlier procedural vote that brought the milestone in Gay Rights to the Senate floor. It also fulfilled a campaign promise by President Obama, who has been under attack from liberals in his own party for seeking compromises with Republicans on economic and tax...

"Don't Ask" Repeal Set - but Next Steps Unclear
Like this Story? Share it: The Senate has voted to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" clearing the way for gay men and women to serve openly in the Military. Whit Johnson has the story behind the Controversial policy. The Senate has voted to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," allowing gays to serve openly in the Military. Whit Johnson explains how this 17-year-old policy is coming to an end. (AP) While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the U.S. mi...

With the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," where will the gay rights movement go?
The New York Times reports on a Media Matters project called Equality Matters. It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who has been deeply critical of President Obama’s record on Gay Rights. A well-known gay Journalist, Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for The Advocate, will leave that magazine in January to edit the new group’s Web site, equalitymatters.org, which is to go online Monday morning. “Yesterday was...

Militarys Ban on Homosexuals Repealed, But Restrictions Remain for the Time Being
Monday, December 20, 2010 A sign outside ABC Television's Times Square studio in New York announces that the U.S. Senate approved the Repeal of the law banning Homosexuals from Military service on Saturday Dec. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg) Washington (AP) - While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemen...

VIRGINIA: Wingnut Lawmaker Seeks To Ban Gays From The National Guard
Virginia state Delegate Bob Marshall says he is crafting a bill that will ban Homosexuals from serving in the state National Guard. Marshall, who is considering running for U.S. Senate in 2012, is one of the House's most conservative members. He said Article 1, Section 8, Clause 16 of the Constitution gives Virginia the authority to uphold the ban by "reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the Militia according to the discipline pre...

For gay rights, is repeal of 'don't ask' military ban the end or the beginning?
For the American Gay Rights movement, this is the big question that follows Saturday's landmark Repeal of the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Is the Senate vote the successful end of one struggle or a turning point for many others? Activists are hoping that the Repeal - which will allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military - gives them significant new leverage. For the first time they can argue that if The Army trusts gay men and women with rifles, why shouldn't soc...

Obama plans to sign repeal of gay ban Wednesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama plans to sign the Repeal of the Military’s ban on Openly Gay service members on Wednesday, four days after the Senate voted to abolish the policy. Obama’s signature would end the Pentagon’s 17-year, “don’t-ask, don’t tell” policy and fulfill a 2008 Presidential Campaign promise. The policy has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve, but only if they were silent about their Sexual Orientation...

romer v. evans, ___ u.s. ___ (1996)
After various Colorado municipalities passed ordinances banning Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation in housing, employment, education, public accommodations, Health and welfare services, and other transactions and activities, Colorado voters adopted by statewide Referendum "Amendment 2" to the State Constitution, which precludes all legislative, executive, or judicial action at any level of state or Local Government designed to protect the status of persons based on their "Homosexual, les...

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone
Dec. 18: Cassandra Melnikow, foreground left, and her sister Victoria Melnikow, right, sit in New York's Times Square as news of the Senate approving the Repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is displayed outside ABC Television's Times Square studios. NEW YORK - Allowing gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as Gay Marriage still lies ahead. The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on op...

At Long Last, Military Honor
More than 14,000 Soldiers lost their jobs and their dignity over the last 17 years because they were gay, but there will be no more Victims of this injustice. The nation’s Military is about to send a message of tolerance and shared purpose to the world — now that political leaders, who voted for legalized Bigotry in the Armed Forces in 1993 and kept it alive since then, have found the strength to stand up and end it. The Senate vote on Saturday afternoon to allow open service by gay...

Next steps for 'don't ask, don't tell'
A vote in the Senate on Saturday cleared the way to abolish the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. But questions remain about how the change will be implemented, and it will be months before gays and Lesbians can serve openly in the Military. What happens next? President Obama is expected to sign the measure this week. The president, secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must then sign a letter certifying that the necessary policy and Regulation changes have bee...

Happy DADT Repeal, America!
I don't know if you've heard, because literally nobody is talking about this everywhere in the country and in every major newspaper, so please allow me to break the news news: The U.S. Senate actually repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell over the weekend! I know! Exciting news for people who are not filled like water balloons with boiling hot hatred! Before the final vote, former presidential nominee and all-around classy guy Sen. John McCain took to the Senate floor to deliver a...

Obama plans to sign repeal of gay ban Wednesday (AP)
WASHINGTON – The White House says President Barack Obama plans to sign the Repeal of the Military's ban on Openly Gay service members on Wednesday, four days after the Senate voted to abolish the policy. Obama's signature would end the Pentagon's 17-year, "don't-ask, don't tell" policy and fulfill a 2008 Presidential Campaign promise. The policy has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve, but only if they were silent about their Sexual Orientation. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would not say ...

'Don't ask, don't tell' repealed: What's next?
President Obama will sign the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Wednesday, according to the White House. The Obama Administration hasn't said how long that process might take, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday he didn't expect the process to be "overly burdensome." As Military leaders prepare for the full integration of gay and Lesbian Troops into their services following the Repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell law," they plan to draw on the detailed conclusions of a P...

In case you didnt hear the good news yet
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which is the American law barring Openly Gay men and women from serving in the Military, was repealed by the Senate this weekend. Once Obama signs the bill, the military will no longer be able to discriminate against gays and Lesbians. It’s ridiculous that it took this long, but good news nonetheless. jill has written 4045 posts for Feministe. Oh right, Bradley Manning. (67) Hospital saves woman's life; is told by Catholic leadership not to...

Obama pushes for arms pact as top Dem upbeat
(12-20) 10:50 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) -- President Barack Obama lobbied senators by phone Monday to back an arms treaty with Russia that he's called a National Security imperative, as a top Senate Democrat conceded "house by house combat" would be needed to win enough GOP votes to prevail. The president is continuing to call senators as he presses for passage of the New START Treaty before Congress adjourns, according to deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton. The White House and Senate Democratic le...

Gay rights in focus before UN vote
UNITED NATIONS - A Culture War has broken out at the United Nations over whether gays should be singled out for the same protections as other Minorities whose lives are threatened. The battle will come to a head on Tuesday when the General Assembly votes to renew its routine condemnation of the unjustified killing of various categories of vulnerable people. It specifies killings for racial, national, ethnic, religious or linguistic reasons and includes Refugees, indigenous people and other...

Gay rights in focus before UN vote
A Culture War has broken out at the United Nations over whether gays should be singled out for the same protections as other Minorities whose lives are threatened. The battle will come to a head on Tuesday when the General Assembly votes to renew its routine condemnation of the unjustified killing of various categories of vulnerable people. It specifies killings for racial, national, ethnic, religious or linguistic reasons and includes Refugees, indigenous people and other groups. But the resolu...

4 Winners From 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
The Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" allowing gays to serve openly in the Military is a landmark Legislation - a historic Civil Rights bill that will be remembered in the history books for generations to come. But the political implications of its passage are also very significant, for both the White House and several leading senators whose fortunes changed overnight. Here are the four big political winners in the wake of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal: MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL: Stage Se...

Richard Socarides: Why Equality Matters
The following is a column by Richard Socarides, president of Equality Matters. As we prepare to launch EqualityMatters.org, Congress has just approved a bill repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." This highly significant victory is an important milestone in our effort to secure full equality. No one said it better than our president, who deserves substantial credit for helping to bring about this day: "It is time to close this chapter in our history," President Obama said in a statement. "It is ti...

'Don't Ask' and the base
I wrote over the weekend about the extent to which the passage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a symbol of Obama's keeping the faith not just with gay and Lesbian voters, but with his broader generational base, which sees Gay Rights as a defining Civil Rights issue. I then sat at a Brooklyn traffic light behind a car with Human Rights Campaign's striking "equality" Bumper Sticker pasted over an "Obama '08" sticker (grainy image above). Obama blogger Sam Graham-Fel...

DADT Ends
The Senate Repeals Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  John McCain is fuming but Barry Goldwater would have applauded: At 85, after a life in politics spanning five decades (he retired from the Senate in 1987), Mr. Conservative [aka barry Goldwater] has found himself an unlikely new career: as a Gay Rights Activist. While that's not his sole pursuit - he returned to Capitol Hill yesterday to testify in favor of scenic overflights of the Grand Canyon - in recent years he's champio...

Israel To Allow Second-Parent Adoption
A ruling by a Jerusalem court has cleared the way for Israeli Gay Couples to adopt each others' Children. “This is a big step for the gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community in Israel,” commented lawyer Irit Rosenblum, Executive Director of New Family, an organization that champions the rights of Israelis to marry and build families outside the traditional system. “However, there is still a long road to the desired recognition, since each issue pertaining to Gay Rights is decide