US Senate lifts gay soldier ban

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...

Gays See Repeal As A Civil Rights Milestone
NEW YORK (AP) — 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 Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” “It’s one step in a very long process of becoming an Equal Rights citizen,” said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., w...

Repeal of Dont ask, dont tell: A civil rights milestone?
“Even though this is really huge, I look at it as a chink in a very, very long chain,” he added. The ruling drew quick rebuke from foes of lifting the ban who argued that the Military shouldn’t be used to expand the rights of gays and that allowing them to serve openly would hurt troop morale and a unit’s ability fight. Supporters declared the vote a Civil Rights milestone. Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center — a Think Tank on the issue —...

LGBT community celebrates dont ask milestone
Stumble This! 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 Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." "It's one step in a very long process of becoming an equal rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in The Army for seven years, including ...

Gays See Repeal As A Civil Rights Milestone
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-old ban on Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." "It's one step in a very long process of becoming an Equal Rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in The Army for seven years, including three comba...

In historic move, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repealed
After years of debate and intense discussion, the United States Military's policy requiring gay and Lesbian service members to hide their Sexual Orientation is finally brought to an end. A final vote of 65 to 31 in the Senate brought to an end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the long standing policy of mandatory discharge for any service member proven to be gay or lesbian. Speaking to the supporters of the Repeal, President Barack Obama lauded the end of a "policy that denied the service of thousands o...

Gays celebrate repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
(12-18) 16:33 PST New York (AP) -- Word that the world's largest Military power will allow gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the Military brought strong and swift reaction Saturday, with supporters declaring a Civil Rights milestone and detractors insisting it would weaken and divide the Armed Forces. In New York, home to one of the nation's largest gay communities and a Gay Pride parade whose grand marshal this year was an Openly Gay, discharged serviceman, 28-year-old Cassandra Melnikow g...

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone
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 Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "don’t ask, don’t tell." "It’s one step in a very long process of becoming an Equal Rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in The Army for sev...

'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal celebrated in S.F.
A dozen people crowded together around a small television set in the lobby of the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Center at noon Saturday, some of them clutching hands, all of them grinning. One by one, they listened as 96 names were called in a room 2,800 miles away. As ayes were tallied, shouts of "Yes!" could be heard, followed by whoops and hollers. When the final 65-31 Senate vote repealing the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was finally announced, the group...

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...

Gay Pride vs Christian Military Members
From OneNewsNow An end to religious liberty in U.S. Military? In the wake of Saturday’s Senate vote to Repeal the military’s ban against open Homosexual expression in the military, a conservative legal group is warning that the religious liberty of Christian chaplains and Service members may be in jeopardy. By a vote of 65-to 31, the Senate agreed on Saturday to do away with the 17-year old “don’t ask don’t tell” policy on Openly Gay Troops and sent Presiden...

Senate Repeals Dont Ask Dont Tell
WASHINGTON - In a historic vote for Gay Rights, the Senate agreed on Saturday to do away with the Military’s 17-year ban on Openly Gay Troops and sent President Barack Obama Legislation to overturn the Clinton-era policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Obama was expected to sign the bill into law next week, although changes to military policy probably wouldn’t take effect for at least several months. Under the bill, the president and his top military a...

Locals hail vote on gays in military
When Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., spoke on the Senate floor in favor of repealing the ban on Openly Gay service members, she had Margaret Witt in mind. Witt, an Air Force flight nurse from Spokane who was discharged in 2004 for being a Lesbian, recently won a landmark court order for reinstatement. "Major Witt is a true hero, and her commitment to our country should be recognized and honored," Murray said. "But she should never have been put in this position." As Murray told her story, Witt was...

Gay pride banners cause flap in San Francisco
(12-19) 11:30 PST San Francisco, CA (AP) -- The future of rainbow Gay Pride flags that have flown for years along the main stretch of San Francisco's Castro District has come under threat as they bump against another city icon: lampposts with early 20th century origins. A neighborhood association near the heart of the city's gay and Lesbian community contends the flags were illegally hung on the metal lamp posts. City law only allows temporary banners on the posts, which were designated city l...

Marines back 'don't ask' repeal, with reservations
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Pfc. Daniel Carias, a Bronx native who is just weeks from graduating from Marine Corps infantry training at Camp Geiger near here, says he has known plenty of gay men since High School and feels completely comfortable around them. He thinks Congress did the right thing in repealing the ban on gay men and Lesbians serving openly in the Military, a policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But Carias, 18, has one major concern: Gay men, he says, should not be allowed to serve...

Locals React to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal
The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' "I was in tears about it," says Dan Henrick, a gay Veteran who was discharged from the United States Navy over 19 years ago for being gay. At the time, he was struggling with his Sexuality and expressed interest in another servicemember who he thought was gay. "He actually went to the authorities," he says. The "don't ask, don...

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone
NEW YORK (AP) - 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 Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." "It's one step in a very long process of becoming an Equal Rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in The Army for seven years, includi...

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 Milestone
NEW YORK (AP) - One man who was kicked out of The Army under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" says the Senate's vote to abolish the ban on gays serving openly is "really huge." Opponents of lifting the ban argued that the Military shouldn't be used to expand the rights of gays, and that allowing them to serve openly would hurt troop morale. But supporters are calling yesterday's vote a Civil Rights milestone. The director of the Palm Center, a Think Tank on the issue, says the vote "ushers in a new era i...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON—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 implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve,...

Asked and Told
Good news this Sunday morning -- the Senate finally overturned Don't Ask, Don't Tell, meaning it only took 234 years for the United States to begin the process of officially recognizing gays as citizens. In all seriousness it's a great thing, but the amount of time and effort it took to get such an obvious thing done borders on comedy. A former Hill Staffer friend recently told me that basically two things were holding up Don't Ask, Don't Tell. One was that a minority of...

Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation Therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks such as counting, cooking or remembering directions to get home. Many neurologists, several major Insurance Companies and even some medical facilities run by the Pentagon agree that the Therapy can help people whose functioning has been diminis...

Chicago reaction to 'don't ask' vote: 'I was numb'
Chicagoans who have lobbied for years against the U.S. Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law spent Saturday in happy disbelief after the Senate moved a historical step closer toward allowing gays to serve openly in the military. "Everybody is probably like I am, I'm still waiting for it to sink in," said Jim Darby, president of Chicago's chapter of American Veterans For Equal Rights. "You can't believe it's over." In a 65-31 vote, the Senate voted to Repeal the ban. The next step to becoming ...

Dream on
Posted by Paul at 9:07 PM Yesterday, the Senate defeated the DREAM Act. During the build-up to the vote there were, as usual, warnings about the impact defeating this Legislation will have on the Republican Party's ability to win the votes of Hispanics. And, as usual, some of the warnings came from Democrats. For example, Chuck Schumer noted that the Hispanic vote was probably decisive in the re-election of Democratic Candidates for the Senate in Colorado and Nevada. And it could have been deci...

Timeline of Full DADT Repeal Unclear
Politico reports: Even before President Barack Obama scribbles his signature on the Legislation repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” gay Advocacy Groups are pushing the Pentagon to implement Repeal in a matter of weeks. But others — including the chiefs of staff of the services — are asking for more time. Repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” was a priority for Obama even during his Presidential Campaign. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sun