Gareth Thomas - The only openly gay male athlete

Gareth Thomas is the kind of gay professional athlete we've been looking for here in the United States. Our nation is being woefully left behind in so many ways. Remember when we used to be known as a country who produced the bravest pioneers on earth? Read this incredible article.

"I would love to help kids who are going through this, because we're all kids, butt. I want to be the gay role model I never had. The note I got from a guy who gave up rugby years ago because he was gay and has returned to playing it since I came out—that outweighs lifting the biggest trophy as captain of Wales.

"The e-mails and letters and Twitters I get tell me there is so much confusion, so many gay kids who love sports but get pushed away. A lot of the notes are from America. I love the United States, butt ... but why wouldn't the people who run your sports and who sponsor them make a public announcement that they welcome gay people and will support them? Because even if they feel that's bringing too much attention to something that should be a private matter, at this point that's what's needed."

Someday, a gay male athlete in a mainstream U.S. sport will step forward and cross the threshold that lesbian athletes did long ago. And when that day finally dawns, Alf has this crazy idea. He'd love to go to the U.S. and climb onto the highest rooftop with that guy. Not to jump off. To stand tall beside him, to break the link between homosexuality and weakness, and to scream, "I'm gay! He's gay! We're gay!" And see how far the echo carries.

Yes, some day that will happen but not until someone, like Gareth Thomas, comes along and realizes eternal glory can only truly be experienced simply by having the courage and honesty to be unapologetically who you are. Gareth's story brings me back to my post "Homophobia in professional sports hits home" and all the following commentary by our readers to gauge just where we are when it comes to the question of when a male professional athlete might finally come out as gay. After the inspiring true story of Gareth Thomas, we need to have an attitude of hopeful expectation here in the United States. Read More...

HRC says Obama administration is reinforcing 'ridiculous, offensive stereotypes' about gays

The Obama administration yet again has defended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in court. And yet again they're doing it in an incredibly offensive way that attempts to undercut our civil rights movement. Don't forget, the courts are indispensable to any minority community's efforts to gain its civil rights. The fact that the Obama administration keeps opposing our civil rights in court, when they don't have to, risks causing us serious damage.

As Richard Socarides, a lawyer who was formerly a senior adviser to President Clinton on gay issues, recently noted - what happens when these cases finally get to the US Supreme Court? Will President Obama direct his "Justice" Department to continue opposing our civil rights before the Supreme Court? Because if that happens, this White House won't know what hit it.

From HRC's press release:

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today criticized the Justice Department’s continued defense of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, “Don’t Tell” (DADT) law by filing a motion for summary judgment in Witt v. Department of Air Force. In their motion, the Justice Department, after acknowledging in a footnote the president’s opposition to DADT as a policy matter, again vigorously defends the statute, and among its arguments is that Congress was reasonable in barring open service by lesbians and gays over concerns about deployments involving forced intimacy and a lack of privacy. The Justice Department goes on to contend that it needs a uniform rule to apply for DADT discharges, and rather than agreeing with the higher burden imposed by the Ninth Circuit in the Witt case in 2008, argues for a standard that will allow the Defense Department to more easily remove dedicated service members based on their sexual orientation.

“Once again, the Justice Department insists on defending an indefensible statute, and in ways that reinforce ridiculous, offensive stereotypes about LGBT people and demeans the service of the thousands of men and women discharged under DADT,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We agree on one point, though – there must be a uniform standard for the enforcement of DADT: repeal. President Obama must fulfill his promise to the country and work with the Senate to finish the job repealing this arcane and discriminatory law now.”

Now, why does this statement from HRC matter? Because HRC over the past year or so has been as close as you can get to an appendage of the Obama administration. For them to be using words like "ridiculous, offensive stereotypes" about the Obama administration's language on DADT is significant. A lot of gay people will now say "even HRC is pissed" at the administration, and "even HRC says the President is permitting his minions to promote offensive stereotypes about gays." HRC's statement will help even the final holdouts in our community understand that all is not well in Obama-land. Read More...

Expect Senate DADT votes in September

Chris Johnson from the Washington Blade interviewed the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee about the prospects for moving forward with the Defense Authorization bill, which includes the DADT repeal compromise. July is out. It's looking like that Defense bill will hit the floor in September:

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) told the Blade on Thursday he’s expecting the full Senate to take up “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in September after lawmakers return from August recess.

Advocates have been anticipating a vote on the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill — the vehicle to which repeal language is attached — after the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 27 attached the provision to the bill and reported out the legislation to the floor.

Levin has been a driving force behind moving the DADT repeal this year -- even in the face of opposition from the Obama administration.

There are still questions about what opponents of repeal will do to stop the legislation:

In addition to wanting to move forward with the defense legislation, proponents of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal have expressed concern about opponents of the language filibustering the defense legislation as a whole, or stripping out the provision with a substitute amendment or a motion to strike.

Levin said he doesn’t think either a filibuster or an amendment would succeed, but added the odds of a successful amendment passing the Senate may “depend on what the wording is.”

That last line is worrisome. We've been hearing that one possible amendment would add the four service chiefs to the already way too complicated certification language. You'll remember that certification deal, which puts the Secretary of Defense and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs on equal footing with their boss, the President, was concocted by CAP's Winnie Stachelberg. She was very public in claiming credit for the compromise. There's a real concern that an amendment like that could pass in the Senate, especially right before an election. We'll be told that it's innocuous. But, it's not. The real intent is to have different DADT language in the House and Senate bills. So, when it gets to the House and Senate conference, the DADT language can be debated. Three of the "Big Four" in that conference, Ranking Republican on Senate Armed Services John McCain, House Armed Service Chair Ike Skelton and House Ranking Member Bud McKeon, oppose repeal. Only Levin is on our side.

SLDN has called this a potential "killer" amendment. We'll need the help of the White House to kill it. At the LGBT Summit earlier this month, Melody Barnes told me that is something the President wouldn't support. But, she didn't say he'd oppose it. CAP's Winnie Stachelberg better be thinking up a lobbying strategy, too. She crafted the language that's made the bill vulnerable.

We're far from ending DADT. September is going to be another critical month. Read More...

Netroots Nation: Organizing the Equality Movement in the Obama Era

Featuring our good friend, Pam Spaulding, Rick Jacobs from the Courage Campaign and Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry.
Streaming .TV shows by Ustream Read More...

Rachel on Pentagon surveys

Very interesting -- and told the way that only Rachel can. Let's just say, servicemembers weren't too keen on serving with blacks or Jews. Yeah, the Pentagon polled on both. But, Harry Truman was a real leader and truly didn't pay any attention to the polls when he issued Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the military on July 26,1948 -- three months before his election.

And, there are shout outs for the work of our friends at Think Progress (that's you Igor) and Kerry Eleveld.
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Facing possible deportation and death in Iran, activist steps forward for immigration reform

With Arizona about to enact its xenophobic immigration law, the debate around immigration reform has been driven to an extreme. We're not discussing how to reasonably ensure fair, responsible and orderly immigration. Instead we're asking, should we require police to demand proof that you're not here illegally, if your skin is a certain color. Anyone who says it's not, answer the question that Gov. Brewer could not: What does it mean to look illegal?

But amid all this news, there are common sense immigration proposals that would actually help some of the people who are most directly affected. These are people who never chose to be in a situation where they face possible deportation. And for these kids who were brought here by their families and have only known life in this country, there are real impacts. Life and death. Take Mohammad Abdollahi, who is a gay, undocumented, and Iranian. In an article in The Detroit News, Steve Ralls, spokesman for Immigration Equality, explained the danger that Abdollahi would face if deported.

"[Iran] is a notorious homophobic country where lesbians and gays routinely face torture, violence and even execution. It is among the most dangerous countries on the globe for lesbian and gay people."

Watch Abdollahi tell his story, and read his letter to the President.


And, here's his letter:

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Mohammad Abdollahi and I am an undocumented immigrant. Two months ago I made history.

On May 17, according to the New York Times, I become one of the first undocumented students, along with two others, to "have directly risked deportation in an effort to prompt Congress to take up [the DREAM Act]." Risking deportation was no small act for me. Not only did I risk being forcibly removed from United States, the only country I know as my home, to Iran, where I don't know the culture or the language. I also happen to be gay. In Iran, people like me are tortured and executed. I am still at risk of deportation and execution, right now, and I will continue to be at risk until the DREAM Act is passed.

I took this risk because I had no choice. For all of my life, my future has been held hostage by politicians, both Democrat and Republican, who have used me as a political football. My family immigrated to the United States from Iran when I was just three years old. Undocumented immigrants are often told, "get in line!" without knowing that many of us were at one point in this infamous line. My family was "in line" until an immigration attorney miscalculated the processing fee for an H1-B visa by $20 dollars and our application was rejected. The second attorney my family hired to fix the application spent his time bickering with the old attorney instead of informing my parents that they only had 60 days to appeal our rejected application. The deadline came and went and we became undocumented.

I've known I was undocumented for a long time, but I still graduated from high school. While working to pay out-of-state tuition, I was able to earn my Associate's degree in Health and Human Services from Washtenaw College. When I had enough credits, I applied to Eastern Michigan University. I handed a counselor there my transcript and he said, "Mohammad, you are the kind of student we want at this university." He then handed me an acceptance letter. I was in.

I looked at this letter and thought of my mother. With this piece of paper, I could go to my mother and tell her that she didn't have to stay up late crying anymore. She didn't have to blame herself anymore. She hadn't done her children wrong by bringing them to this country. I could tell her it was all worth it. Then, the counselor brought back his supervisor, who told me that they could not accept me because I "needed to be in a line to get in". The counselor then reached over his desk and took my acceptance letter from me.

I left. My future was being held hostage. A short time later, the DREAM Act came up for a vote in the Senate, and 44 other people decided that they too were going to hold my future hostage. Three years later, my future and the futures of over 2 million others are still being held hostage. Two months ago, I risked my life because once again the window to my future is closing. I am in limbo. I cannot contribute to the only country I know as my home. I also cannot return to Iran, where the penalty for homosexuality is capital punishment.

My only hope is for the DREAM Act to pass, but time is running out in this Congress. The DREAM Act has more support in the Senate than any other piece of immigration legislation, but it is being held hostage by Democrats who do not want to vote on it separately from comprehensive immigration reform, and by Republicans who refuse to publicly support legislation they have supported before.

I made history two months ago, and today, along with hundreds of other undocumented youth from across the nation, I will make history again. Hundreds of us are descending on Washington D.C. to ask Congress to stop holding our lives hostage and to pass the DREAM Act now. Please stand with us and ask Congress to pass the DREAM Act, now.

Sincerely,
Mohammad Abdollahi

Via Citizen Orange:

Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.

This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act

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Same-sex couples in Montana sue state for 'failing to provide legal protections'

Via press release from the ACLU of Montana:

Seven committed same-sex couples today filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana for failing to provide legal protections to same-sex couples and their families in violation of the Montana Constitution's rights of privacy, dignity and the pursuit of life's basic necessities and its guarantees of equal protection and due process. The goal of this lawsuit is ensure that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that opposite-sex couples are offered through marriage.

Because there is a constitutional amendment in Montana barring marriage for same-sex couples, the couples in the lawsuit are seeking the protection of state-recognized domestic partnerships, similar to those in place in several other states.

"Mary Anne and I are part of a family unit, bonded by love and mutual respect and a desire to share in a close relationship that benefits not only us, as partners, but our wider family and the entire community," said Jan Donaldson, a Helena nurse, of her 27-year relationship with her partner, pediatric neurologist Mary Anne Guggenheim. "We depend on one another, in all aspects of our life together. We want to be able to do that with grace and dignity and to feel secure that our relationship will be respected. We want our relationship to be recognized for what it clearly is - a loving commitment of responsibility worthy of security and protection by the state."

Montana law automatically grants married opposite-sex couples safeguards upon which they can depend in times of need. But, under Montana law, it is possible for same-sex couples to be barred from visiting their partners in the hospital and to be left out of conversations about emergency medical care. Montana inheritance laws refuse to recognize same-sex couples, and can leave surviving partners with nothing if their partners die without valid wills. Today's lawsuit seeks a mechanism such as the domestic partnership laws adopted by several other states to provide similar protections for committed same-sex couples.

On December 31, 2009, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that patients had a right to doctor-assisted suicide. I've been told by several sources with Montana connections that the case could have an important bearing on the lawsuit filed today. Read More...

Interview with Lt. Dan Choi who learned of his DADT discharge today

Today, Dan Choi learned that he's been discharged from the Army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He'll be on Rachel Maddow tonight, but was gracious enough to do an interview with AMERICAblog this afternoon here in Las Vegas. I talked to him about the news of his discharge and his activism. Also, Dan's statement on his discharge is below:


From Dan:

My Statement on DADT Discharge

This morning I received notification of my honorable discharge from the army under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." After 11 years since beginning my journey at West Point and after 17 months of serving openly as an infantry officer this is both an infuriating and painful announcement.

But my service continues. To all those veterans who have endured similar trials and injustices or prematurely ended their military service because of the unjust policy: our fight has only begun.

The true honor and dignity of service does not come from a piece of paper, a pension or paycheck, a rank or status; only an unflinching commitment to improve the lives of others can determine the nature of one's service. From the first moment we put on our nation's uniform and swore our solemn oath, we committed ourselves to fight for freedom and justice; to defend our constitution and put the needs of others before our own. This is not an oath that I intend to abandon. Doing so at such a time, or remaining silent when our family and community members are fired or punished for who they truly are would be an unequivocal moral dereliction that tarnishes the honor of the uniform and insults the meaning of America.

Lt. Dan Choi

I saw the letter from the Adjutant General of the NY National Guard. It actually states that the discharge is happening because the Board of Officers found that:

1LT Choi did public admit, on more than one occasion, in person and through the media, that he is a homosexual

And, for that, Dan was discharged. That's Don't Ask, Don't Tell in operation.

More from Eve Conant of Newsweek. Read More...

Military surveyed troops about integration in the 1940s, then Truman ignored the study and lifted the ban anyway

Now we know. Yes, they did do a survey of the troops in the 1940s to see how white troops felt about integrating with black troops. The white service members overwhelmingly said "no." Yet later in the decade, Truman ordered the services fully integrated anyway.

So now we have our historical precedent. You survey the troops, then you move ahead with ending the bigoted, discriminatory policy anyway. Any deviation from this historical precedent would be evidence of caving to bigotry. I guess we'll know in December which side of history the President Obama will choose to come down on. Read More...

On the UN's IGLHRC vote: A GOP backlash and some intense lobbying by Amb. Rice

Two really interesting tidbits on the vote to certify IGLHRC at the U.N. from Turtle Bay, the UN blog at Foreign Policy Magazine.

First, how the GOPers caused a backlash:

Earlier this month, Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) rallied behind a campaign headed by Islamic countries, principally Egypt, to block a move to allow the New York-based group to secure accreditation. In a letter to U.N. members, Smith and Franks wrote that "the preservation of the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion require" the gay rights organizations to undergo further questioning of its views.

In previous years, American conservatives like Smith, backed by the White House and the Vatican, exercised enormous influence on social matters at the United Nations. But the letter from Smith and Franks appeared to have backfired, awakening congressional leadership that has grown decidedly more liberal during the past two years.

They created a backlash, which got Democratic members of Congress to write supportive letters. And, look who the GOPers team up with: Egypt and the Vatican, among others. Let's just say, Egypt doesn't have a sterling human rights record. And, the Vatican is enmeshed in the ongoing child rape scandal that continues to spread -- and reaches the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

Then, there was the lobbying of our U.N. Ambassador, Susan Rice, not necessarily to wrangle votes for the resolution, but to get some countries to not vote against it:

Behind the scenes, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan E. Rice and her team quietly informed key governments, including African states, of the importance Obama and his administration placed on this issue. Jessica Stern, a policy advisor for IGLHRC, said the diplomacy was critical in persuading African states that might have voted against the measure to abstain or to not show up.

"There is no question that having high-level U.S. government officials make calls on our behalf made a difference, particularly on the high number of abstentions," Stern said, noting that the Bush administration had supported her group's bid for consultative status but never invested the same level of political capital on it. "There was always going to be controversy around our application. But the support of the U.S. government was incredibly significant to the victory we enjoyed yesterday."

Stern and other gay rights activists maintain that U.S. support for gays at the United Nations comes at a time when the Obama administration is facing criticism on the domestic front for not pressing hard enough for gay rights at home.

The countries that abstained or didn't show up made the difference, because I'm pretty sure some of them wouldn't be on our side. The final vote was 23 - 13. But, 13 countries, including Egypt, abstained from voting and five, including Iraq, didn't vote.

Sounds like Susan Rice's team did more lobbying to secure this win than we've seen from the White House lobbying team on any other LGBT issue. Would that they lobbied Congress like this. Read More...

Livestream of Netroots Panel on marriage

Here's the livestream of our panel at Netroots Nation. It's titled, "Marriage Equality: Building a Movement Online" with panelists Adam Bink from Open Left, No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly, PCCC's Julia Rosen, and Freedom to Marry's Michael Crawford. I'm the moderator.

Livestream ended. It was an excellent discussion. Read More...

Obama deputy campaign manager: Obama doesn't have to defend DOMA in court

Steve Hildebrand, who served as Barack Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager, is at Netroots Nation. Yesterday, he sat down for an interview with Kerry Eleveld. Hildebrand is always interesting. I got a chance to talk to him briefly yesterday. He was the main contact John and I had with the Obama campaign back in 2008. In fact, on the night Obama secured the nomination, Hildebrand sent John a text thanking him for our help.

At the LGBT Netroot Nation Pre-convention meeting, each participant gave their name, their affiliation and had to say three words. Hildebrand's were: Don't hate Obama. (Mine weren't nearly as profound: Fifth Netroots Nation.)

I thought the most interesting part of the interview was Hildebrand's take on the DOMA lawsuits:

Is there anything you’re disappointed with that you’ve communicated to the administration?

I’m very perplexed on the administration’s continued defense of DOMA in the courts. The Justice Department is not required to defend laws passed by Congress -- they have a history of doing it but it’s not a requirement. Their ultimate duty is to defend the Constitution of the United States and if Congress passes a law that is discriminatory and doesn’t pass muster of constitutionality, the Justice Department in my opinion should not defend those laws. In fact, they should find ways to make sure that those laws are stricken down by the courts.

I’d like to see the president and Attorney General Holder announce that they will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act and to agree with the judge’s findings in the Massachusetts’ court case.

The other thing I would say related to DOMA is that holding out hope that Congress will repeal DOMA is a crazy idea – I don’t foresee in my lifetime Congress having the guts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We can’t even get workplace protections passed – how do we expect them to take on religious institutions in this country who hold marriage [as an institution] only allowed between a man and a woman.

Steve is a very smart political strategist. He gets Congress, too. And, I imagine he knows how hard it will be for the Obama administration to enter its reelection campaign while defending DOMA.

They don't have to do it. And, defending DOMA is bad policy and bad politics. Read More...

Thanks for the equalty, Chief Justice Margaret Marshall

The Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is retiring. She made history:

The Massachusetts chief justice who wrote the state’s landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage has announced she’s stepping down.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall said Wednesday she will retire by the end of October to spend more time with her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner retired in 2001 and has Parkinson’s disease.

The 66-year-old Marshall is a native of South Africa.

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LGBT youth continue to stand up and lead

Crossposted at Leave It To Seaver

With the intense coverage in the press of high school proms and the stand that a few brave teens took this year, we have a couple inspiring updates. First we had Constance McMillen, whose Mississippi school canceled prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend and then allowed a decoy prom. Since then, she has been invited to events around the nation, and most importantly, recently won her lawsuit argued by the ACLU.

The other memorable prom story was of Derrick Martin, who asked to bring his boyfriend to prom. After a long delay, the school district allowed him to, at which point he was kicked out of his home by his parents. Yet, despite this, he became an advocate for LGBTQ youth issues and went on to recently start Project LifeVest, partnering with The Trevor Project, Gays And Lesbians United Against Discrimination and Sean's Last Wish.

Martin described Project LifeVest in a recent interview with Waymon Hudson at The Huffington Post (worth a read):

Project LifeVest is an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQ youths in need. If a teen is kicked out for being gay, and has nowhere to turn, we will do whatever we can to help. If someone falls under the scrutiny of the media, like I did when I came out saying I was going to prom, we will be there to direct the media, to be a wall of protection from the stress that comes with media.

We also want to be there for anyone who is injured because of hate or discrimination. We have already worked with a kid whose father, in a fit of rage, stabbed him in the leg with a rusty shovel. We have the connections, and the passion to help those who need it. Discrimination is something that no one should have to endure, especially alone.

There is something truly remarkable about someone who is only a senior in high school and can a) take a stand that results in national media attention despite real personal consequences, and b) turn what would be devastating to most into something that benefits others. You can find out more about Project LifeVest here. Read More...

Blue Jersey and some NJ kids have a message for Brian Brown

Just watch. And, you'll realize that some good is coming from NOM"s hate bus tour. Here's an example of that:
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