Cindy McCain is a hater - reverses self on DADT 24 hours after doing video linking the gay ban to gay youth suicide

With all due respect, Cindy McCain is a liar.  The only question is when she lied - today, or yesterday.

Yesterday, Cindy McCain - the wife of US Senator John McCain - released a video in which she criticized the US government "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," policy, and suggested that it gave bullies an incentive to bash gay youth, who then try to kill themselves.

CINDY MCCAIN:

Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future.

They can't serve our country openly.

VARIETY OF SPEAKERS:

What's worse, these laws that legislate discrimination teach bullies that what they're doing is acceptable.

CINDY MCCAIN:

Our government treats the LGBT community like second class citizens, why shouldn't they?

Today, Cindy McCain is suddenly tweeting how pro-DADT she is (clearly, her homophobic husband, who is leading the charge on trying to filibuster the effort to repeal DADT, got to her).  Which means, of course, that by her own words she now thinks she is responsible for gay kids committing suicide.  Here is the two-faced Cindy McCain today:



Did she lie today or lie yesterday?  Either way, she's a liar, and she should be removed from the NOH8 video because, as of right now, Cindy McCain is a hater.  Not to mention, great message she just sent to gay youth.  If someone pressures you, cave and support hate.

I can't believe I defended this woman over the past 24 hours to people who tweeted me, and messaged me on Facebook, and said she was a fraud.  I argued that she had a done a great thing.  And now we see the real Cindy McCain: Hateful two-faced homophobic fraud.

Her lying homophobic face needs to be yanked from that video immediately. Read More...

Gates caves to religious right, orders investigation of DADT Study leak

Let's hope this isn't a lesson about the Pentagon's backbone when it's up against foreign theocrats.

Wednesday night, we learned that the Pentagon DADT study showed "minimal" impact from ending the ban on open service.

The domestic theocrats, who over the past year or so seem to have choreographed a number of very anti-gay leaks from the Pentagon, went apoplectic. Yesterday, the Family Research Council asked for an investigation of that leak about the Pentagon's DADT study:

So Don't Ask, Don't Tell's supporters shouldn't be too happy about the leak.

And Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, isn't. Today he suggested the leak "gravely undermine[s]" the Comprehensive Review Working Group's study and asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate.

Apparently, FRC holds great sway over the Pentagon, because, today, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell announced that there will indeed be an investigation:

“For nearly nine months the Working Group has operated in strict accordance to that mandate. Anonymous sources now risk undermining the integrity of this process.

“The Secretary strongly condemns the unauthorized release of information related to this report and has directed an investigation to establish who communicated with the Washington Post or any other news organization without authorization and in violation of Department policy and his specific instruction.

“The full report will be made public for all to review early next month. Until then, no one at the Pentagon will comment on its contents.”

Earlier today, by press release, HRC demanded that the Pentagon release the DADT study ASAP. Based on this statement, that ain't happening. Not even close.

On the other hand, FRC demands an investigation and it happens, pronto. Shows who has influence, huh?

Who is running this administration anyway? Read More...

CAPs Stachelberg is being too cute by half on DADT

During yesterday's panel discussion on DADT in NYC, hosted by Richard Socarides, the Center for American Progress' Winnie Stachelberg, who says she was a chief architect of the DADT legislation that's languishing in the Senate, attempted some blame shifting.  Many in the gay community are none too happy at the prospect of losing the House of Representatives next month and having next to nothing to show for our two years of Democratic rule in Washington.

Stachelberg claimed last night that part of the blame for us not having DADT repealed already goes to those gay groups who balked at the notion of a DOD study of DADT back at the beginning of 2009.  The following appears to be Stachelberg's flawed analysis:

1. We're waiting for a DOD study of DADT.
2. The study won't be done until December 1, and that's made it difficult to get the DADT compromise passed before the study's completion - some members of Congress wanted to see the study first, and even the White House and DOD said they'd rather have Congress wait to pass legislation until after the study was done, a position which cost us votes.
3. But now, we lost the House, which will make it impossible to get DADT repealed next year.
4. So, had the study been completed earlier, we might have been able to get the legislation passed earlier, with the help of Obama and the DOD.

Yeah, good try.

The study was intended to punt the issue of repealing DADT (which the legislation doesn't do) until after the elections, a time when many thought it would be harder to pass any pro-gay legislation.  Rather than the study being a necessary pre-requisite to passing the legislation, it was likely intended to put off the issue indefinitely.  So moving it up would have only made DOD demand a two year study, again finished post-election.

We are not in the position we are in today - just a hair's breath away from passing the DADT compromise - "because" of the study.  Rather, we don't have DADT repealed yet BECAUSE of the study.  Announcing a study in January of 2009 would likely not have permitted us to repeal DADT earlier.  Rather, it would have indefinitely delayed our entire campaign to get DADT repealed.

The only reason we're so close to being done with this issue now is because so many of us raised unholy hell about the languid pace of the DADT repeal effort.  The suggestion that had our groups agreed to start a study in January of 2009, we'd have already had DADT repealed, is absurd.  The study was meant to derail the repeal effort, not aid it.  Agreeing to it earlier would have been agreeing to effectively kill repeal yet again.

It's amazing how some people insist on continuing to do the administration's dirty work at the expensive of our community.  But to suggest that the only people who stood up for our community are now the ones to blame for the administration's FUBAR effort on DADT, is really too much, coming from an organization that joined HRC in covering the President's behind rather than our community's. Read More...

Supreme Court won't end DADT stay. All eyes back on US Senate.

From SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court has denied the effort by the Log Cabin Republicans to end the stay of the DADT injunction:

The Supreme Court, without noting any dissent, agreed on Friday to leave the military’s “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy in full effect while its constitutionality is under review in a lower court. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy referred the issue to the full Court. Justice Elena Kagan took no part in the order.

As a result of the order, the policy will remain in effect at least through mid-March, unless Congress in the meantime voted to repeal it legislatively — an unlikely prospect, according to most observers. The Ninth Circuit Court is reviewing a federal judge’s decision to strike down the policy and to impose a worldwide ban on its enforcement. The Circuit Court’s briefing schedule, however, will not be completed until late February or early March, and a hearing and decision would come after that.

Here's the reaction from Servicemembers United:

"It is unfortunate that an unconstitutional law that is causing substantial harm to military readiness and to tens of thousands of troops is allowed to remain in effect for even one more day," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and the only named veteran plaintiff in the case. "This just underscores the need to continue to put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow the defense authorization bill to come back up and take its first procedural step before the Senate's Thanksgiving recess. Servicemembers United, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Stonewall Democrats, and the Log Cabin Republicans have all strongly and consistently called on Senator Reid to do just that. It is now time for other organizations, as well as the White House, to publicly do the same."

Next stop, the U.S. Senate. Let's see if Harry Reid delivers on that request.

So, why haven't HRC and CAP joined the call for Reid to start the process on the Defense bill before Thanksgiving? Okay, we know why. They won't challenge Democrats. The reality is that if we don't put pressure on the Majority Leader and the President, the DADT legislation won't happen this year. This is very much of an inside game these days. It really seems like everything else is just for show.

And, when will Obama actually engage in the process, as promised? Read More...

Don't Ask Don't Tell Mythunderstood

I took one look at where this article came from, the title, and inwardly cringed, "They are making fun of a stereotypical gay lisp and arguing in favor of keeping the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy." After diving into the article, I was reminded to be careful not to stereotype. This article may come from a military college in a deep red southern state but it hits every single point for why the policy is unfair, illogical and should be immediately overturned.

DADT was based on personal morality views, not issues with unit cohesion. Repealing DADT is not complicated; it only takes leaders willing to enforce a single, non-discriminating code of conduct.

Ending DADT is not like fully integrating blacks or women into the military; gays are already serving. Most troops are okay with working side by side with gay soldiers. A majority of the public supports the repeal of DADT, so there is no political risk involved.

It is inevitable that the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and law restricting "out" gays from serving will be changed. And yet, very little will change. Gays have always served in the military, only now they won't have to lie to do it.

The author, Patti Mills, references Aaron Belkin's article and the in depth discussion and dismantling of five myths surrounding the policy.

DADT was created to promote unit cohesion and military readiness.

Repealing DADT will be complicated.

The integration of women and African Americans into the military offers useful comparisons.

The troops oppose repealing DADT.

DADT is a losing issue politically.

I'm blown away at how the Obama administration has allowed itself to be painted into a corner on this issue when it would have taken so relatively little on their behalf to advance on this important civil rights issue. Instead, Obama's stubborn intransigence on his precious process, and maybe a deep seated fear he might be perceived as too "soft" (wink... wink...) on gay civil rights issues, has successfully turned this otherwise gift of a publicly popular issue into a political hot potato and no-win situation. Never underestimate the power of active and passive homophobia to cause one to act irrationally to the very point of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

If the Obama administration wants a second term, I suggest they learn how to become less transparent, and predictable in their tired endless pattern of handing conservatives everything they want at the expense of the principles they claimed they stood for. If only Obama had campaigned on the fact everything he claimed he stood for was negotiable, and he was willing to dispose of his principals to make nice with the Republicans and what he considered their equally valid points. It would have made the primary decisions so much easier. This administration has already neutralized and fractured the decades long historic support the Democratic party has enjoyed from the LGBT community.

I would suggest the Obama admin reopen and study the works of Machiavelli, but I fear they already have, and we are the one's who naively believed their insistent overtures and have actually been quite skillfully played. If so, our only recourse is to regroup, lick our wounds and determine to not ever allow our community to be used as a political football again, especially when it comes to those who have sworn to be our allies. If our community has to begin publicly embarrassing our supposed friends, and our sworn enemies, with non-violent civil disobedience that has just started to reemerge from years of restless hibernation then we must not shrink from it. The time has come for us to realize our equal civil rights and nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of that worthy recognition. Don't Ask Don't Tell is just one of the promises Obama made to us, but it would have been the easiest to deliver upon had it been an actual priority for his administration. Read More...

Sarvis smacks leaders of Army and Marines for 'hostile opposition to open service'

The most important line in today's NY Times article about the Pentagon's DADT survey is this:

Over all, however, they said the report showed that a majority of active-duty service members and their families did not care if gay men and lesbians served openly.

That's not a surprising finding for most of us. And, it sure defies the thinking of leadership of the Army and Marines, who have been unabashed about voicing their blatant homophobia. SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis takes a well-deserved smack at them:

Aubrey Sarvis, the executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which represents some of the 13,000 gay men and lesbians discharged from the military since the 17-year-old law took effect, in part blamed the leadership of the Army and the Marines for the opposition to repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” among their rank-and-file.

“While the culture in those two branches may be somewhat different than the other services,” Mr. Sarvis said, “before the surveys were even launched the leadership at the very top within the Marines and Army had biased the survey by expressing their hostile opposition to open service.”

Mr. Sarvis was referring to comments this year by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the chief of staff of the Army, and Gen. James T. Conway, at the time the commandant of the Marine Corps, expressing deep concern about moving rapidly to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Even with the positive results from the Pentagon study, we will still have to deal with the blatant homophobia of Congressional Republicans and the political homophobia of Democrats. Read More...

'Proud to Serve': Timothy Beauchamp

On Wednesday, Tim mentioned that on Veterans Day in NYC, there was an opening reception for Joanne Santangelo's new book, Proud to Serve:

Jo Ann Santangelo puts a face to the members of our community affected by Don't Ask, Don't Tell. She provides a portrait essay and multimedia project of our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender American service members who served their country in silence or were discharged under the current Don t Ask, Don t Tell law.

Her journey took her through a 4 week, 10,167 mile road trip around the United States, putting a face on the statistics of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

One of the service members photographed for the book is our own Tim Beauchamp who was, indeed, Proud to Serve. Here's the photo:

Photo credit: Jo Ann Santangelo/Proud to Serve. Read More...

GetEQUAL: 'We are gearing up for one of our largest DADT actions so far'

Via email from GetEQUAL:

This week, activists across the country are gathering in their local communities to send a message to their Senators that repealing DADT is the right thing to do. When Senators come back to Washington next week, we've got to continue that momentum in a big way.

We are gearing up for one of our largest DADT actions so far. Will you commit to joining us in the last chance to repeal DADT for good?

We're planning a high-impact action in DC next week to ensure that key decision-makers get the message that selling out the LGBT community in order to placate ultra-conservative fears is unacceptable.

Hmmm. GetEQUAL has pulled off some pretty major actions in DC, Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

A high-impact action in DC? Largest DADT action so far? I'm intrigued. Very intrigued. Read More...