Manchester, England Pride 2010: I Just Wanna Dance

This video makes me proud of my English American heritage. Although, I've visited the U.K. often, I've yet to make it to Manchester. The closest I ever came to visiting was a brief, but torrid affair with one of Manchester's finest English Bobbies in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Don't get me started! On the other hand, don't stop me!



The conservatives of America who have made claims in the past, "'They' hate us for our freedoms," have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to providing LGBT American citizens the same human rights, protections and freedoms afforded by so many other western nations. Read More...

Charlie Crist supports constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Yes, Charlie Crist.

Today, on CNN, the independent candidate for Senate in Florida, Charlie Crist, maintained his support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Here's the transcript:

HENRY: Another big issue, same-sex marriage. Many conservatives like Marco Rubio support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. But this week, the former Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman came out and said he's gay and he called on conservatives to kind of move to the political center and be more tolerant on this issue. You have previously said in your gubernatorial campaign, you supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Now that you're trying to occupy the political center, are you still in favor of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage?

CRIST: I feel the same way, yes, because I feel that marriage is a sacred institution, if you will. But I do believe in tolerance. I'm a live and let live kind of guy, and while I feel that way about marriage, I think if partners want to have the opportunity to live together, I don't have a problem with that.

And I think that's where most of America is. So I think that you know, you have to speak from the heart about these issues. They are very personal. They have a significant impact on an awful lot of people and the less the government is telling people what to do, the better off we're all going to be. But when it comes to marriage, I think it is a sacred institution. I believe it is between a man and woman, but partners living together, I don't have a problem with.

HENRY: But governor, doesn't it sounds like you having it both ways by saying live and let live, but I also support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. If it's live and let live, why would you ban same-sex marriage?

CRIST: Well, everything is in a matter of degree, Ed, and when it becomes to the institution of marriage, I believe that it is between a man and a woman, it's just how I feel.

Where to begin?

How about here, here, here and here. And, there's also our post on Mike Signorile's recent post at Huffington pointing out the "outrageous hypocrisy" of corporate media when it comes to naming who is gay:

Yet, there are many "open secrets" about gay politicians, many of whom are conservative and anti-gay. But, for some reason, that's off-limits:

But the outrageous hypocrisy here on the part of the corporate media -- and one that shows how they are manipulated by the right -- is the fact that, even with proof and evidence, news organizations refuse to report on the secretly gay sexual orientation of conservative, anti-gay politicians and public figures when the argument for their exposure is made from the left. When Kirby Dick's much-discussed documentary Outrage hit theaters in 2009, and later premiered on HBO (for which the film has now been nominated for an Emmy), many media organizations wouldn't report on the conservative Republican politicians who were claimed to be gay in the film, like Florida Governor Charlie Crist or California Congressman David Dreier, though there was a plethora of sources and witnesses in the film -- far beyond just "open secret" reporting.

I think Charlie Crist should be the new poster boy for the sacred institution of marriage between a man and a woman. Read More...

NYT: Obama let Gates 'set a slow pace in overturning' DADT

You may recall that on April 30, 2010, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent a "strongly worded" letter to Capitol Hill making it clear that he did not want legislative action on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year. That confirmed what SLDN had been hearing via "multiple reports" from Capitol Hill: Obama administration officials had been urging Congress not to vote on DADT this year.

It was Obama who repeatedly promised to end DADT -- and he reaffirmed that commitment in his State of the Union. But, Obama has let Gates set the agenda on DADT:

Mr. Obama has relied on Mr. Gates as his ambassador to the military and deferred to him repeatedly. When Mr. Gates wanted to force out Gen. David D. McKiernan in May 2009 as commander in Afghanistan in favor of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, Mr. Obama signed off. Likewise, cognizant of Bill Clinton’s ill-fated effort to end the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers, Mr. Obama let Mr. Gates set a slow pace in overturning the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, even though it has disappointed gay rights advocates.

Yes, that "slow pace" it has indeed disappointed gay rights advocates. We're going to be even more disappointed -- actually quite angry -- if the compromise DADT repeal language isn't signed into law this year. The looming problem is that the "slow pace" set by Gates may take us into the next Congress. And, if Democrats lose control of the House, there will be no repeal.

Let's hope Jim Messina, who (along with CAP's Winnie Stachelberg) concocted the DADT repeal compromise, has a strategy to make sure the Defense Authorization bill, which contains the DADT repeal language, is signed by the President this year. The GOPers are going to do their part to prevent that from happening. Read More...