Gay Iraq war vet has a few choice words for the Joint Chiefs

Rob Smith writing over at Huff Post:

Last night, I sat incredulous as I watched the joint chiefs of the military sit absolutely stone-faced and grim as President Obama reiterated his commitment to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell, their hands kept firmly and defiantly in their laps as most around them applauded.

I'm a gay Iraq war veteran, and I believe President Obama has been the greatest ally to LGBT people and gay veterans that we've ever had in a President. The risks he takes by simply including us in his plans to move forward with America continue to be vastly underestimated by most people, though I believe he will do much more, as evidenced by his words last night. To those supposed leaders of the United States military who watched our president with absolute revulsion as he announced his steps to end this, to those men whose faces brought back the memories of every time I was called a "faggot" while I served and forced to keep any affirmative response bottled up, thus "out" myself and lose all that I had risked everything for, I have this to say: gay veterans aren't worthless. I'm not worthless. The blood I shed was the same as every other soldier's, the tears I cried were the same, the bullets that I dodged the same; the life that I risked is the same. I'm not worthless or perverted or sick, and neither is any other gay person in this world, veteran or not. I was a gay soldier.

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Eugene Robinson: Someone at White House said 'probably not this year' for DADT repeal

I tweeted this a few minutes ago:

On Hardball, Eugene Robinson said he heard this morning from somebody in WH that #DADT repeal probably wouldn't be this year.

Robinson and NBC White House Correspondent Savannah Guthrie were talking about the President's commitment to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell with Chris Matthews. As to whether or not it's really going to happen, Guthrie said: "The proof will be in the pudding. Is this something they try to move forward with with all deliberate speed. Are they going to slow walk it? So, I think in the coming days and weeks we'll know how serious they are about it." That's exactly right. We'll know soon.

Then, Robinson added, "What I heard this morning from somebody at the White House was probably not this year. But, maybe we would be hearing from military brass at some point."

Thanks to Taylor Marsh for the heads up.

NOTE FROM JOHN: So someone in the White House tried to back away from the President's promise 12 hours after it was made. The President said this year. It was in this year's State of the Union, which isn't about things we're doing next year. This is very disturbing, and really not helpful. Read More...

DADT hearings are next week with Gates and Mullen as witnesses

Following up on John's post below, things are happening quickly on the repeal of DADT. The Senate Armed Services will hold a hearing on the issue next Tuesday, February 2nd:

A senior defense official says to expect Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen provide more details about the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during the Senate Budget hearings next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Another official said the current idea is to have the Senate Armed Services hearing on the budget for a few hours and then switch to Don't Ask Don't Tell for the last hour or so.

And, that's exactly what is going to happen according to the Senate Armed Services Committee website. Earlier this week, the Committee's website piqued my interest when there was no DADT hearing scheduled, despite a promise by Chairman Carl Levin to hold a hearing by the end of January. This is a very good signal. Here are the details:

9:00 a.m.* – 12:00 p.m.:

To receive testimony in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2011, the Future Years Defense Program, the 2011 Quadrennial Defense Review, and the 2011 Missile Defense Review.

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.:

To receive testimony relating to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.*


Witnesses During Both Portions of the Hearing:


Honorable Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense

Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

* Notice is amended to show a change in the start time and to show an additional subject matter to be discussed between 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

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Pentagon to announce some DADT repeal details next week

Good. Though the end of this graf from Ambinder concerns me. Not sure if it's just his rhetoric, or whether someone gave it to him. More on that in a sec:

Before President Obama announced last night that he would work with Congress and the Pentagon to end the military's ban on service by gays and lesbians, the White House consulted Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to sign off on the language he planned to use, administration officials said. They did. "The Pentagon is with us," the official said. And Geoff Morell, Gates's spokesman, e-mails me to say that "The Department leadership is actively working on an implementation plan and will have more to say about it next week." So -- Obama's pledge to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell was more than words -- he's instructed the military to get it done as soon as Congress repeals the law. A Senate hearing is set for February 9.

We need DOD to come up with an implementation plan. But we also need the White House to come up with a "passage of the repeal" plan too, i.e., how we're going to get the votes this year. Hopefully, as Jarrett said last night, we'll hear from the administration in the coming weeks on what their plan is for getting this through Congress this year. Read More...

Get ready for a new breed of LGBT activists trained in direct action

There was a meeting earlier this week at the Highlander Center in Tennessee that's beginning to get some buzz. I got a confirmation that the meeting did take place and a few details.

The location has a lot of symbolism and significance as its the place where civil rights activists including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, John Lewis were trained in activism and non-violent actions.

It sounds like we're going to be hearing a lot more about what transpired from this event over the next few weeks.

A major donor paid to bring together 35-40 activists who are going to begin a campaign of direct action to demand full equality. This is going to start immediately. The meeting was generated out of frustration over the lack of progress on LGBT equality issues.

The group included activists, both insiders and outsiders. People who have worked at organizations that have done direct action were present, as were someone involved in the creation of ActUp.

From I've been told, we'll be seeing the actual work of these activists soon.

Could get interesting. We'll post more as I learn more. Read More...

When I'm the only gay in the village who liked the SOTU, you know Obama has a problem

I'm not known for sycophantic praise of the Obama administration's record on gay rights. But I sincerely thought that the inclusion of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the State of the Union meant something last night. It was significant. At the very least, it was a sign that the President is starting to be concerned about relations with the gay community. And that is something.

A lot of folks were not convinced:

Kevin Nix, communications director at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said the group wants Obama to repeal the policy the same way Clinton introduced it in 1993 - through the defense authorization bill.

"We very much need a sense of urgency to get this done in 2010," said Nix, whose group estimates more that 13,500 gays and lesbians have been dismissed since 1994. "What is also needed is more attention and leadership to win repeal."

Richard Socarides, a Clinton adviser who has been a vocal critic of how Obama has handled gay constituents, was less reserved.

"In 1999, Bill Clinton became the first president ever to talk about gay rights in a State of the Union address. Eleven years later, not much has changed," Socarides said. Talking again about ending the policy "without a moratorium on the witch hunts and expulsions and without even a plan for future action, just won't cut it," he said.

"Look, we are not second-class citizens and our rights are not second-term problems," he said.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said Obama should have announced a suspension of dismissals.

"The time for broad statements is over. The time to get down to business is overdue. We wish we had heard him speak of concrete steps tonight," Carey said.

I don't disagree with any of them.

Now, does mentioning DADT in the SOTU mean we roll over and stop advocating for the repeal of DADT and DOMA, and the passage of ENDA? No. Does it mean that we now believe the administration is going to do the right thing and follow through on all of these promises soon, if ever? No. It means that we witnessed a step in the right direction last night on the most important promises President Obama made to our community. And that's a good thing.

Now, those who are still concerned, I get it, and I join you. We've heard good speeches before. And all the good speeches don't make up for the fact that the administration continues to kick out two gay service members a day, that they're doing nothing to fulfill their promise to overturn DOMA, and it's not clear what if anything they're doing to pass ENDA. Not to mention, they're still defending DOMA and DADT in the courts, when they don't have to. There's still a lot of bad going on, and one speech is not enough to make up for lots of bad acts.

But, this is a step in the right direction, and it signals we got their attention.

Where to go from here? First up, keep an eye on next week when the administration submits its budget to Congress. If DADT repeal isn't included, that's a sure sign of trouble. Read More...

But they already do

The religious right bigots at the Family Research Council are back to freaking out over DADT again:

Forcing soldiers to cohabit with people who view them as sexual objects would inevitably lead to increased sexual tension, sexual harassment, and even sexual assault. America's military exists to fight and win wars --not to engage in radical social engineering.

Forcing gays and straight to cohabit in the military? They already are, and have been since the beginning of time. The DADT policy doesn't kick you out for being gay - there are lots of gays in the military, and the policy says that's fine - DADT says you can't TELL anyone you're gay. So the issue isn't sharing bunks, showers, bathrooms or anything else with people who are gay. They already are. Why the media lets the bigots get away with these most basic of lies... Read More...

Obama to lay out plan to repeal DADT in next few weeks, senior adviser says

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett clarified last night that President Obama will start a process "right away" to get DADT repealed this year, and in fact he'll present a plan to the public in the days and weeks - but not months - ahead:

Maddow asked Jarrett, a close Obama confidante, when DADT would be repealed and what the president would specifically do in order to get it repealed.

“Well, I think he was very clear this evening that he intends to do it,” said Jarrett. “He has said it in the campaign, he said it very clearly throughout the year, and he’s going to begin a process, starting right away, to move forward with that. And in the days and weeks ahead he will outline for that, for you, and for the general public, specifically how he’ll do that,” she said.

That's one hell of a detailed commitment. I think we all look forward to hearing the White House's plan, in the next few weeks, for how they're going to get Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed this year. And we're all willing and eager to work with them.

A great first step, to show the President is serious about his promise, is to include the DADT repeal in the FY 2011 budget that the President will submit to Congress next week. As Rep. Patrick Murphy noted, the gay ban has cost $1.3 billion to date. It has budget implications that need to be addressed next week by the President in his budget submission. The White House needs to show the Joint Chiefs who's boss.

The DADT mention starts around 10:50 into the video below:

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Why did the Joint Chiefs diss DADT repeal last night?

Joe Jervis pointed out something important. For any of us, me included, who thought the Joint Chiefs looked all stony last night when Obama mentioned DADT repeal, simply because protocol required it of them, they weren't so stony when Obama mentioned Iran.

It seems the Joint Chiefs are permitted to weigh in publicly during the State of the Union when they like what their Commander in Chief says. And they clearly didn't like what he had to say about making the Armed Forces less discriminatory.

It's a sad day when insubordination is not only tolerated in our uniform military, but instigated at the top. Read More...

McCain says Don't Ask, Don't Tell is 'successful.' SLDN says to McCain 'This is a new age'

Via Ben Smith, here's an excerpt of McCain's statement opposing the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

This successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels. We have the best trained, best equipped, and most professional force in the history of our country, and the men and women in uniform are performing heroically in two wars. At a time when our armed forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.

Wrong again, John McCain.

SLDN offered this response to McCain:

Sen. McCain said tonight that DADT is "successful." It would be a mistake to think this law is working. Nearly a quarter of our troops, according to a Zogby poll, KNOW who is gay and who is not. This is a new age, Senator. Even weekly churchgoers and conservatives want to see the law go. In addition, no law or policy is successful if it hurts military readiness at a time of two wars.

McCain has a warped definition of success.

Doesn't McCain know keeping this policy could have repercussions for his BFF, Lindsey? I guess McCain needs to burnish his anti-gay cred now that Cindy supports marriage equality. Read More...

DADT Repeal Sponsor Rep. Patrick Murphy on Obama's remarks

Rep. Patrick Murphy is the sponsor of H.R. 1283, the legislation to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Murphy has secured 187 cosponsors so far. Here's his statement on the President's speech:

“I’m glad that President Obama is calling for Congress to repeal the wrongful policy known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, as he did repeatedly on his campaign. It is ridiculous that American taxpayers have spent $1.3 billion to kick brave, talented Americans out of the military simply because of their sexual orientation. In the last year, we’ve committed more servicemembers to fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. While we increase our forces to fight terrorism, it makes no sense to kick out fighter pilots, medics, and Arabic linguists at the rate of nearly 2 servicemembers a day. It is time to repeal this ridiculous law that hurts our national security and military readiness.”

It is time. And, since the budget is implicated, Obama should put the repeal in his budget on Monday. Read More...