DADT isn't over: 'A general just approved the separation of an SLDN client serving overseas in the U.S. Air Force'

The coming week is pivotal for the effort to end DADT. And, as a reminder of how dangerous the DADT policy is for gay and lesbian servicemembers, I just received this via email from SLDN:

CONFIRMED TODAY: As the U.S. Senate is poised to take up repeal legislation, service members still cannot come out. A general just approved the separation of an SLDN client serving overseas in the U.S. Air Force. This service member now faces an administrative separation board. If the discharge moves forward, the fate of the service member’s career will ultimately fall to Secretary Michael B. Donley, Dept. of Defense General Counsel Jeh Johnson, and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel Dr. Clifford L. Stanley.” Warning to service members: www.SLDN.org/StillAtRisk

We're running out of time for the Senate to act on the DADT language, which is included in the Defense Authorization bill.

The Obama administration has really screwed up this process. And, they're still discharging gay and lesbian servicemembers. This is beyond appalling. Read More...

New Left Media's Chase Whiteside says 'It Gets Better'

This afternoon, the very talented Chase Whiteside from New Left Media tweeted out the link to his "It Gets Better" video.


And, Chase, I can't do a lay up either. Read More...

Video: McCain claims DADT is working, but still doesn't understand how it works

Remember the video of John McCain having a meltdown when Kerry Eleveld challenged him on DADT. McCain claimed, wrongly, that servicemembers are only discharged if they admit to being gay. Kerry wouldn't let McCain get away with the lie and McCain just kept sputtering away.

As noted in the post below, today, McCain burnished his credentials as one of the nation's leading homophobes, while continuing to lie about how the policy works. Here's the video:

It's worse watching what McCain said, then it is reading his words. Read More...

McCain and Lindsey Graham begin renewed effort to prevent the end of DADT

This week is a big week in the effort to finally end DADT on Tuesday. The Pentagon will release its DADT study and the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings about the report on Thursday and Friday. Two members of that committee, John McCain and his BFF, Lindsey Graham, were on the talk shows this morning trashing the efforts to end DADT. McCain's opposition to ending DADT is based on pure homophobia. Lindsey's support of DADT is probably based on internalized homophobia.

Via Roll Call, here's what McCain said:

“There was no uprising in the military. There were no problems in the military with ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ ... It’s called ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ OK? If you don’t ask them, you don’t ask somebody, and they don’t tell.”

“The fact is, this was a political promise made by an inexperienced president or candidate for presidency of the United States,” he said. “The military is at its highest point in recruitment and retention and professionalism and capability, so to somehow allege that this policy has been damaging the military is simply false.”

McCain is just completely out-of-touch with reality.

But, damned if Lindsey didn't say almost the same thing:

"This is a political promise made by Sen. Obama when he was running for president. There is no groundswell of opposition to ‘don't ask, don't tell’ coming from our military. This is all politics,” Graham said.

So, the GOPers have their anti-repeal talking points down. It's just politics.

We can only wish that Obama was as adamant about keeping the promise to end DADT as McCain and Graham claim.

Graham seems to think Republicans will march in lock-step (like they usually do):

“I don't believe there's anywhere near the votes to repeal ‘don't ask, don't tell’ on the Republican side,” Graham said. “I think we'll be united in the lame duck. And the study I would be looking for is asking military members should it be repealed, not how to implement it once you, as a politician, decide to repeal it. So I think in a lame-duck setting, ‘don't ask, don't tell’ is not going anywhere.”

The need for a new study is BS -- and Lindsey knows it.

Does Susan Collins agree with Lindsey? She's going to be a key player in the effort to pass the Defense bill, which includes the DADT language. If Republicans are, in fact, "united in the lame duck," we're in trouble. Read More...

Lesbian cadet Katherine Miller could not live a lie

Joe previously wrote about lesbian West Point military academy cadet, Katherine Miller, here. There are still a lot of gays and lesbians just waiting for our Commander-in-Chief to allow them the chance to return to active duty and continue their careers. Katherine Miller is one of them:

A lesbian who resigned from West Point in protest of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy now says she may re-apply if the rule is reversed.

This week is critical to that decision:

The Defense Department on Tuesday will release a report that will help shape what Congress decides on "don't ask, don't tell." The study has examined whether lifting the ban can be done without disrupting the armed services and current war efforts and includes a survey of about 400,000 troops.

During his election campaign, President Obama promised gay-rights groups that he would push to repeal the 1993 law by the end of the year. The U.S. House already has signed off on the idea, and the Senate is preparing to debate it in the coming weeks.

So many careers in the balance, and don't forget our nation's security suffers every day from the continuation of the backwards policy. Read More...