GOP Senator Vitter apologizes for saying Rachel Maddow used to look like a woman 'a long time ago'

And Vitter knows a lot about women. What with his frequenting prostitutes and hiring staffers who allegedly knife their girlfriends. Read the rest of this post...

Mormons keep lying (for the Lord, of course)

Earlier this week, we noted that the Catholics, with an assist from their homophobic allies in the Mormon Church, were fighting Argentina's marriage law.

But, guess who is now lying about their involvement? The Mormons:

Despite the LDS Church’s claim last week that it had not taken a stand on Argentina’s move to allow gay marriage, a high-ranking church official did join other religious leaders there to plan opposition to the bill.

Carlos Aguero, LDS public-affairs director for Argentina and a former Area Authority Seventy, attended a July 7 meeting with leaders from several conservative Christian churches and traditional family organizations, according to a Buenos Aires newspaper.

Aguero did not respond to phone or e-mail queries Thursday, but LDS spokesman Scott Trotter said Aguero’s participation in the protest planning should not be seen as a church endorsement of the opposition.

Got that? Church leaders were part of the coalition to fight the marriage legislation, but that doesn't mean anything. It gets better:

“The [LDS] Church has made its support of traditional marriage clear but it does not involve itself institutionally in every same-sex election contest,” Trotter said. “The church took no official position on the marriage legislation in Argentina and did not organize its members to participate in opposing the legislation.”

Okay, so this is what the Mormons mean when they say "no official position":

Instead, Mormon leaders in Argentina on Sunday read a letter from the Utah-based church’s governing First Presidency, reiterating its support for traditional marriage, to all congregations in that South American country. The letter did not ask members to contribute time or money to the opposition, as it had in California’s Proposition 8, which opposed gay marriage.

So, a high-ranking official went to anti-gay coalition meeting. And, the President-Prophet sent a letter to be read at all Mormon churches. But, that doesn't count.

There is a tenet of Mormon religion called "lying for the Lord." They lie about gays all the time. In California, they got busted for lying about Prop. 8. And, now, they're lying to cover their homophobic tracks in Argentina. Can't wait to find out who actually funded NOM's efforts in Maine. Read the rest of this post...

Mexico City offers free honeymoon to first legally married gay couple in Latin America

Maybe some day underdeveloped countries like the United States will catch up with developed countries like Argentina.

We love it! The first city and the first country in Latin America to vote in favor of marriage equality are teaming up. Mexico City's tourist board is showing their solidarity with the Argentinean Parliament's decision to legalize sam-sex marriage by offering the first couple to get married in Argentina a free honeymoon to Mexico City.

Read the rest of this post...

More on including gay families in the immigration bill

It should have been a given that we'd be included in the bill. After all, we do have a Democratic congress and a Democratic White House. We shouldn't be having to fight this hard to get our fixes included in major Democratic legislation. (Note that the health care reform bill, for example, did not include a fix for gay families.) So this is a much needed, and welcome, development. Read the rest of this post...

Katrina Swett (Bigot-NH)

I have no use for Democrats who continue to endorse bigotry. It's 2010. If Argentina can endorse gay marriage - hell, if New Hampshire can - then a candidate for the US House from New Hampshire, a Democrat no less, can as well. The Democratic party needs to wake up and embrace our full and equal civil rights, or the GayTM is going to dry up.

This is reprehensible of Katrina Swett. All the more reason to support her Democratic opponent in the primary, Ann McLane Kuster. From Blue Hampshire:

I am honest to goodness completely surprised by this. From a caption of an editorial write-up on Katrina Swett from the Telegraph:

Social Issues: Supports abortion rights. Favors civil unions for gay and lesbian couples but not in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

Not exactly the kind of news I wanted to read on the day Argentina led the way, and NOM's protest was a dud.

UPDATE: Just found out that the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition endorsed Kuster today. Via press release from the Kuster campaign:

Pointing to Kuster’s crystal-clear support for equality for all citizens, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition’s board of directors voted unanimously last night to endorse Ann McLane Kuster in her race for New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Ann McLane Kuster's uncompromising support for marriage equality and her commitment to working families of all kinds made this an easy decision," said Mo Baxley, Executive of Director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry. "Annie is exactly the kind of leader we need in Washington"

The New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition includes tens of thousands of active supporters in New Hampshire.

"I was proud to be a vocal supporter for passing marriage equality here in New Hampshire and I'll continue to support marriage equality in Washington," said Ann McLane Kuster. "We should have less government interference in our personal lives, at both the state and federal levels."

Read the rest of this post...

Gay ex-officers set to testify against DADT

One of the witnesses in the Log Cabin lawsuit against DADT is Mike Almy:

The officers are expected to testify Friday in the case, which has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of defending a policy the president is pushing Congress to repeal.

More than 13,500 service members have been fired under "don't ask, don't tell" since 1994.

Mike Almy was dismissed after a routine computer search turned up personal e-mails he wrote while deployed in Iraq. After the e-mails were given to his commander, he was handed discharge papers marked "homosexual admission" as the reason

The Obama Administration wouldn't be in this "awkward position" if Obama had used his power to issue a stop loss order and stop the hemorrhage of gay troops while publicly and actively fighting for the legislation to integrate the military. They chose what they thought was the more politically feasible goal of slow walking change, but it was a miscalculation they should regret. This is a case of being politically naive by not listening to allies to do the right thing and a chronic refusal to follow through on promises to your base. It is a case of fearing one's enemies and doubling down on their policies instead of pushing change that the American people voted for and invested in by placing them in the White House. It is quite telling the Republicans are now using Log Cabiners to outflank Obama on this issue.

Major Mike Almy makes a great case of why he should be retained in his letter to President Obama. If Obama fought harder, he could keep talented and patriotic servicemen in his armed forces like Mike Almy and Victor Fehrenbach. Otherwise, it will be just another loss of men and talent we cannot afford to lose. It is not too late, yet, for the Obama Administration to prevent a cheap victory by allowing Republican Log Cabiners to score to the left of him on his intransigence. Time is ticking... No one should still have to remind the Obama Administration it isn't 1993. Read the rest of this post...

NOM creates a conspiracy theory, calls for Federal Marriage Amendment

The National Organization for Marriage kicked off their "Summer of Marriage" tour in Maine on Thursday. In an email announcing their first "successful" rally (an estimated 50 showed up) in Augusta, Maine, they also accused the Obama administration of sabotaging the DOMA case in Massachusetts.

This is not just a bad ruling from a judge; it is a sign of the deceit and collusion of Pres. Obama’s Justice Department in sabotaging the defense of DOMA. This was a sham trial, between two parties who both wanted the government to lose this case.

It's quite the conspiracy theory, and one that they use to renew the call for the 2006 Federal Marriage Amendment. I only reprint this bizarre theory to make the point that no matter what decision the Department of Justice makes on the question of appealing the Massachusetts case (or any other DOMA challenge), they're not really going to win a lot of votes from those who passionately support DOMA. Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown aren't going to switch parties because the Administration defended DOMA. And most everyone else won't be casting their vote based on this decision. To me, this shows what will happen if an effort is made to avoid the outrage of groups like NOM--they'll generate some other version of the story to manufacture outrage.

I have more up on this at Leave It To Seaver. Read the rest of this post...

Lt. Col. Fehrenbach still waiting news on DADT discharge, a year after Obama told him 'we're going to get this done'

Any day now, Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach expects to learn whether he's being discharged from the military under the DADT policy. Last night, on the Rachel Maddow show, the fighter pilot, a nineteen-year veteran, said that the decision in his case is now on the desk of the Secretary of the Air Force. But, it might as well be on Obama's desk. If Fehrenbach does get discharged after 19 years, the responsibility rests with the Commander-in-Chief. And, as you'll see below, last year, the President told Fehrenbach of DADT repeal, "We're going to get this done."

Here's the video from last night:

Last year, on June 29, 2009, at the White House LGBT cocktail party, Fehrenbach, facing discharge under DADT, met the President. It was surely one of the most important interactions of that evening. Their conversation was described that night on the Rachel Maddow show:

STEWART: You spoke with President Obama today. What did you tell him?

FEHRENBACH: I did, just after he spoke, I was about the third person to get to him and I introduced myself and told him my situation, and he looked like he knew who I was and what my situation was already. So, I basically told him that I was currently being discharged under “don‘t ask, don‘t tell” and I told him the situation for me was urgent and I needed his help.

STEWART: And were you satisfied with the answer you got from the president? How did he respond? That‘s a very direct question.

FEHRENBACH: It was. He looked me right in the eye and he said, “We‘re going to get this done.” And then he continued to say, you know, everyone seems to be onboard. We‘ve got about 75 percent of the public that supports this. He said, but we have a generational issue. And so, there is some convincing to do, that there is a generational gap it seems and some of the senior leadership.

Well, as we know, they haven't gotten it done yet -- and Fehrenbach is still facing discharge. It could happen any day. Read the rest of this post...