Navy Investigates Antigay Sex Videos

TN GOP Candidate Says Gays "Were take care of" When He Served

Ron Kirkland

Ron Kirkland, GOP House Candidate Says Gays "Were Taken Care Of" When He Served in the Military

Tennessee Republican congressional candidate Ron Kirkland recently said that when he served in the military during the Vietnam War, gay service members "were taken care of" in ways that he could not begin to describe.

Kirkland's candid remarks came at a Tea Party forum last week when the GOP hopeful criticized the Obama administration's support for overturning the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Conservative House candidate Randy Smith offered a similar reaction to the measure at the event when he declared he "wouldn't want to share a shower with a homosexual."

Why are these "macho men" are so afraid of gay men seeing their pee pee in the shower?

Another Victim of DADT

As Gay Discharges Continue, Gay Sailor Murdered

While the Democratic Congress, and the "fierce advocate" for gay rights President Obama, fiddle around waiting for the "right time" to repeal the anti-gay "Don't, Ask Don't Tell" military policy, another victim dies. A gay sailor, Navy Seaman August Provost, has been murdered.

Seaman Provost of Houston, Texas, reportedly complained to his family that was he being harassed; his sister told a local newspaper that they’d advised him to tell his supervisor. If Provost revealed his sexuality, however, he could have been discharged from the armed services.

The news comes on the heels of the military’s recommended discharge of gay Arabic translator Daniel Choi, and discontent within the gay community about the Obama Administration’s actions on gay rights. President Obama says he will not stop the military discharges, which have resulted in the expulsion of more than 250 servicemembers since he was inaugurated in January.

A spokesman for a group that provides legal counseling to gays in and out of the military said the federal law that mandates discharging gay servicemembers certainly didn’t help.

“While ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ is in place, anybody in the military who is a homosexual has no place to go to get assistance or counseling,” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Ben Gomez told the San Diego Union Tribune.

Will Obama and the Democrats fulfill their promise to repeal DADT, or continue to play political football with the lives of gay soldiers and the security of the United States?

While Obama can and should be doing more to get DADT repealed, it is up to Congress to repeal the law. People, especially many angry gay activists, seem to believe that the President can repeal a law passed by Congress, he cannot. In 1993, Congress took away President Bill Clinton's ability to issue an executive order to end the anti-gay policy. Obama cannot just issue an executive order to repeal DADT, CONGRESS has to pass a law to repeal it. Civics 101 folks!

Obama may be able to change some things about how the policy is implemented, maybe even hold further discharges pending some investigation or based on national securuity, but he cannot repeal the law that CONGRESS made!

See:
Defense Chief Giving "Don't Ask, Don't Tell " a Closer Look

Legislation Introduced to Overturn DADT

Obama Faces Test on Gay Military Ban

On Monday, buoyed by a stronger Democratic majority in Congress, Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) will introduce legislation to overturn the ban against homosexuals serving openly in the military, a Tauscher aide said.

Also, First LGBT Case to Test Obama Justice Dept.

Let's Hope Obama handles it better than Bill Clinton did!

UPDATE: The Bill to overturn DADT was moved to Tuesday

Author: Military Suppressed Evidence Critical of Gay Ban

Obama Puts off Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

This is not good..
Obama Seeks Assessment on Gays in the Military (No Rush to Repeal DADT)

Why do we need ANOTHER study on how ineffective the DADT policy is, and why gays prevent no threat to national security or military "cohesion"?? This issue has been studied to death.
I know Obama is trying to defer to the military establishment, but we know where that got Bill Clinton.. it got us DADT!

Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) weighs in: Please Mr. President, NO More Studies!

Obama Tells Army Times He Supports Allowing Gays to Serve

In an in depth interview with Army Times, Barack Obama Reiterates his Support for Gays to Serve in the Military:

Obama also spoke of rocking the boat. In what seems certain to be one of his more controversial proposals for the military, Obama said he wants to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

Equity and fairness are part of the reason for lifting the ban on acknowledged homosexuals serving in the military, Obama said, but there are practical reasons, too — like getting “all hands on deck” when the nation needs people in uniform. “If we can’t field enough Arab linguists, we shouldn’t be preventing an Arab linguist from serving his or her country because of what they do in private,” he said, referring to the 2006 discharge of about 60 linguists for violating the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on service by homosexuals.

“I want to make sure that we are doing it in a thoughtful and principled way. But I do believe that at a time when we are short-handed, that everybody who is willing to lay down their lives on behalf of the United States and can do so effectively, can perform critical functions, should have the opportunity to do so.”

Asked how he would deal with opposition from within the Pentagon, Obama smiled and said: “Well, I’m a pretty persuasive guy.” But he acknowledged that pushing such a legal change through Congress would be more challenging. “We have to distinguish whether there are functional barriers to doing this and are people prepared for the political heat.”

Media, Military Kept Soldier in Closet After Death

Media, Military Kept Solider in Closet After Death

WASHINGTON BLADE
The death of a gay soldier in Iraq is drawing renewed attention to how the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — and the mainstream media — help ensure that gays stay in the closet, even in death.

Maj. Alan Rogers, 40, a gay intelligence officer who served on a military transition team that trained Iraqi soldiers, died Jan. 27 in Baghdad from wounds caused by an improvised explosive device that detonated near him while he was conducting a patrol on his Humvee. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on March 14.

For sacrificing his life in the line of duty, the Army posthumously awarded Rogers a Purple Heart and a second Bronze Star.

Rogers, a D.C. resident since about 2004, entered the Army in 1990 and served in the first Persian Gulf War and was on a second tour of duty in Iraq when he died.

Mainstream media coverage of Rogers’ death coincided with the grim milestone of 4,000 U.S. service members killed in Iraq and the five-year anniversary of the invasion. But the media reports about Rogers’ death omitted any mention of his sexual orientation. The Washington Post, National Public Radio and the Gainesville Sun, the local newspaper in his hometown of Hampton, Fla., made no mention of his sexual orientation or his involvement with a group that works to overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Military Opponents of Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy Speak Out

While the Republican presidential candidates continue to support the military's anti-gay policy, military opponents of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" spoke out against the policy Friday, on the 14th anniversary of the failed policy.

GOP Candidates Support Anti-Gay Discrimination

During Wednesdays CNN/You Tube GOP Presidential Debate, all the Republican candidates expressed their support of the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Retired brigadier general Keith Kerr, who served 43 years in the military, asked the question:
"I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians." The audience booed him! All of the GOP candidates reaffirmed their support of the policy which does not allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, though none gave reasonable explanations to justify their position. The right-wingnuts accused Gen. Kerr of being a plant by the Hillary Clinton campaign since he is part of her LGBT steering committee, while the Clinton campaigned denied being behind Kerr's question.
Right-Wingers are so good at changing the subject and diverting attention away from real issues.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign has asked the Democratic candidates what they would do to end the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy.
John Edwards
Chris Dodd
Joe Biden
Barack Obama
and
Hillary Clinton
have all pledged to work to end the anti-gay policy.

Gay Linguists Booted from Army

The U.S. Army has booted nine more gay linguists, including six trained to translate Arabic. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is hurting the "war on terror."