Guido Westerwelle, Germany's newly married gay foreign minister, is an inexperienced "wild card" with an "exuberant personality" that prevents him from being trusted, according to a March 2009 cable that dropped among Wikileaks' treasure trove of 250,000 supposedly private intelligence communications. So that's sort of awkward.
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Tagged: Angela Merkel, Germany, Guido Westerwelle, Hillary Clinton, State Department, wikileaks
Earlier this evening by a vote of 62-51 and with supportive Governor Quinn on the floor, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a civil unions bill. The bill would permit both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to enter into civil unions and receive the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under Illinois law that are granted to spouses.
If the legislation passes the Senate and is enacted into law, couples who enter into a civil union will not receive any rights or benefits under federal law. Illinois does not permit same-sex couples to marry.
Civil Unions are not marriage, but they provide important benefits and are step in the right direction.
HRC congratulates Illinois’ House of Representatives as well as Equality Illinois for their work in ensuring that all couples and all families receive basic rights and protections.
Update: Just as I posted this diary, the news came out that the IL House of Representatives has passed the civil unions law! On the the Senate! Gov. Patrick Quinn has promised to sign the bill into law.
From Equality Illinois:
We did it! The Illinois House of Representatives passed the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act with a vote of 61 to 52!However, the Illinois Senate has yet to vote on the civil union bill and has until Thursday, December 2nd to do so. We are almost there but need your help to make this bill a reality. Please:
1. Call your Senator NOW and tell him/her to pass SB 1716 (If you do not know who your legislator is, you can look him/her up here).
2. Support our aggressive advocacy efforts with a contribution. Not only do we still need to pass the bill through the State Senate, but we will then need to protect the law from attempts to repeal it. We can only succeed with your support. Please donate now.
We are extremely thankful to State Representative Greg Harris, chief sponsor of the bill, for his extraordinary leadership on this issue. Thank you for supporting us and we will keep you posted on the status of this historic bill.
Sincerely,
Bernard Cherkasov
Chief Executive Officer
As we speak, a civil unions bill is up for debate and vote in the Illinois House of Representatives. Openly gay Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who co-sponsored SB 1716, started his opening statement at 5:17 p.m on Tuesday. “Once in every generation,” he said, “legislatures across the country have a chance to advance the cause of liberty and justice for all.”SB 1716, the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act needs 60 votes to pass in the House. Supporters believe they have the necessary votes to pass the bill out of the House and on to the Senate, where quick passage is expected.
Tuesday afternoon, an Illinois Senate committee advanced its version of the civil unions bill by a 6-2 margin. The upper chamber on the Senate would have to approve the legislation if it clears the House.
According to the article above, a poll last month showed that 67.5% of likely Illinois voters approve of civil unions or marriage for same sex couples while only 26.5% oppose any recognition.
If the legislation passes, Illinois will join California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington as the latest state to offer full-scale Civil Unions or Domestic Partnerships. Marriage equality is the law of the land in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington D.C..
Fingers crossed for the Land of Lincoln!
Pam’s House Blend – Front Page
I posted highlights earlier, but here's full video of today's Pentagon press briefing on the DADT repeal report for those of you who are interested.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
Beatings, arrests, and lynchings have increased significantly in the capital city of the west African nation, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.
Advocate.com: Daily News
LISA KEEN | Keen News Service
Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent mixed signals Tuesday, Nov. 30 in releasing the Pentagon’s long-awaited study about how to implement repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell.”
Gates said repeal “can and should be done,” but he urged Congress to consider the views of all-male combat units who expressed concern about negative consequences. He said the concerns of those combat units were “not an insurmountable barrier” to repealing the ban on openly gay people in the military, but said the military should be given “sufficient time” to exercise “an abundance of care and preparation” in rolling out that repeal. And neither he nor any other top Pentagon official were willing to give even a vague estimate of how much time would be sufficient.
But in a statement released Tuesday evening, President Barack Obama urged the Senate to act “as soon as possible,” saying he is “absolutely confident” troops “will adapt to this change and remain the best led, best trained, best equipped fighting force the world has ever known.”
The president reportedly spoke to Republican and Democratic leaders about DADT during a meeting at the White House on Monday to discuss a number of issues. Details of those conversations were not available.
Gates’ remarks and the report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday on how best to implement repeal of DADT will provide both proponents and opponents of repeal plenty of political ammunition once the Senate takes up the issue sometime this month.
The 256-page study is called the Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The report includes 20 pages of recommendations, presented in essay form, and 112 pages discussing and illustrating the results of surveys conducted of servicemembers and their families. Most media reports focused on the survey results, but the recommendations have, perhaps, the greatest importance for the LGBT community. The most significant of the recommendations include:
• Issuing “an extensive set of new or revised standards of conduct” for servicemembers while in uniform, including for such matters as “public displays of affection,” dress and appearance, and harassment, and that those standards “apply to all Service members, regardless of sexual orientation”;
• That military law not add sexual orientation “alongside race, color, religion, sex, and national origin as a class eligible for various diversity programs or complaint resolution processes.” Instead, the report recommends DOD “make clear that sexual orientation may not, in and of itself, be a factor in accession, promotion, or other personnel decision-making.” Complaints regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation would be addressed through “mechanisms” available for complaints other than those involving race, color, sex, religion, or national origin — “namely, the chain of command … and other means as may be determined by the Services.”
• Repeal Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to the extent it prohibits consensual sodomy, regardless of whether same-sex or heterosexual;
• Amend the code to “ensure sexual orientation-neutral application” with regards to sexual offenses. For instance, Article 134 prohibiting adultery, would be rewritten to include a married female servicemember having sex with another woman who was not her spouse;
• No separate housing or bathroom facilities for gay or lesbian servicemembers and no assignments of sleeping or housing facilities based on sexual orientation “except that commanders should retain the authority to alter … assignments on an individualized, case-by-case basis, in the interest of maintaining morale, good order, and discipline, and consistent with performance of mission”;
• No revision “at this time” of regulations to add same-sex committed relationships to the current definition of “family members” or “dependents” in regards to military benefits, such as housing, but to revisit the issue at a later date;
• Review benefits “that may, where justified from a policy, fiscal, and feasibility standpoint,” be revised to enable a servicemember to designate “whomever he or she wants as a beneficiary”;
• Evaluate requests for re-entry into the military from those servicemembers discharged under DADT “according to the same criteria as other former Service members seeking re-entry”; and
• No release from obligations of service for military personnel who oppose serving alongside gay and lesbian service members.
The survey part of the report indicates:
• 69 percent of servicemembers believed they had already served with someone they knew to be gay;
• 70 percent to 76 percent said repeal would have “a positive, a mixed, or no effect” on task cohesion; and 67 percent to 78 percent said it would have positive, mixed or no effect on “social cohesion”;
• 92 percent of those servicemembers who said they served alongside a gay person said they did not consider the gay servicemember’s presence to have created any problems for unit cohesion; and
• 26 percent said they would take a shower at a different time than a gay servicemember.
The report noted that the responses of Marines Combat Arms units (fighting forces on the ground) were “more negative” than the forces overall concerning how gay servicemembers would affect unit cohesion. Overall, 21 percent said gays in the unit would negatively affect their unit’s readiness, but while 43.5 percent of Marine Combat Arms said so.
Both Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen also underscored a need to move slowly and carefully to implement repeal, should Congress approve it. In doing so, Gates highlighted a finding that between 40 percent and 60 percent of all-male combat arms and special operations units predicted a negative effect of repeal on unit cohesion. He said this finding was a concern for him and for the chiefs of the branches of service. And he urged Congress to consider this in its deliberations.
But Gates said he did not consider that finding to be an “insurmountable barrier” and said he does believe repeal “can and should be done without posing a serious threat to military readiness.”
Even before the report was officially released at 2:15 Eastern time on Tuesday, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said it expected the report to be “overwhelmingly positive” and “one of the best tools that repeal advocates can use” in the lame duck Congress.
The report will be the subject of two days of hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 2 and 3. Republican opponents of repeal, led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are expected to challenge the legitimacy of the study and to tweak out information within it to support their position against repealing the law.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had been considered a potential vote for repeal, surprised many over the weekend when he began to parrot a criticism of the study that McCain raised in recent days — that the Pentagon studied “how” to repeal DADT, not “whether” to repeal it.
Gates rebuffed this criticism previously and again during today’s press conference.
“This report does provide a sound basis for making decisions on this law,” said Gates. “It’s hard for me to imagine you could come up with a more comprehensive approach.” More than 400,000 servicemembers responded to a survey, as did thousands of family members. And Mullen said data “is very compelling.”
But Graham also told Fox News Sunday on Nov. 28 that he doesn’t believe there is “anywhere near the votes” to repeal DADT “on the Republican side.”
Democrats don’t really need Republican votes to repeal DADT; it takes only 51 and, with Independents, they have 58. But many took Graham’s remarks to suggest that Republicans would stand together as a party to block the Senate from even considering the Defense Authorization bill that contains the DADT repeal language.
“I think we’ll be united in the lame duck,” said Graham of Republican senators. “… So I think in a lame duck setting, ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ is not going anywhere.
And that’s where the uncertainty lies: Will Democrats have 60 votes to break a Republican filibuster in order to begin deliberation on the FY 2011 Defense Authorization bill?
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said he expects McCain and others to try and thwart repeal. He said he was hopeful Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would be able to reach an agreement with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on some number of amendments either party could offer on the annual Defense Authorization bill which contains the repeal language. Among those amendments, said Sarvis, will almost certainly be one to strip the repeal language from the bill, but Sarvis said he does not believe there are enough votes to do that.
Sarvis also made clear during a telephone press conference with reporters Tuesday morning that his group is not going to put all its eggs in the lame duck basket.
Sarvis said his organization would — “early next week”— file at least one lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco to continue pressure for eliminating the ban on openly gay people in the military. He said the group would likely file two more lawsuits soon after that. Each lawsuit, he said, would represent the interests of different groups affected by the law — those on active duty, those who have been discharged and seek reinstatement, and those who would like to join the service.
Gates and Obama have both spoken out against lawsuits currently pending in the 9th Circuit seeking to challenge DADT — one from the Log Cabin Republicans (challenging the law on its face) and one from Air Force nurse Margaret Witt (challenging the law as applied). Both have been successful, thus far.
In an interview with ABC News, released Nov. 9, Gates said he thinks the end of DADT was “inevitable.”
“My hope, frankly,” he said, “is that … if we can make the case that having this struck down by the courts is the worst outcome, because it gives us no flexibility, that people will think I’m called a realist, a pragmatist. I’m looking at this realistically. This thing is gonna go, one way or the other.”
In the end, it may take more than just one showdown vote in the Senate. In addition to needing 60 votes to begin debate on the defense spending bill, SLDN’s Sarvis said Tuesday he expects Senate Democrats will need 60 votes to force a vote to end debate as well. Then a final version of the bill must be hammered out in a House-Senate conference committee and returned to both chambers for a final vote.
© 2010 Keen News Service
It’s been a long time coming, but after months of struggling to come to
terms with his sexuality, Teddy (Trevor Donovan) kissed Ian (Kyle
Riabko) on Monday night’s 90210.
Advocate.com: Daily News
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010
Statement by President Obama on DOD Report on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
As Commander in Chief, I have pledged to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law because it weakens our national security, diminishes our military readiness, and violates fundamental American principles of fairness and equality by preventing patriotic Americans who are gay from serving openly in our armed forces. At the same time, as Commander in Chief, I am committed to ensuring that we understand the implications of this transition, and maintain good order and discipline within our military ranks. That is why I directed the Department of Defense earlier this year to begin preparing for a transition to a new policy.
Today’s report confirms that a strong majority of our military men and women and their families-more than two thirds-are prepared to serve alongside Americans who are openly gay and lesbian. This report also confirms that, by every measure-from unit cohesion to recruitment and retention to family readiness-we can transition to a new policy in a responsible manner that ensures our military strength and national security. And for the first time since this law was enacted 17 years ago today, both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have publicly endorsed ending this policy.
With our nation at war and so many Americans serving on the front lines, our troops and their families deserve the certainty that can only come when an act of Congress ends this discriminatory policy once and for all. The House of Representatives has already passed the necessary legislation. Today I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally. Our troops represent the virtues of selfless sacrifice and love of country that have enabled our freedoms. I am absolutely confident that they will adapt to this change and remain the best led, best trained, best equipped fighting force the world has ever known.
The following statement just came across from Lee Taft, associate executive director at Resource Center Dallas, in response to the Pentagon report on “don’t ask don’t tell” that was released earlier today:
“As leaders in the LGBT community, we are pleased to read that the authors correctly conclude that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ needs to be shelved. It correctly notes that countries worldwide have adopted policies that permit military service by openly gay men and lesbians, even when pre-transition surveys suggested high levels of resistance. From a historical perspective, the document is both forward-thinking and timely, and Resource Center Dallas is pleased the time has arrived to get rid of this atrocious policy.
“Yet, a homophobic sub-text lurks in the report. We are repeatedly referred to as ‘homosexuals’ instead of the more accurate gays and lesbians, and bigotry is re-cast as stereotyping. Some survey respondents fear under a policy allowing openness, gay service members will become predators—a baseless assertion grounded in pure prejudice. Similarly, the authors note that ‘gay men and lesbians still tend to be discrete about their personal lives, and guarded about people with whom they share information about their sexual orientation.’ This is a wrong-headed and tragic use of a strategy developed by the community to keep ourselves safe.
“Make no mistake. We are pleased with the findings of the report. We are committed to doing our part to rid the world of policies and practices that oppress LGBT people, wherever and whenever. This report should help that happen. But, we still have a long way to go.”
Dec. 5 will mark six months since the disappearance of Lisa Stone, a 52-year-old gay woman from northeast Dallas. But Stone’s friends remain optimistic that the case will soon be solved, and their hopes have been buoyed this week by some national media attention.
America’s Most Wanted posted a story about Stone’s disappearance on its website Monday, and her friends plan to meet with producers from CBS’ 48 Hours on Wednesday.
“We have worked for five months to get this kind of national exposure,” said Tina Wiley, one of Stone’s friends who’s been leading the effort to find her. “We need this to get answers.”
Wiley said Stone’s friends are also hearing rumors that arrests in the case may be imminent. A Dallas police investigator who’s handling the case couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Wiley said nothing is planned to mark the six-month anniversary of Stone’s disappearance. However, the group known as the Sisters of ’77 — Stone’s friends who graduated from Mesquite High School in 1977 — plans another reunion on Dec. 11. It was during the first-ever reunion of the Sisters of ’77 in May 2009, WIley said, when Stone came out to many of her former classmates.
“It was a huge deal to her, so I think it’s going to be a really emotional party,” Wiley said. “She was real hesitant at first about going even. She was so worried about what everyone would think, but she was very pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t an issue to anybody.”
