Free Republic

A group of prominent gay-rights bloggers, activists, and fundraisers, led by AMERICAblogGAY, is launching a boycott on contributions to the Democratic National Committee and Obama's campaign apparatus: We are asking voters to pledge to withhold contributions to the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the Obama campaign until the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is passed, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) is repealed, and the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is repealed -– all of which President Obama repeatedly promised to do if elected.... Democrats should not have promised to support gay civil rights rights in exchange for our...

In a case that raises questions about online journalism and privacy rights, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day. The grand jury subpoena also required the Philadelphia-based Indymedia.us Web site "not to disclose the existence of this request" unless authorized by the Justice Department, a gag order that presents an unusual quandary for any news organization. Kristina Clair, a 34-year old Linux administrator living in Philadelphia who provides free server space for Indymedia.us, said she was shocked to receive the...

It's time for a policy change in the American military. "Don't ask, don't tell" may have seemed like a good compromise in 1993 but makes no sense in a post 9/11 world where the average soldier worries far more about getting fragged by an al Qaeda sympathizer in their platoon than whether their bunkmate is a little light in their government issued boots. This report from ABC news should make your jaw drop: U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

A panel of legal scholars has suggested that Congress remove sodomy as a crime punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a recommendation that could boost efforts to end a ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. The Commission on Military Justice recommended that Article 125, which deals with sodomy, be repealed, arguing that “most acts of consensual sodomy committed by consenting military personnel are not prosecuted, creating a perception that prosecution of this sexual behavior is arbitrary.” In its report — dated October 2009 — the commission suggested several changes be made to the UCMJ, including...

Ernestina Mondragon blinked in the glare of TV lights, seated for her news conference among family and friends at a table in the back of Tejano Mexican Restaurant at Davis and Beckley in north Oak Cliff on Sunday afternoon. Speaking Spanish translated by her daughter, Brenda, and her lawyer, Domingo Garcia, she said she was humiliated Oct. 2 when a Dallas police officer pulled her over for an illegal U-turn and then wrote her a ticket for driving without being able to speak English. "I felt I'd been looked down on and discriminated against," she said.

On October 10 President Obama showed his true rainbow colors to gay activists attending a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest lesbian, gay bisexual, transgendered "LGBT Left" group in the country. Despite the personal favor, some disgruntled activists picketed outside. On the issue of gays in the military, what do they want the President to do? The California-based Michael D. Palm Center, an academic gay activist group, has issued several reports describing a "roadmap" for repeal of the 1993 law that is constantly mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." (Unlike the administrative policy imposed on the military by Bill...

I am sympathetic to the story told by Joseph Rocha, who claims in a Washington Post opinion column that he was discharged from the Navy because he is gay, though he says he never told anyone. Rocha says his male colleagues concluded he was gay when he wouldn't laugh at their dirty jokes about women or visit prostitutes with them. Gay service members have a point when they claim a double standard exists for heterosexuals and homosexuals regarding sexual behavior. Rocha also alleges cover-ups by higher-ups about male sexual assaults on lesbians and the pressure he says lesbians feel to...

The commander in chief on Saturday reiterated his support for having homosexuals serve openly in the military. Fortunately, there's a good chance this is another issue on which President Obama is all talk. In his speech at the Human Rights Campaign's annual banquet, Mr. Obama recycled candidate Barack Obama's "hope and change" talking points, adding an apology for not yet delivering on his promises. "I actually have been much more vocal on gay issues to general audiences than any other presidential candidate probably in history," he told the activist newspaper the Advocate in April 2008. However, in that interview, he...

President Obama delivered an unprecedented message to the Human Rights Campaign Saturday night. Sounding more like a homosexual activist than a sitting president, Obama went well beyond his expected message of “I’m here with you” on the homosexual agenda. “My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians -- whether in the office or on the battlefield,” Obama told an estimated audience of 3,000. “You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men...

If Barack Obama had campaigned on what he has actually done in his first 300 days in office, would he have been elected? That's the question so many are asking today. If Obama had told us he would appoint 34 czars, reporting only to himself and not vetted or confirmed in the constitutional way, building a powerful unitary executive branch of government, would he have been elected? What if he had told us that his green jobs czar had been a Communist, that the science czar wrote in a college textbook that compulsory "green abortions" are an acceptable way to...

The President stood confident at the podium when he addressed a crowd of nearly ecstatic fans Saturday night. He promised those assembled for the Banquet of the “Human Rights Campaign”, the leading homosexual activist organization in the Nation: “You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.” Lest anyone be confused concerning the meaning of his words here is another excerpt: “… I support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities...

The gay community should stop rewarding President Obama's pretty speeches—like his address this weekend to the Human Rights Campaign—and demand action on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. BY MEGHAN MCCAIN This weekend, thousands gathered for a march at the White House where the gay community demanded equal rights. On Saturday night, President Obama addressed the largest gay-rights group and promised to end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military, emphasizing that his commitment to achieving equal rights was “unwavering.” The support he received from the crowd was overwhelming. But my response to this speech and my message to the...

It turns out that the White House likes to ignore all kinds of “community organizing,” now that Barack Obama has won the election. A march by gay-rights supporters the day after Obama offered them nothing more than a repeat of the same promises he made during the campaign on single-gender marriage and Don’t Ask - Don’t Tell got a derisive response from the White House. John Harwood reports that the Obama administration basically told the “fringe” Internet left to shut up and get real:

Following the president’s speech where he promised to end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Meghan McCain – pro-gay rights pundit and daughter to Sen. John McCain – weighed in on the Daily Beast blog. Now, I cannot speak for my brothers, but I know many men and women who serve in the military. Let’s give them more credit. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, I suspect it could be said that there is no homophobia in foxholes either. I find it hard to imagine that when a soldier is in a Humvee fighting terrorist insurgents, that the thing on...

Barack is back and he’s ready to tackle the tough issues. Economy? No. War? No. Bringing manufacturing jobs back to America? No. Energy Independence? No. If you guessed “The Homosexual Agenda” then you are correct!!! Click here to get your prize...

Since gays were never allowed to "tell," the only thing "don't ask, don't tell" changed was that it prohibited "asking." And that's not exactly a bad thing. ...Long before "don't ask, don't tell," ...I remember a weatherman who was ordered to remove makeup. Nobody "asked" him anything further. Nobody persecuted him. But wearing makeup was close enough to "telling" that he was basically ordered, well, to keep it to himself. Don't tell. ...It's true that there used to be some suspiciously homophobic individuals who made an unusually enthusiastic effort to rid the ranks of gays. And you can bet that...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Human-Rights-Campaign-Dinner/ THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 10, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN DINNER Walter E. Convention Center Washington, D.C. 8:10 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please, you're making me blush. (Laughter.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Barack! THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) To Joe Solmonese, who's doing an outstanding job on behalf of HRC. (Applause.) To my great friend and supporter, Terry Bean, co-founder of HRC. (Applause.) Representative Patrick Kennedy. (Applause.) David Huebner, the...

WASHINGTON — Thousands of gay rights supporters marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and homemade signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted "Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" and "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Many children were also among the protesters. A few counter-protesters had also joined the crowd, which stretched several blocks by the afternoon. Jason Yanowitz, a...

Thousands of homosexual and lesbian activists marched through Washington today after President Obama pledged to end the ban on gays serving openly in the US military. The rally was organised by protesters impatient with the president’s failure to act on his campaign promises for gay reforms. But in a major speech last night, Mr Obama insisted: ‘I’m here with you in that fight. Do not doubt the direction we are headed and the destination we will reach.’ He vowed to end the Pentagon’s policy of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military so long as they don’t disclose...

"We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve this country," he said. "I'm working with the Pentagon, its leadership and the members of the House and Senate on ending this policy, legislation that has been introduced in the House to make this happen, I will end 'don't ask, don't tell.' That's my commitment to you." The president said he backed the rights of gay couples, saying they should have the "same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country." He said he has urged Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech tonight, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. “I will end ’don’t ask-don’t tell,’” Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for. The law was passed by Congress in 1993 and...

President Barack Obama restated his campaign pledge to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military, but left many in his audience of gay activists wondering when he would make good on the promise. "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said Saturday night to a standing ovation from the crowd of about 3,000 at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. He offered no timetable or specifics and he acknowledged some may be growing impatient. "I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama...

Obama Vows Unqualified Support For Gay-Rights Agenda Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama vowed his unwavering support for the full gay rights agenda Saturday night, saying that he'll push Congress to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military. He also said that he'll work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman, to guarantee that gay and lesbian couples get the same benefits as straight couples, and to ban anti-gay discrimination in the workplace. "There are still laws to change and hearts to...

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he arrives at the 13th Annual National Dinner of the Human Right Campaign WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. "I will end "don't ask-don't tell,'" Mr. Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-civil-rights advocacy group. Mr. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give...

I’m Committed To Rights, Obama Tells Gays He's been criticized by some advocates for not move faster on their issues WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says he knows gay rights activists get impatient but he says this country has made progress and will make more in defending those rights. He says he is committed to their goals and he will achieve them. On the eve of a major gay-rights rally, Obama addressed thousands of gays and lesbians at a fundraising dinner Saturday night for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay-rights group. Since Obama took office in January, some...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. He did not give a timetable for the repeal of the law passed by Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, who also promised to repeal the ban on homosexuals...

OCTOBER 10, 2009 Obama to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Military Policy WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. BARACK OBAMA "I will end "don't ask-don't tell,'" Mr. Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. He did not give a timetable for the repeal of the law passed by Congress in 1993...

Title only.

So, President Obama has a lot of stuff to do. We get it. Being President is hard. I heard it doesn't even pay overtime. But, as far as to-do lists go, isn't "Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell" basically "Unload the Dishwasher," while "Finish Two Wars" is "Clean the Garage Using Only Your Tongue" and "Fix the Economy" is like "Pick Up Dry-Cleaning from Inside a Volcano?"

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will focus "at the right time" on how to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military, his national security adviser said Sunday. "I don't think it's going to be — it's not years, but I think it will be teed up appropriately," James Jones said. The Democratic-led Congress is considering repealing the 1993 law. Action isn't expected on the issue until early next year.

"I don't think it's going to be -- it's not years, but I think it will be teed up appropriately," retired Gen. James Jones said.Jones said Obama "has an awful lot on his desk. I know this is an issue that he intends to take on at the appropriate time. And he has already signaled that to the Defense Department. The Defense Department is doing the things it has to do to prepare, but at the right time, I'm sure the president will take it on." As a candidate, Obama signaled support for repealing the law. To the disappointment of...

The gay and lesbian community is calling for an investigation into a billboard that was destroyed. The billboard is just one of 5 put up for National Coming Out Day and features a gay Marine. The billboards were paid for by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center. "We had the idea to celebrate National Coming Out Day which is October 11th. It's a time that around the nation people say I'm proud to be gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender," said Heidi Williams, Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center. The MGLCC wanted to get Memphis' attention but they didn't expect...

Sources (at a reliable Gay website) say by October Obama’s new gay agenda will be launched. Following Alinsky’s rule: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up. Attack, attack, attack…. never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest” Obama keep America constantly under attack” Obama will continue his attacks with gay issues. First attacks The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was first. Pushed by gay hatred for Pro-lifers and religion, especially the Catholic Church, FOCA would’ve forced Catholic hospitals to commit abortions. We beat it. Immediately afterward came the Employee Free Choice Act or “Card Check” the Democrat/union scheme to...

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed on Tuesday to provide senators with his thoughts on a controversial law prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) won a promise from Adm. Mike Mullen that he would provide his take on the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” before the Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing this fall. In prepared answers for his confirmation to a second term as the nation’s top military officer, Mullen did not express any opinion on repealing the law. President Barack Obama promised to repeal the law...

Alright, I know this is a strange issue for me to bring up especially since it's not really being discussed right now. However, as a college student, every now and then strange issues come up and I've got to be ready to call them out. Like 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. Today the professor brought up Don't Ask, Don't Tell in a discussion on public policy. The discussion quickly slipped to who agrees with it and who disagrees with it. Me, being one of maybe three conservatives in the class made it clear I disagree that it's an issue of public...

By the time this year's tally for gay service members discharged under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy had hit 250, Rep. Alcee L. Hastings said he could wait no longer. The Florida Democrat decided in June to send a letter to President Obama demanding that the policy be repealed. Mr. Hastings said he was surprised when 76 other members - most of them fellow Democrats - agreed to add their signatures, and even more surprised when the letter went unanswered for the next two months. "We're being ignored," he said. The president won't be able to ignore the...

By the time this year's tally for gay service members discharged under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy had hit 250, Rep. Alcee L. Hastings said he could wait no longer. The Florida Democrat decided in June to send a letter to President Obama demanding that the policy be repealed. Mr. Hastings said he was surprised when 76 other members - most of them fellow Democrats - agreed to add their signatures, and even more surprised when the letter went unanswered for the next two months. "We're being ignored," he said. The president won't be able to ignore the...

Here is video of former President Bill Clinton pandering to the "Netroots (Nutroots) Nation" meeting last night where he confessed that his signing his "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Gays in the Military Policy into law was something he did only because he could not get a more radical policy through Congress. He said he regrets how it has been implemented by "middle level" military personnel. He also confessed that he signed the "Defense of Marriage Act" into law, not because he believes in the sanctity of traditional marriage, but because it was a move to keep Congress from sending a...

CHICAGO – Today, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) saluted veterans from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities at “With Liberty and Justice For All” - the nation’s only municipally-sponsored, military salute to LGBT veterans. As one of his first acts in Congress, Quigley issued a statement calling for the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. An emerging national advocate for the LGBT community, Quigley has cosponsored over a dozen bills that work toward equality during his first 100 days in office. During his remarks and presentation, Congressman Quigley recalled his recent trip to Iraq and...

A Pennsylvania pro-family activist is not happy that a Congressman from her state is leading the campaign in the House of Representatives to overturn the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. As previously reported on OneNewsNow, Representative Patrick Murphy (D-Pennsylvania) is the first Iraq war veteran elected to the U.S. Congress and a member of the Blue Coalition. He is also leading the charge to change the 1993 law, which prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military. Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, is unhappy that Murphy, a married father, recently held a news conference...

“I introduced an amendment to H.R. 3326, now withdrawn, prohibiting the use of funds in this bill to investigate or discharge our dedicated service men and women on the grounds of ‘telling’ their sexual orientation. The Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces – commonly called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – provides that a service member can be separated from the Armed Forces for stating that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual. Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), at left, has announced, in a press release, that the Senate Armed Service Committee will hold a hearing this fall on the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Signed into law by former President Clinton, the policy forbids openly gay and lesbian personnel from serving in the military. According to the press release, an estimated 13,000 service members have been removed from duty since 1993 based on their sexual orientation. According to a report from the Center for American Progress, 265 people have been discharged since President Obama took office. "This policy is wrong for our...

The controversial "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays serving in the military will get a hearing in the fall, according to a junior senator who has seized a leadership role on the issue in the face of a tough 2010 primary fight. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who is pressing for the repeal of a ban on openly gay people serving in the military, has secured a commitment from a leading defense authorizer to hold a hearing on the policy.Gillibrand, in a press release, thanked Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for agreeing...

NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the world’s proudest, toughest militaries — and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. In the United States, more than 12,000 service members have been dismissed since 1994 because it became known they were gay. Current targets for discharge include a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran, Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi. In Britain, on the other hand, uniformed gay and lesbian service...

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) has taken up the mantle as the chief opponent of "Don't ask, don't tell" in Congress, and he's confident the policy banning gays from serving openly in the military will get its first full committee hearing in a decade and a half this session. Murphy, a second-term Democrat, will be lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal "Don't ask, don't tell" — a policy first passed by Congress and signed into law under President Bill Clinton. "It's our job," Murphy said of a repeal. "This was an act of Congress in 1993...

Mullen Advises 'Measured' Approach to Gay Policy The nation's top military officer said Sunday he has advised President Barack Obama to move "in a measured way" in changing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. Obama as a candidate pledged to end the ban. As president, he has not said when or how he will take steps to do so, drawing criticism from gay rights activists and others. The president has pointed out that Congress in 1993 made into law a policy begun by President Bill Clinton. "It's very clear what President...

super-friender and MTV hookup star Tila Tequila has a message for President Obama: Repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays. In a blogpost at globalgrind.com, Tequila, née Tila Nguyen, tells the story of Dan Choi, "a hero to many of us in the human rights movement," who was booted from the Army after publicly announcing he's gay. "Being an openly bisexual woman myself and having a lot of close gay friends, I have always HATED that policy," which was instituted by former President Bill Clinton in a compromise over his position on gays in the military that...

Remember Cary Grant wearing a dress and wig in “I Was a Male War Bride?”The movie seemed far-fetched to audiences in 1949.But now male war brides are expected to crop up in barracks throughout the country.President Barack Obama has stated his intent to do away with the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy of the United States military.Mr. Obama’s announcement was made during a meeting with 150 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Coalition (LGBT) of the United Church of Christ."As I said before -- I'll say it again -- I believe 'don't ask, don't tell' doesn't contribute to...