Free Republic

Continuing his makeover from Republican to independent U.S. Senate candidate, Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday affirmed his support for civil unions, adoption by same-sex couples, and doing away with the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. Equality Florida, the state's leading gay rights group, called Crist's statement on a range of gay issues "the most comprehensive, pro-LGBT equality stand of a sitting governor in Florida's history." Crist's Democratic opponent for Senate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, called it "too little too late." He and the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, noted the governor had backed a 2008 amendment to the state constitution...

"Judge Cites Obama in Overturning ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’" SNIPPET: "The California-based federal judge who declared the military’s ban on homosexual conduct, known colloquially as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT), is unconstitutional, based her decision in part on statements made by President Barack Obama himself." PHOTO CAPTION: "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a Gay Pride Month event at the White House on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)" SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) – The California-based federal judge who declared the military’s ban on homosexual conduct, known colloquially as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT), is unconstitutional, based...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A federal judge in Southern California has declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military. Phillips says the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services. The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Barack Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.

LaFauci, an administrative assistant in the certification unit in Danvers, said that when she told Bennett, who is gay, that she was upset by the overtures, Bennett cut her hours, unfairly disciplined her, and told her, “Who knows, AnnMarie, accidents happen, they could find you in the back parking lot with blood pouring out of your head.’’

Americans might soon have another reason to ask themselves: “What is the president thinking?”With the flourish of a veto pen, President Obama is likely to disappoint and confuse both friends and some foes this fall; an interesting choice given his approval-rating challenges. How will President Obama manage to infuriate some conservatives and many liberals all at once? By vetoing a defense spending bill – a bill that would please some national defense conservatives by supporting our troops and please liberals by foolishly ending the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. So why would he miss what some political observers call...

WASHINGTON (Aug. 16) -- The military is throwing out women disproportionately under its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, even as the number of service members discharged for being gay reached a new low last year. According to Pentagon statistics released by the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 428 service members were discharged in 2009 under the policy that President Barack Obama has vowed to end. That's the lowest number since the policy began in 1994 and continues a steady decline that began after the 9/11 attacks. More than 13,500 gays and lesbians have been discharged since...

In what was likely his last appearance in the Pentagon briefing room, soon-to-be retiring Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway once more waded into the “don’t ask, don’t tell” waters with his straight-shooter candor by suggesting that “very religious” Marines with “moral concerns” about homosexuality might not be forced to live with their gay battle buddies. Marines are billeted – or assigned sleeping quarters – in twos. Already earlier this year, Conway told Military.com that he "would not ask our Marines" to bunk in the same rooms with openly gay Marines. But exactly what about cohabitation worried him was unclear....

<p>An Idaho aviator has reached an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to temporarily block his discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" law that bars openly gay and lesbian military members from service.</p> <p>The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network says an agreement reached Monday prevents the Air Force from discharging Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach until a judge can consider its request for a court order to stop his ouster from the military.</p>

In the scandal involving the theft and release of classified military information that could cost the lives of U.S. military personnel, the British Telegraph newspaper is reporting that the American soldier at the center of the scandal was "openly homosexual" and apparently held a grudge against the U.S. because of the military's anti-gay policy. In another bizarre twist, reliable reports suggest that Private First Class Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army Intelligence analyst accused of leaking the classified information to the WikiLeaks.org website, was not only a homosexual but was considering a sex change. Manning was arrested at the end of...

"The revelations of Manning’s openly pro-homosexual conduct suggest that a more liberal Department of Defense policy, in deference to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief, had already been in effect and has now backfired in a big way. The result could be not only the loss of the lives of U.S. soldiers, as a result of the enemy understanding U.S. intelligence sources and methods, but damaged relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan and a possible U.S. military defeat in the region as a whole." - Accuracy in Media The suspect in the leaking of classified military files, Spc. Bradley Manning, voiced his...

Click here to find out more! America is one of many countries that forbid openly gay people to serve in the military. Others are: Cuba, China, Egypt, Greece, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey and Venezuela. See a pattern? With a few exceptions, those are not countries where free people want to live. By contrast, Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Spain all allow gay people to serve. No country has America's in-between policy: Gays can serve -- as long...

SNIPPET: "Lt. Dan Choi was finally discharged from the New York Army National Guard on Thursday after announcing his homosexuality more than a year ago on a cable TV show hosted by a radical lesbian activist. Choi has been campaigning for repeal of the 1993 law that says homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military, the same law that has often been confused with Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy -- a policy that prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being homosexual or are...

A copy of the Pentagon survey gauging the impact of repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell ban on gay soldiers serving openly in the military has been leaked to the Palm Center research institute. You can read it here.

Even though we live in a democracy in which the people are supposed to rule, the Pentagon refuses to release the contents of a much-publicized survey about openly gay military service. However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Pentagon spokesmen Geoff Morrell, and at least one gay activist group all admit that the survey is designed to facilitate open homosexuality within the ranks. “I strongly encourage gays and lesbians who are in the military to fill out these forms,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a July 8 press briefing. “We’ve organized this in a way to protect their privacy and the...

The Pentagon is home to many half-baked ideas. The bureaucracy’s latest such scheme: a “survey” of our troops to ascertain their “feelings” about open homosexuality within the ranks. The Pentagon hierarchy has announced that it has sent a survey about openly gay military service to 400,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. Half of the military personnel being surveyed are on active duty; the other half are in the reserves and National Guard. I’m sure our military leaders mean well, but let’s be honest: The “feelings” of our servicemen and women do not — and should not – matter to anyone....

A political activist and pro-family leader says a radical homosexual group is trying to infiltrate the Republican Party in order to render it less effective in standing up for policies like the ban on homosexuals from military service. On July 13, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips will hear the lawsuit brought by homosexuals who call themselves the Log Cabin Republicans as they challenge Clinton's longstanding policy of "don't ask, don't tell," which bars homosexuals from openly serving in the military. Congress is already working on the legislation to repeal the actual 1993 law that declares homosexuality is incompatible with military...

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2010 – Noting the importance of getting the opinions of those who would be most affected by a possible repeal of the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today urged servicemembers to provide their input. About 400,000 servicemembers are receiving an e-mail survey seeking their opinions, and the department has an online inbox at https://dadt.csd.disa.mil/ for additional feedback from common access card holders. “I think it is very important for us to understand from our men and women in uniform the...

Gay rights groups are concerned about possible skewed results in the Pentagon’s massive survey of military attitudes toward the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell,” because of the way questions are reportedly worded and the potential for a lack of privacy for respondents. On Wednesday, the Defense Department e-mailed survey questions to 400,000 members of the active duty and reserve forces, seeking information on how they viewed the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces. “This is an extraordinary initiative,” said Aubrey Sarvis, president of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, saying the military didn’t poll troops when President...

There's a Ramsey County domestic assault accusation with former Viking Esera Tuaolo's name on it. According to a Ramsey County Sheriff's Department report, an officer was dispatched to the 4400 block of Rosebriar Avenue in Vadnais Heights at 5:45 p.m. June 20. "Assault happened in the area of 300 Hwy. 96 in North Oaks. Adult male suspect was charged with domestic abuse, assault, and disorderly conduct, all misdemeanors," reads the incident report. "It's blown way out of proportion," Tuaolo told me Monday. "And that's all I can say." I was surprised that Tuaolo answered. Been trying to reach my friend...

Like to know how many people have viewed a particular thread, whether mine or someone else's, so I'm curious if we'll see that feature return.