News from late last week that didn’t make it into that roundup: The U.S. Senate confirmed two gay men and a lesbian to high-ranking roles in the administration. Douglas Wilson will be assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. As a civilian, he is not subject to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Cynthia […]
Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi, who faces dismissal under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, is back training with his unit. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the Administration on Aging have awarded Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE) a three-year, $900,000 grant to create the nation’s only national
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in Fem 2.0’s “Work/Life in Our Communities Blog Radio Series” as part of a panel on “Work/Life and LGBT Families: Reimagining Policy for ALL Families in the 21st Century.” The radio series is part of their larger 2010 Wake Up! Campaign, which also includes
Sometimes, in our efforts to correct one instance of intolerance, we forget others. Two weeks ago, a Miami-Dade judge declared Florida’s anti-gay adoption law unconstitutional and allowed Vanessa Alenier to adopt the one-year-old she and her partner Melanie Leon have been fostering. The ultra-conservative Orlando’s Florida Family Policy Council (FPC) sent out an alert to
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told a Senate committee he is in favor of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said they have appointed a high-level working group to report, by the end of the year, on how the military can implement such a change if Congress
Schools and Youth The Tennessee General Assembly’s House Education subcommittee referred to another subcommittee two bills that would ban the teaching of any sexuality other than heterosexuality. That means the bills’ fate is uncertain, although the head of the Tennessee Equality Project said he would have preferred a vote to defeat them. Don’t Ask, Don’t
Here’s a fun one for you. Which of these two quotes was made by a witness for the plaintiffs, and which by a witness for the defense, in the federal trial to overturn California’s Prop 8? “I believe that adopting same-sex marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and
President Obama, in his State of the Union speech, said he would work with Congress and the military to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “this year.” The Advocate rounds up some of the reactions. DC Agenda reports that “LGBT political insiders . . . believe the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is headed for almost certain defeat
President Obama called for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” last night in his State of the Union speech. Bravo. I hope the LGBT community—and all citizens who want to see our military strengthened with all who wish to serve—hold him to that. Here’s my question, though: Once we allow gay men and lesbians
“The only thing the State or anybody should be looking at, the best interests of the child and how he is loved.” —Florida Judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia, in granting Vanessa Alenier’s petition to adopt an infant cousin, despite the state ban on gay men and lesbians adopting children (via Nancy Polikoff)
