Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement. Michael Jones at Change.org explores his LGBT-rights legacy. Back in February, Lisa Keen took at look at the LGBT-rights records of some potential nominees. The Pentagon grapples with the problem of “How do we ask gay and lesbian troops what they think if they can still […]
Not news per se, but the Victory Fund has put together a nice video of LGBT women in politics. In a constitutional challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), the Department of Justice filed a brief supporting the current DADT law. Several experts on DADT are claiming the Obama administration misrepresented their views in the
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a plan for making enforcement of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “more humane and fair.” Servicemembers will no longer be dismissed if they are involuntarily outed by a third party. Three—count ’em, three—U.S. representatives have introduced separate bills in the past week designed to protect LGBT people from discrimination in
National Guard Lt. Dan Choi and former Army Capt. Jim Pietrangelo were arrested Thursday after chaining themselves to the White House fence to protest Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). Pietrangelo was discharged under DADT in 2004, and Choi is in the process of being discharged under it now. Also arrested was activist Robin McGehee of
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill to amend the Fair Housing Act to ban housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The commissioners of Kissimmee, Florida voted to allow city employees to cover their unmarried domestic partners under the city’s health and dental insurance plan. The Oklahoma state Senate approved an
First, an opportunity: The Bilerico Project and PFLAG have partnered to provide funding for unemployed LGBT people to go to Washington, D.C. on March 16 and lobby on behalf of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Details are here. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and 11 Democratic cosponsors introduced a bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) plans to introduce a bill as soon as next week to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He says it will still be hard to get it passed this year. Meanwhile the Marine Corps commandant said that while he supports a Pentagon assessment about how to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the
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
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
