The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed new federal regulations that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in its core housing programs. (My piece on this at Keen News Service. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a group of clergy who want […]
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he would work to help implement the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, even though he opposed the legislation. President Barack Obama renominated Edward C. DuMont to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. If the Senate approves his nomination, DuMont would become
The U.S. Senate just followed the House and voted to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military’s ban on openly lesbian or gay servicemembers. As someone married to a former Air Force captain, and with lesbian friends still serving, I say, “Woo hoo!” We still have a long way to go before same-sex partners/spouses of
Don’t Ask. There’s no telling. The Senate vote on repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is scheduled for tomorrow. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) is planning to have service members sitting in the public gallery of the Senate chamber until the vote. Remember ENDA? Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly has a good article on what
The U.S. Senate failed to move forward a defense spending bill that included provisions to repeal the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), along with co-sponsors Susan Collins (R-ME), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced a free-standing bill for repeal. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice made
The U.S. Senate today failed to move forward a defense spending bill that included provisions to repeal the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The story is still developing, and will soon be picked apart and analyzed by better than I, so I’ll simply note that while this isn’t a parenting-specific story, it nevertheless has
Politics The Pentagon report on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell says that same-sex partners of servicemembers would still not be entitled to the same benefits as opposite-sex spouses. Apparently, the military is worried that unmarried opposite-sex partners would want benefits, too. Until such time as it realizes there are workable solutions, Nancy Polikoff
The Pentagon’s top four leaders testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee in favor of repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. John McCain and some Republicans, however, weren’t convinced. U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt declined to recuse himself from the Prop 8 case. Opponents of marriage equality had asked him to withdraw
In the ongoing tennis match that is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, the latest is that President Obama has told Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin (D-MI) that he is committed to including repeal in the National Defense Authorization Act. Two Republican senators have expressed support for repeal—Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and John Ensign (R-NV).
Lesbian and gay servicemembers with children face additional pressures under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” explain Daniel Redman and Ilona Turner at The Nation. Servicemembers may hesitate to get involved in custody battles for their children because doing so would reveal them as gay or lesbian and get them dismissed under DADT. If they try to marry
