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David Thompson, an attorney saddled with the unfortunate task of representing Prop 8 defendants, remarked in court during the federal trial that supporting the Prop 8 campaign was” political kryptonite,” according to the Washington Post.

Thompson, while cross-examining Stanford professor Gary Sergura, attempted to show that Prop 8 supporters “had been assaulted, gotten death threats and been subjected to economic boycotts,” and that the gay rights movement had suffered because of it.

In other words, Thompson was saying Prop 8 (a.k.a. “traditional marriage”) supporters are the victims here, not gay people. And that gay people have brought negative backlash upon themselves by standing up for their equal rights.

Sergura countered that he considered boycotts an acceptable political tool, but “organized violence or even broad disorderly behavior certainly has a negative impact.”  He said such behavior was “a cry for help or expression of frustration, or maybe the ultimate expression of powerlessness” by those whose lives were affected by the passage of Prop 8.

What would Thompson have the LGBT community do in response to having our equal rights stripped away? Sit back and take whatever hate-filled bigotry so-called “traditional marriage” supporters dish out with no repercussions?  Does he honestly believe his side would do the same if the shoe were on the other foot?  Judging from the hate speech [unpublishable here] that Prop 8 supporters were spewing out at Prop 8 rallies and during the trial, the answer seems to be a resounding “no”.

Lt. Dan Choi, an Iraq war veteran who has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military ban on openly gay service members, has been discharged from the Army National Guard.

In a telephone call from his battalion commander on Thursday morning, Choi was notified of his honorable discharge, coming almost a year and a half after he came out on national television.

Choi

Choi issued this statement:

“This morning I received notification of my honorable discharge from the army under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” After 11 years since beginning my journey at West Point and after 17 months of serving openly as an infantry officer this is both an infuriating and painful announcement.

“But my service continues. To all those veterans who have endured similar trials and injustices or prematurely ended their military service because of the unjust policy: our fight has only begun.

“The true honor and dignity of service does not come from a piece of paper, a pension or paycheck, a rank or status; only an unflinching commitment to improve the lives of others can determine the nature of one’s service. From the first moment we put on our nation’s uniform and swore our solemn oath, we committed ourselves to fight for freedom and justice; to defend our constitution and put the needs of others before our own. This is not an oath that I intend to abandon. Doing so at such a time, or remaining silent when our family and community members are fired or punished for who they truly are would be an unequivocal moral dereliction that tarnishes the honor of the uniform and insults the meaning of America.”

Choi’s discharge order here (PDF).

Since outing himself, Choi has become a vocal opponent of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In March, he criticized Defense Secretary Robert Gates for only relaxing enforcement of the policy rather than unilaterally ceasing enforcement.

On two occasions earlier this year, Choi was arrested for handcuffing himself to the White House fence in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” protests. He was charged with two counts of failure to obey a lawful order, but last week prosecutors dropped all charges.

Earlier this week, Choi was arrested in Las Vegas during a demonstration calling on Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic senate majority leader, to do more to pass the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Meanwhile, efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” continue to move through Congress and the military. The Pentagon is currently conducting a study into a possible repeal’s effects. A report on that study is expected to be presented to President Obama and military officials by December 1.

Since 1993, when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was introduced, more than 14,000 servicemen and women have been discharged because of their sexual orientation, and tens of thousands of others have voluntarily ended their military careers.

Choi announced he is gay on The Rachel Maddow Show on March 19, 2009, prompting the U.S. Army to initiate discharge proceedings. His discharge became effective on June 29, 2010.

Lt. Dan Choi is a controversial crusader for DADT repeal

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A study released by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law estimates that there are currently several thousand lesbian, gay, and bisexual soldiers serving in the military, and enforcing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has cost U.S. taxpayers up to more than a half a billion dollars since its inception in 1994.

Study author Dr. Gary J. Gates (presumably no relation to Defense Secretary Robert Gates) stated that, “Despite official policy requiring that lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals remain silent about their sexual orientation, data from the US Census Bureau suggest that an estimated 66,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women are serving in the US military.”

Key findings of the study include:

• An estimated 66,000 lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are serving in the US military, accounting for approximately 2.2% of military personnel.
• Approximately 13,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are serving on active duty (comprising 0.9% of all active duty personnel) while nearly 53,000 are serving in the guard and reserve forces (3.4%).
• While women comprise only about 14% of active duty personnel, they comprise more than 43% of lesbian and/or bisexual men and women serving on active duty.
• Lifting DADT restrictions could attract an estimated 36,700 men and women to active duty service and 12,000 more individuals to the guard and reserve.
• Since its inception in 1994, the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy has cost the military between $290 million to more than a half a billion dollars.
• The military spends an estimated $22,000 to $43,000 per person to replace those discharged under DADT.

In other words, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has never worked, and never will.

In the meantime, both the Senate and the Pentagon have continued to drag their feet on the issue, despite prompting from President Obama, former U.S. Generals, and Congress to repeal the archaic law.  A repeal passed the House earlier this year.

Click here for for a link to the study.

Ted Olson said he fully intends to take the Prop 8 trial to the US Supreme Court

Ted Olson, a staunch conservative and one of the attorneys challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 (and the state’s ballot initiative process) in federal court wrote a lengthy but brilliant op-ed piece for Newsweek titled The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage:  Why same-sex marriage is an American value.

As we patiently await Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling, let’s take a few moments to remember the highlights:

• The very idea of marriage is basic to recognition as equals in our society; any status short of that is inferior, unjust, and unconstitutional.
• Conservatives should celebrate gay marriage.  Same-sex unions promote the values conservatives prize. Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation.  The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance
• The 14th Amendment says “no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person the equal protection of the laws”.  What better way to make this national aspiration complete than to apply the same protection to men and women who differ from others only on the basis of their sexual orientation?
• The Supreme Court has has set precedents establishing marriage as part of the Constitution’s protections of liberty, privacy, freedom of association, and spiritual identification.  Without it, there can be no true equality under the law.In Romer v. Evans (1996) the Supreme Court struck down a popularly adopted Colorado constitutional amendment that withdrew the rights of gays and lesbians in that state to the protection of anti-discrimination laws. And seven years ago, in Lawrence v. Texas, (2002) the Supreme Court struck down, as lacking any rational basis, Texas laws prohibiting private, intimate sexual practices between persons of the same sex, overruling a contrary decision called Bowers v. Hardwick (1986).
• The Supreme Court has always considered marriage in the context of the underlying rights and liberties that marriage embodies, which are in no way confined to heterosexuals.
• Simply because something has always been done in a “traditional” way does not mean that it must always remain that way. Otherwise we would still have segregated schools and debtors’ prisons.  The fact that some states now honor same-gender unions further weakens the “tradition” argument.
• The procreation argument cannot be taken seriously.  We do not inquire whether heterosexual couples intend to bear children, or have the capacity to have children, before we allow them to marry.  Allowing gays and lesbians to marry someone of the same sex will not discourage heterosexuals from marrying a person of the opposite sex. How, then, would allowing same-sex marriages reduce the number of children that heterosexual couples conceive?
• Gay marriage does no harm to heterosexual marriage.  When [Judge Walker] asked our opponent to identify the ways in which same-sex marriage would harm heterosexual marriage, to his credit he answered honestly: he could not think of any.
• Refusal to accord marriage to gays and lesbians tells them, those who love them, and society as a whole that their relationships are less worthy, less legitimate, less permanent, and less valued. This serves no benefit to society.
• I reject religious teachings that denounce homosexuality as morally wrong, illegitimate, or unnatural.  Science has shown us that gays and lesbians do not choose to be homosexual any more than the rest of us choose to be heterosexual. To a very large extent, these characteristics are immutable, like being left-handed.
• Society has changed since Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Loving v. Virginia (1967).   I am convinced that Americans will be equally proud when we no longer discriminate against gays and lesbians and welcome them into our society.
• We disagree with the notion that we have brought this case too soon, and that neither the country nor the courts are “ready” to tackle this issue and remove this stigma.  We do not tell persons who have a legitimate claim to wait until the time is “right” and the populace is “ready” to recognize their equality and equal dignity under the law.
• Americans who believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence, in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in the 14th Amendment, and in the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and equal dignity before the law cannot sit by while this wrong continues. This is not a conservative or liberal issue; it is an American one, and it is time that we, as Americans, embraced it.

The trial has taken much longer than expected, and will be appealed in the 9th Circuit.  It will almost certainly heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Did you know approximately 17,000 children are being raised by LGBT parents in binational families, and those children face the very real possibility of losing a parent, or leaving the only country they have ever called home?  It’s true.  And if the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) passes without language including LGBT families, that’s exactly what might happen.

Families like Shirley Tan's (second from left) would benefit from an LGBT-inclusive UAFA

The UAFA was introduced in the House by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and in the Senate by Patrick Leahy (D-VT) this past February, and has 124 co-sponsors.  The bill will amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate discrimination in immigration laws, by permitting permanent partners of US citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status, the same way as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents. It will also penalize immigration fraud in connection with permanent partnerships.

Key lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill today to rally their support for ending discrimination against LGBT binational families, including Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), who has worked tirelessly to end discrimination against all immigrant families through his inclusive Reuniting Families Act, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).  These lawmakers called on Congress to ensure LGBT binational families are not separated or forced to live in exile.

According to the U.S. Census, there are an estimated 36,000 same-sex binational couples who could benefit from this act.  However, it has little bipartisan support.  Most Republicans believe the UAFA could open up the doors for immigration fraud, even though it would penalize those who attempt to evade immigration law, because it will be difficult or impossible for immigration officers to determine whether a partnership is long-term and permanent.  The Family Research Council criticizes the UAFA as discriminatory because the language of the bill excludes opposite-sex couples from being able to become permanent partners, so it is only applicable to LGBT individuals.

The UAFA is currently in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law in the House, and in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.  Neither the House nor the Senate has scheduled a vote on the bill.

Choi and Pietrangelo

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Prosecutors have dropped all charges against two openly gay service members who twice chained themselves to a White House fence to protest the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Lt. Dan Choi and Cpt. James Pietrangelo II had been charged with two counts of failure to obey a lawful order after they were arrested on two separate occasions back on March 18 and April 20 while protesting the military ban on openly gay service members.

Choi and Pietrangelo appeared in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday with the intent to plead not guilty and face trial when word came that the government had decided against prosecution.

Choi had subpoenaed President Obama to appear, but an attorney for the prosecution told the Associated Press that the subpoena was never served.

Prosecutor Christine Chang wasn’t able to explain the last-minute decision to drop the charges, but Choi said he believes Obama administration officials didn’t want to draw attention to the policy.

The ruling in U.S. District Court in Boston on Thursday, in which Judge Joseph Tauro declared the “Defense of Marriage Act” as “unconstitutional,” has left the Obama administration pondering its next move — under the careful watch of gay rights advocates.

Tauro’s ruling in two separate but similar cases involving DOMA, held that the act violated the Fifth and Tenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and forced the state of Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

Officially, the Justice Department is in the process of “reviewing the decision” and had not yet decided whether to further defend DOMA.

However, last year DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler suggested that “until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system.”

But President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that he would like to see DOMA repealed.

“Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does,” said candidate Obama, prior to being elected President.

Regardless, it is widely expected that the Justice Department will appeal Judge Tauro’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

“While we expect the department to continue to defend DOMA on appeal, we urge the Obama administration to push Congress to repeal a law that we know, and Judge Tauro recognized, serves no purpose but to denigrate our families,” the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization, said in a statement.

Signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton, the federal statute defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In the process, it denies some 1,100 federal benefits to same-sex couples, including those who live in the five states and the District of Columbia where same-sex marriage is legal.

Gay rights advocates scored a major victory in federal court Thursday, as a U.S. District Court judge in Boston struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman.

Judge Joseph L. Tauro, ruling on two separate challenges to DOMA, held that the act is unconstitutional and forced the state of Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

Excerpts from Tauro’s rulings:

The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid.

Tauro

In the wake of DOMA, it is only sexual orientation that differentiates a married couple entitled to federal marriage- based benefits from one not so entitled. And this court can conceive of no way in which such a difference might be relevant to the provision of the benefits at issue.

Importantly, the passage of DOMA marks the first time that the federal government has ever attempted to legislatively mandate a uniform federal definition of marriage–or any other core concept of domestic relations, for that matter.

Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves. And such a classification, the Constitution clearly will not permit.

Tauro noted that Congress laid out four reasons for the 1996 legislation: promoting “responsible procreation and child-bearing,” defending “traditional heterosexual marriage,” supporting “traditional notions of morality” and guarding limited federal resources.

Nancy Gill and her spouse, Marcelle Letourneau, celebrate a court victory. (Photo: GLAD.)

In the case of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, Tauro found that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In that suit, filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the Plaintiffs — seven same-sex couples married in Massachusetts, and three survivors of same-sex spouses, also married in Massachusetts — charged that they have been denied certain federal marriage-based benefits that are available to similarly-situated heterosexual couples, in violation of the equal protection principles embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto argued that DOMA constitutes a “classic equal protection” violation, by taking one class of married people in Massachusetts and dividing it into two — one class gets federal benefits, and the other does not.

In the companion ruling in the case of the Commonwealth v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, the judge held that the same section of DOMA violated the Tenth Amendment and fell outside Congress’ authority under the Spending Clause of the Constitution.

In the latter case, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, argued that DOMA denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004.

The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by Congress by a vote of 85-14 in the Senate and a vote of 342-67 in the House of Representatives, and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996.

At the time of passage, it was expected that Hawaii (and possibly other states) would soon legalize same-sex marriage, whether by legislation or judicial interpretation of either the state or federal constitution. Gay marriage opponents feared that other states would then be required to recognize such marriages under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution.

To date, only Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia recognize such marriages from other jurisdictions.

The next step in both cases is for the federal government to decide whether it will appeal Judge Tauro’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That decision should come within the next 60 days.

Read the rulings here:

Ruling in the case of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management.
Ruling in the case of Commonwealth v. United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” is advising gay and lesbian service members not to participate in a Pentagon survey released this week that focuses on the impact to the military if the policy is repealed.

Sarvis (Photo: SLDN)

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN and an Army veteran, issued this statement:

A number of service members have contacted SLDN to seek guidance on surveys concerning the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — the discriminatory law barring gay and lesbian service members from serving with integrity.

At this time SLDN cannot recommend that lesbian, gay, or bisexual service members participate in any survey being administered by the Department of Defense, the Pentagon Working Group, or any third-party contractors.

While the surveys are apparently designed to protect the individual’s privacy, there is no guarantee of privacy and DOD has not agreed to provide immunity to service members whose privacy may be inadvertently violated or who inadvertently outs himself or herself. If a service member still wishes to participate, he or she should only do so in a manner that does not reveal sexual orientation.

The Pentagon on Wednesday began sending 400,000 surveys to U.S. service members asking their opinion about what impact the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” might have on morale and readiness, and their willingness to share quarters with gay or lesbian service members.

The survey contains a link specifically for gay or lesbian service members who wish to provide additional comment.

The Pentagon on Wednesday began sending 400,000 surveys to U.S. service members asking their opinion about what impact the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” might have on morale and readiness, and their willingness to share quarters with gay or lesbian service members.

The survey of more than 100 questions is being sent to 200,000 active duty troops and 200,000 reserve troops, all selected at random.

According to CNN:

The survey, which service members can expect to receive via e-mail, asks about such issues as how unit morale or readiness might be affected if a commander is believed to be gay or lesbian; the need to maintain personal standards of conduct; and how repeal might affect willingness to serve in the military.

The survey also asks a number of questions aimed at identifying problems that could occur when troops live and work in close quarters in overseas war zones. For example, the questionnaire asks military members how they would react if they had to share a room, bathrooms, and open-bay showers in a war zone with other service members believed to be gay or lesbian.

The survey also seeks opinions on whether or not “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military ban on openly gay service members, should be repealed.

Although the identity of all those who respond is expected to remain confidential, there is a link within the survey specifically for gay or lesbian service members who wish to provide additional comment without fear of being singled out and separated from the service as required by the existing law.

A similar survey will be sent to the family members of service members around the first week in August.

Two openly gay U.S. Army National Guard soldiers who were arrested for handcuffing themselves to a White House fence have subpoenaed President Obama to defend them in court, citing they were following orders of their Commander-in-Chief’s to lobby him for gay rights.

Choi and Pietrangelo at a March 18 White House protest.
Photo credit: John Aravosis of AmericaBlog.com

Lt. Dan Choi and Cpt. James Pietrangelo II have been charged with two counts of failure to obey a lawful order after they were arrested on two separate occasions back on March 18 and April 20, 2010.

According to their attorneys:

The Defendants seek to use their trials to highlight the ongoing effects of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and policy of the U.S. Armed Forces toward gay and lesbian service members.

They seek to compel the testimony of President Barack Obama who has, on several occasions as President and Commander in Chief (and previously as a Senator and Presidential Candidate) called on the LGBT community to “pressure” him to change the DADT law and policy, thus allowing gay service members to serve their country openly and honorably.

[Full memorandum .pdf]

The defendants claim they were following the President’s orders regarding his support for public pressure to abolish the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military ban on openly gay service members.

In an October 2009 speech at a Human Rights Campaign event, Obama called upon gay rights to put pressure on him for the advancement of LGBT rights, including the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

From the President’s speech:

If we are honest with ourselves we’ll admit that there are too many who do not yet know in their lives or feel in their hearts the urgency of this struggle….

And that’s why it’s so important that you continue to speak out, that you continue to set an example, that you continue to pressure leaders — including me — and to make the case all across America.

The two servicemen are expected to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 14 to face charges in the non-jury trial.

While it is unlikely the President will testify at the trial, attorney Ann Wilcox plans to use the President’s remarks as part of the defense.

Kagan

Kagan affirmed her opposition to the military ban on openly gay service members while she was Dean at Harvard Law School, and said she still holds that belief.

From the Washington Blade:

“I have repeatedly said that I believe that the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy is unwise and unjust,” she said. “I believed it then and I believe it now.”

Kagan said as dean she tried to ensure military recruiters had “full and complete access” while she simultaneously tried to enforce Harvard’s non-discrimination policy that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In response to the question from Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, Kagan said she had an “institutional responsibility” to defend the school’s long-standing anti-discrimination policy.

President Barack Obama hosted a reception at the White House on Tuesday to honor LGBT Pride Month, and vowed to push ahead with his gay rights agenda, assuring an audience of mostly gay men and women that he remains committed to repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The president pointed to progress on a variety of issues important to gay men and lesbians, including expansion of hospital visitation rights for same-sex partners, steps toward eliminating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military’s policy barring gay men and women from serving openly, and passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, the historic hate crimes prevention bill signed into law in October 2009 that expands federal civil rights protections to include crimes against individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Advocates for gay rights groups say they are pleased, but are looking for more.

The Family Equality Council issued a statement praising Obama for “small but significant steps’’ he has taken toward LGBT equality, but said “big-ticket items” such as repeal of DOMA, passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and gay adoptions “have yet to be addressed.”

Following is Obama’s address at the reception:

In a rather extensive New Yorker magazine profile, assessing his chances in the 2012 Presidential race, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee expounded upon his opposition to gay marriage with this well considered prose:

“We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn’t work the same.”

Earlier this year, in an interview with The Perspective, a student publication at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ, Huckabee compared gay marriage to incest and polygamy:

“You don’t go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal,” Huckabee said of same-sex marriage.

“That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let’s go ahead and accommodate those who want to use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them.”

President Obama is taking another step to expand the rights of gay workers by allowing them to take family and medical leave to care for sick or newborn children of same-sex partners, administration officials annoiunced Monday.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is scheduled to make the announcement on Wednesday that will require employers to allow gay employees the same unpaid time off for family or personal matters that’s been given to heterosexual workers for almost 20 years.

The new regulations will require businesses of 50 or more employees to abide by an expanded interpretation of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a 12-month period for employees to care for family members with medical needs, including childbirth. This expansion applies only to caring for children.

Earlier this month, Obama ordered government agencies to extend child care services and expanded family leave to federal workers. Obama’s order for federal employees, though, covers only benefits that can be extended under existing law, without congressional action. Legislative action would be required for a full range of health care and other benefits.

In April, Mr. Obama announced plans to grant hospital visiting rights to same-sex partners, and the Justice Department concluded that the Violence Against Women Act protects same-sex partners.

Pelosi

During her weekly press conference on Friday, Pelosi told the Washington Blade that lawmakers “still have to finish ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’” before moving on to ENDA.

Pelosi called ENDA a “personal priority,” but said the House took up “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” because bringing the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill to the floor presented an opportunity for repeal.

“But because the defense bill came up now, we did ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ first,” she said. “But we want to finish that.”

While it could take several months for Congress to finish legislative action on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” supporters of ENDA have been pushing Pelosi to move forward with the legislation.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is a proposed bill in the U.S. Congress that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for civilian nonreligious employers with over 15 employees.

Full story at the Washington Blade.

The Health and Human Services Committee, in its recommendations, noted that current policy permits some potentially high-risk blood donations and prevents some possible low-risk donations. But the panel said existing research isn’t adequate to justify lifting the ban.

“This decision is outrageous, irresponsible and archaic,” Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement.

“We expect more out of this advisory committee and this administration than to uphold an unnecessarily discriminatory policy from another era.”

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates blood donations, has final say over the blood rules. It currently forbids any man who has had sex with another man in the last 33 years from giving blood.

The FDA policy was imposed in 1985, amidst the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Experts testifying before federal health officials this week said the ban is out of step with advances in screening for HIV and other diseases.

The move goes beyond a memo Obama signed last June, which permitted same-sex partners to use the government’s long-term-care insurance and other fringe benefits. The Office of Personnel Management said Tuesday that same-sex partners will become eligible for such insurance next month.

However, Obama lamented that current federal law -– referring to the Defense of Marriage Act -– prevents him from extending the full range of health and retirement benefits to federal employees. He has called on Congress to pass legislation that would allow him to do so.

Following is the full text of the President’s statement:

“Last year, I issued a Presidential Memorandum that instructed the Office of Personnel Management and the Secretary of State to extend certain available benefits they had identified to gay & lesbian federal employees and their families under their respective jurisdictions.

Among those benefits were long-term care insurance and expanded sick leave for civil service employees and medical care abroad, eligibility for employment at posts, cost-of-living adjustments abroad and medical evacuation for domestic partners of foreign service members.

In that same Memorandum, I called upon the federal agencies to undertake a comprehensive review and to identify any additional benefits that could be extended to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees under existing law.

That process has now concluded, and I am proud to announce that earlier today, I signed a Memorandum that requires Executive agencies to take immediate action to extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees a number of meaningful benefits, from family assistance services to hardship transfers to relocation expenses. It also requires agencies that extend any new benefits to employees’ opposite-sex spouses to make those benefits available on equal terms to employees’ same-sex domestic partners to the extent permitted by law.

While this Memorandum is an important step on the path to equality, my Administration continues to be prevented by existing Federal law from providing same-sex domestic partners with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

That is why, today, I renew my call for swift passage of an important piece of legislation pending in both Houses of Congress — the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act. This legislation, championed by Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, would extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees the full range of benefits currently enjoyed by Federal employees’ opposite-sex spouses.

I look forward to signing it into law.”

Haggard

Ted Haggard, the disgraced pastor who resigned from his ministry in 2006 amid an embarrassing gay sex scandal, was back in his home town Wednesday to announce he was starting a new church in Colorado Springs.

According to the AP:

Haggard said his new venture would not be a megachurch like New Life Church, the congregation he founded in 1985 and then left in 2006 after a male prostitute said Haggard paid him for sex.

Haggard said he doesn’t know how many people will attend his new church, but he said the ordeal he and his wife, Gayle, went through has prepared them to help others.

“I have an incredible heart for broken people,” he said. “I think we’re qualified to hold people’s hands” in times of trouble.

Haggard, once an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, resigned as the head of his 14,000-member megachurch and as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in 2006 when male prostitute Mike Jones said that the pastor had been paying him for sex for the last three years and had bought methamphetamines from him.

The 53-year-old married father of five, also confessed to having had an inappropriate sexual relationship with Grant Haas, a 20-year-old male volunteer, in 2006.

Earlier this year, Haggard said he had discovered in therapy that he had been abused by a man when he was a child and that therapy has cured him of his gay “compulsions.”

Haggard said his new Saint James Church will be open to everyone, Republicans and Democrats, heterosexuals and homosexuals alike.

Powell

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said “the country has changed” in the 17 years since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” became law and now believes, “it is perfectly acceptable to get rid of the law and the policy.”

The retired general and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said, “at the end of the day, the law will change and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will go away.”

Originally, Powell was opposed to President Clinton’s 1993 effort to end the military’s ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, testifying before Congress that it would negatively affect the “cohesion and well-being” of the force.

In February, Powell issued a statement announcing his support for repealing the law in February, following the testimony of the current Joint Chiefs Chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, to the Senate Armed Services Committee that repealing the law would be the “right thing to do.”

But, he added, “before we actually do it, we have to hear clearly from the officers and men and women who are in charge of executing that policy.”

Watch an excerpt from the interview at ABC News.

Following is the full text of the Presidential Proclamation, issued by the White House:

As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists.

LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the fabric of our national life. From business leaders and professors to athletes and first responders, LGBT individuals have achieved success and prominence in every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, and our friends and neighbors. Across my Administration, openly LGBT employees are serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before us the brave men and women who marched, stood up to injustice, and brought change through acts of compassion or defiance we have made enormous progress and continue to strive for a more perfect union.

My Administration has advanced our journey by signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which strengthens Federal protections against crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation. We renewed the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides life saving medical services and support to Americans living with HIV/AIDS, and finally eliminated the HIV entry ban. I also signed a Presidential Memorandum directing hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds to give LGBT patients the compassion and security they deserve in their time of need, including the ability to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions.

In other areas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a series of proposals to ensure core housing programs are open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. HUD also announced the first ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services has created a National Resource Center for LGBT Elders.

Much work remains to fulfill our Nation’s promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal.

As we honor the LGBT Americans who have given so much to our Nation, let us remember that if one of us is unable to realize full equality, we all fall short of our founding principles. Our Nation draws its strength from our diversity, with each of us contributing to the greater whole. By affirming these rights and values, each American benefits from the further advancement of liberty and justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

This is the second consecutive year Obama has issued the proclamation.

Prior to Obama’s administration, President Bill Clinton was the last president to issue such a proclamation, first doing so in 1999 and then in 2000 before he left office.

President George W. Bush never issued a proclamation commemorating gay pride. Clinton’s proclamations differed from Obama’s in calling June “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month,” leaving out “bisexual” and “transgender.”

By a vote of 229-186 that split largely down party lines, the House approved a larger Pentagon policy bill that contains the repeal, with 26 Democrats voting against it and nine Republicans in favor.

The formal vote echoes Thursday night’s action, when the House approved adding the amendment to the Pentagon bill by 234-191.

Friday’s vote came hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told military members the repeal measure would allow a policy change only after thorough review by the Obama administration.

Since 1993, when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was introduced, more than 14,000 servicemen and women have been discharged because of their sexual orientation, and tens of thousands of others have voluntarily ended their military careers.

The Senate is expected to take up the defense bill this summer. Supporters likely will need the votes of 60 of the 100 senators to prevent opponents from blocking it.

The provision to allow military commanders to repeal the ban was adopted as an amendment to the annual Pentagon policy bill, which the House is expected to vote on Friday.

The measure passed 234 to 194, delivering a major victory to gay rights activists who have opposed the military policy since it was enacted in 1993.

It also marks the most aggressive step by Democrats in implementing President Obama’s campaign pledge to end the policy.

The repeal would be allowed 60 days after a Pentagon report is completed on the ramifications of allowing openly gay service members, and military leaders certify that it would not be disruptive. The report is due by Dec. 1.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a similar measure allowing the repeal.

The vote, in a closed session, was 16 to 12, with one Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, in favor of the repeal, and one Democrat, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, in opposition.

In a statement released by the White House Thursday night, President Obama hailed the votes, and said the “legislation will help make our Armed Forces even stronger and more inclusive by allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve honestly and with integrity.”

In his State of the Union Address in January, Obama called on Congress to repeal the ban.

The New York Times reports:

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted in a closed session, after about an hour of heated debate.

The tally was 16 to 12. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she was the only Republican to vote in favor of a repeal. She called the debate “vigorous.”

Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the committee, said he believed the full Senate would support the repeal.

The full House of Representatives also planned to take up an identical measure today, with a House vote coming as early as tonight.

The provision, which lawmakers are attaching to a $726 billion defense funding bill, would take effect only if the Defense Department study determines that changing the policy would not affect the military’s ability to fight wars or recruit soldiers.

President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates favor repealing the ban, but the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have objected.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has urged Congress to delay voting on the issue until after Dec. 1, when the Defense Department is expected to complete a review of how to impose new rules.

McCain said the policy change would be “harmful” to morale.

According to The Hill:

Legislation to scrap the ban on openly gay service members in the military is expected to clear a major hurdle Thursday in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The chief backers of repeal, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), another senior member of the panel, would need 15 votes, or a simple majority, to include the legislation in the 2011 defense authorization bill.

According to the latest count by gay-rights activists, who are pressuring panel members to vote for repeal, all Democrats on the committee — except Sen. Jim Webb (Va.) — are expected to support scrapping the ban.

The House Armed Services Committee passed its version of the Department of Defense Authorization bill last week without addressing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

But House Democratic leaders are expected to include an amendment calling for the policy’s repeal. A full House vote on the bill could happen as early as Thursday also.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he wouldn’t oppose the Democrats’ approach, although he added he would prefer Congress to hold off until the Pentagon completes its study.