Inside DC| More...
 

Gays in the Military

AMA Votes To Seek Repeal Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

AP | LINDSEY TANNER | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: AMA Dadt Repeal, AMA Don't Ask Don't Tell, AMA Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Dadt Repeal, AMA Dadt, Dadt, American Medical Association, AMA Dadt Vote, Ama, Politics News

CHICAGO — The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to oppose the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, and declared that gay marri...

Read Whole Story

Obama Is Timid Because Progressives Are Timid

Aaron Belkin | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, Afghanistan, One Year Later, Financial Crisis, Climate Change, Obama One Year Later, Timidity to Govern, Health Care, Arianna Huffington, Barack Obama, Politics News
Aaron Belkin

What can we expect from a President who presides over a relatively conservative public, whose party is fractured by a fundamental contradiction, and whose legislative agenda is held hostage by Ben Nelson?

Read Post

Marine Commandant Defies White House on Gay Troops

Aaron Belkin | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Barack Obama, US Marines, Gay Rights, James Conway, Gay Issues, Politics News
Aaron Belkin

Commandant General James Conway's opposition to the president on "don't ask, don't tell" could have many underlying implications. Some would say he should be taken out to the woodshed.

Read Post

James T. Conway, Marine, Leads Fight To Keep "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

The Washington Times | Rowan Scarborough | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Repeal Dadt, Gay Rights Movement, Gay Rights, Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Dadt, James T. Conway Dadt, James T. Conway, Politics News

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and w...

Read Whole Story

I Have a Problem

Bil Browning | Posted 10.28.2009 | Living

Read More: Faggot, Fag, Faggots, Buju Banton, Gays in the Military, Balloon Boy, Gays and Lesbians, Derogatory Slurs, The F-Word, Living News
Bil Browning

The music teacher found out that I played piano and asked me to play in front of the class. In a panic, I chose the most masculine piece I could think of -- the Marine's Hymn. Apparently, it wasn't butch enough.

Read Post

Obama Strikes Back -- First Year Agenda, Phase III

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 10.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Dick Armey, Chrysler, Gm, Public Option, Liberals, Lebanon, Camelot, Democrats, Democratic Party, Gitmo, Barack Obama, Gays in the Military, Tea Baggers, Conservatives, Fox News, Neoconservatives, Harry Reid, Newt Gingrich, Republican Party, Health Care, Obama Cairo Speech, Republicans, Tea Bagging, Uigers, Politics News
Michael B. Laskoff

Phase III: Obama Strikes Back. The Republicans are still leaderless and teabaggers have hung up their Lipton for the winter. Meanwhile, two-thirds of Americans still want health care reform.

Read Post

Refuting the Latest Arguments Against Gay Troops

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Gays in the Military, Honor, James Bowman, Barack Obama, Weekly Standard, Palm Center, Politics News
Nathaniel Frank

Defenses of the military's gay ban have long been rooted in the moral belief that homosexuality is wrong, but its champions cast their defense of the policy in terms of the famous "unit cohesion" rationale.

Read Post

Edie Disler, Air Force Academy Professor, Disciplined For "Don't Ask Don't Tell" Discussion

Posted 10.09.2009 | Denver

Read More: Jared Polis, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Edie DIsler, Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Air Force, Csprings, Denver News

A professor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Edie Disler, alleges that she has been disciplined for inviting gay Academy graduates to spe...

Read Whole Story

President Obama Should Show He's Queer Like Us

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 10.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Michelle Patrick, Janet Dagley, White House, Hate Crimes, Sam Putnam, Big Gay Speech, Brent Childers, President Obama, March on Washington, Queer, Human Rights Campaign, Edith Disler, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, Equality Maine, Gay Marriage, Jennifer Putnam, Obama Gay Rights, Barack Obama Civil Rights, Politics News
Nathaniel Frank

Show the world, Mr. President, how we are just like you, and perhaps more important, how you are just like us: In what ways are we pretty normal, and in what ways are you kinda Queer?

Read Post

The Big Gay Speech We Wish Obama Would Give

Emma Ruby-Sachs | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Enda, President Obama, Immigration, Obama, Human Rights Campaign, Gay, Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Barack Obama, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, California Gay Marriage, Immigration Reform, Gay Rights, Maine Gay Marriage, Fundraising, Obama Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Marriage, Big Gay Speech, Obama Big Gay Speech, Politics News
Emma Ruby-Sachs

I'm sure his speechwriters have cooked up something special for Saturday, but I've got a few ideas of my own. I've written a speech for the beloved President -- the kind of speech we wish the man would give, just once.

Read Post

Profiles in Courage: JFK and Barack Obama

Geoffrey R. Stone | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Lgbt, Gays in the Military, LGBT Issues, Gay Rights, Big Gay Speech, LGBT Rights, Obama Gay Rights, Gay, Gays, Gay Marriage, Gay Issues, Barack Obama, Obama Big Gay Speech, Politics News
Geoffrey R. Stone

Here's the speech I would like to hear Obama make on Saturday when he addresses the national meeting of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest lesbian and gay civil rights organization in the nation.

Read Post

Dan Choi, Gay Soldier, Debates Conservative Military Analyst Over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (VIDEO)

Posted 10.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Dan Choi Video, Elaine Donnelly, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Anderson Cooper, Center for Military Readiness, Gays in the Military, Cnn, Dan Choi, Dan Choi Elaine Donnelly, Politics News

CNN's Anderson Cooper hosted a debate between First Lieutenant Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arabic linguist who is facing a discharge for annou...

Read Whole Story

The Right Time to Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell Is Now

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand | Posted 10.05.2009 | New York

Read More: Senate Armed Services Committee, Gays in the Military, Dadt, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Harry Reid, Gay Rights, Barack Obama, Carl Levin, New York News
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

I've secured the commitment from Sen. Carl Levin, chair of the Armed Services Committee, to hold the first hearing on Don't Ask Don't Tell since it began 16 years ago.

Read Post

Fresh Breeze Blowing in the Pentagon

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 10.01.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, National War College, Elaine Donnelly, Boston Globe, Department of Defense, Col. Om Prakash, Joint Forces Quarterly, Defense Secretary William Perry, Gao Report, Dadt, New York Times, Admiral Mike Mullen, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Elizabeth Bumiller, Jfq, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

An Air Force colonel's new article is the closest we've ever come to recognition by an official Pentagon publication that "don't ask, don't tell" has got to go, and go soon.

Read Post

Jason Linkins

Pentagon Journal Calls For Repeal Of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 09.30.2009 | Media

Read More: Barack Obama, Pentagon, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Obama Don't Ask Don't Tell, Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Media News

For a long while now, I've been of the mind that the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that the Armed Forces enforces on its soldiers is pointles...

Read Whole Story

Joseph Christopher Rocha: Gay Sailor's Abuse To Be Reviewed By Navy

Youth Radio | Rachel Krantz | Posted 09.23.2009 | Home

Read More: Hate Crimes, Hazing, Abuse, K-9, Joseph Christopher Rocha, Navy Canine Unit, Bahrain, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay, Dadt, Youth Radio, Gay Rights, Gays in the Military, Military, Navy K-9 Unit, Navy Canine, Navy, US Navy, Sailor, Home News

After Youth Radio exposed a culture of hazing, including psychological and physical abuse, at a U.S. Navy canine unit in Bahrain, the nation's top Nav...

Read Whole Story

What Can Stop the Gay-Bashing in the Military?

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 09.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask, Stop-Loss, Gays in the Military, President Obama, Joseph Rocha, Gay Bashing, Executive Order, Palm Center, Tailhook, Patrick Murphy, Politics News
Nathaniel Frank

Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Rocha was brutalized for more than two years at his base in Bahrain after his refusal to hire a prostitute raised suspicions that he was gay. This is not an academic debate.

Read Post

Do the Ten Commandments Support Gays in the Military?

Bruce Feiler | Posted 09.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Bill Clinton, Bible, Harry Truman, Moses, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Ten Commandments, Politics News
Bruce Feiler

The Ten Commandments do not mention homosexuality. But the Five Books of Moses do, in ways that have plagued homosexuals for centuries.

Read Post

Homosexuality as a Weapon of Torture

Karen Ocamb | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Homosexuality, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Youth Radio, Aaron Belkin, Project on Government Oversight, Gays in the Military, Americablog, Don't Tell, Gawker, John Aravosis, Don't Ask, Amorgroup, Politics News
Karen Ocamb

Policy makers must understand that if their job is to ultimately protect the citizenry, they are complicit in torture if they continue to dismiss abuse of power as "boys will be boys" or bullying or "hazing" as if everyone is just having some good clean fun.

Read Post

Gays, Guts and Reality: What Time Is the Right Time to Keep Obama's Promises?

Peggy Drexler | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, Obama Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Doma, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Politics News
Peggy Drexler

During the campaign, there was a belief that, in the same way African Americans saw Bill Clinton as the first black president, Obama would be the first gay president. That hasn't happened.

Read Post

Why Does Obama Use Executive Power for Everything But Gay Troops?

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 09.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Stop-Loss, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Gay Troops, Gay Rights, Signing Statements, Rahm Emanuel, Executive Order, Barack Obama, Meghan McCain, Politics News
Nathaniel Frank

Sometimes moral and political leadership really are one and the same. Ending the needless firing of gay troops is one of those times.

Read Post

Slogging Towards Repeal

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 09.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: C-Span, Elaine Donnelly, Senate Appropriations Committee, Department of Defense, Colin Powell, Ike Skelton, Ann Coulter, The Rachel Maddow Show, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, Sen. Dan Inouye, Senate Armed Services Committee, Obama Administration, Admiral Mike Mullen, House Armed Services Committee, Robert F. Kennedy, Defense Secretary Gates, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, H.R. 1283, Eugene McCarthy, Iraq Veterans, Sen. Carl Levin, Martin Luther King, Human Events.com, "Summer of Love, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Rep. Jared Polis, Politics News
Aubrey Sarvis

The nation's armed forces are stretched thin, very thin. Repeal of DADT is a national security issue, first and last.

Read Post

ReThinking The Times of Harvey Milk: You Earned Your Medal, and a Lot More

Jonathan Kim | Posted 09.03.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: Movie Review, Lgbt, Doma, The Times of Harvey Milk, Lesbian, Harvey Milk, Gays and Lesbians, Rethink Reviews, Gay, Defense of Marriage Act, Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Jonathan Kim, Gay Rights, Barack Obama, Dadt, Film Critic, Prop 8, LGBT Rights, Tom Ammiano, Gays, Movie Critic, Medal of Freedom, Entertainment News
Jonathan Kim

Obama is awarding a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor -- to Harvey Milk.

Read Post

Happy Birthday Rahm

Aaron Belkin | Posted 08.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama, Politics News
Aaron Belkin

Rahm Emanuel's fiftieth birthday is not until November 29, but the gay community has been working hard on his gift, and is in the process of delivering one hell of a present.

Read Post

The Honeymoon's Over Mr. President - Now Deal with Guantanamo, Gay Rights and Health Care

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 08.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Civil Liberties, Guantanamo Detainees, Health Care Reform, Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Obama, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Blue Dog Democrats, Habeas Corpus, Politics News
Michael B. Laskoff

The true test of a president is not how he performs with the wind at his back, but how he performs in the face of stiff resistance.

Read Post