Quickie- GOP: Gays okay, transgenders not so much

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

What must they think about gay dogs?

Three years ago, 35 Republicans voted in favor of a bill that would expand anti-discrimination laws to gays and lesbians, but with Democrats proposing to add transgender people to the measure, far fewer members of the minority party are likely to support it if it comes to a vote this year.

Apparently, transgender people are worth only 3/5 of a gay person, so they don't deserve protection.

That was today's Quickie. Will you still respect me in the morning?

Video- Pro-Gay Hecklers Repeatedly Interrupt Obama At DNC Fundraiser

Transcript here.

VIDEO: Employment Non-Discrimination Act Will Allow VA To Molest Disabled Veterans

By GottaLaff

Andrea Lafferty and Matt Barber during a break out session at the Freedom Federation's "Awakening" conference:



Turn up the volume on your computer, the sound is very low. First, however, grab some Pepto and/or a receptacle.

These people are sick, wildly ignorant, and riddled by fear. They clearly need validation, or they wouldn't feel the need to push their utterly abhorrent message to anyone who will listen.

I don't know whether to cry, bang my head against the wall, or gag:

The Friday afternoon session of the Freedom Federation's "Awakening" conference has been dedicated to dozens of different breakout sessions, including one on "The LGBT Agenda" featuring Rena Lindevaldsen and Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel/Liberty University and Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition. [...]

The clip begin as Lafferty is discussing her claim that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would "normalize the Dirty 30" - TVC's list of 30+ things like pedophilia, prostitution, bestiality, and cross-dressing that the group claims would be protected if ENDA passes.

Transcript here. It includes golden oldies like:

"You can be aroused by stumps of amputees."

And who can forget...

"Fecal matter. Their involvement with fecal matter. Or urine. Transvestism. The list goes on, I'm not naming all of them. Children. Animals. And so we really need to draw a line in the sand."

...and everyone's all-time fave:

"We're not saying "you're a deviant." We're saying "your sexual behavior is deviant."

Who doesn't remember that one?

To order your copy of "Homophobes' Greatest Hits", dial 1-800-BIGOT. Be one of the first 100 to call in and you'll receive the brand new bonus CD featuring Rena Lindevaldsen and Matt Barber singing their soon-to-be classic duet, "Porn in the U.S.A.".

Call now!

Obama orders hospital visitation rights for gays, lesbians

About fracking time.

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama has told the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would not allow hospitals to deny visitation privileges to gay and lesbian partners.

The president's memo Thursday notes that "There are few moments in our lives that call for great compassion and companionship that when a loved one is admitted to the hospital ... Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides ... "

Gay and lesbian Americans are "uniquely affected" by the relatives-only policy at hospitals, Obama said, adding that they "are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives - unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated."

Obama requested that the regulation should make clear that any hospital receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding, which mean the vast majority of U.S. hospitals, to allow patients to decide who can visit them and prohibit discrimination based on a variety of characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Half of military focus group said they'd "served with a gay person"

By GottaLaff

(via)

The beginning of the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell may be upon us, finally. However, there is a lot to contend with.

About 350 troops took part in focus groups where they expressed concerns and asked military leaders questions,:

Attendees of the Tuesday session said that one female Marine stated that bunking with a lesbian would be the same as being told to share a room with a man. A soldier said he didn't want to wade into the political debate and that he would follow orders.

Another service member asked if a gay service member who gets married — now forbidden under law — would receive military family benefits.

At one point, a moderator asked how many troops believed they have served with a gay person. About half the people in the audience raised their hands.

And look at that. They didn't turn gay, they managed to survive, and even participated in a focus group.

What next? Acceptance? Unheard of!

Gay student & developmentally disabled sent to fake prom

By GottaLaff

So many words come to mind after reading this: Cowards. Discrimination. Hate. Ignorance. Pain. Shame. Wrong. Segregation. Tears. Reprehensible. Deception. Sneaky. Bullies. And several others that are unprintable....

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

What must this be doing to Constance? I can't even imagine, even though I can actually relate somewhat, because I went through a lot of bullying when I was a teeny, skinny, shy teen. But she seems to be one strong kid, stronger than most:

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

This next part will add to your current nausea:

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls.

I work with special ed kids all the time. They are wonderful, sweet, and do nobody any harm. These are people, with feelings, who are being treated as if they have none, who are being looked on as less important, as something so offensive, so contemptible, that they have to be hidden away.

I can't imagine how "branded" these seven students must feel, and what an indelible imprint this has made, regardless of how courageous they may seem to us, or how big her smile is in that photo (go read the whole piece; Constance is an amazing, positive teen).

They hurt.

And I hurt for them.

H/t: BetseyB, Greg Ostravich

AUDIO- General Eaton: "I believe now is the time to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell"

By GottaLaff

Kudos, General Eaton:

"It really is a civil rights issue... Discrimination based on sexual orientation is inappropriate in our society."

He needs to talk to General Allardice.

The one thing that was missing: His disapproval of that pesky time line, the year it will take to review and figure out the actual implementation.

H/t

Military's refusal to discharge lesbian a new Catch-22

By GottaLaff

Don't Ask Don't Tell is not only unfair and ridiculous, it's now becoming a joke:

Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya wasn't exactly asked, but she told anyway: She is a lesbian, and in a civil union with another woman.

Her commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Lt. Gen. Robert R. Allardice, could have discharged her under the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Instead, he determined in February that she should remain in the Air Force because she acknowledged her sexual orientation for the purpose of "avoiding and terminating military service."

Convoluted enough for you?

Chaurasiya says that is not why she "told".

Let's recap: Nobody asked, but she told, after which someone told on her, and then she told her commander, after which she would have been discharged had the military decided against it, because they think she told without being asked so she could get out for having told.

Clear?

Okay, let's start again.

A guy she once dated, a former service member, shared a group e-mail with her commander. Chaurasiya mentioned she was a lesbian in that e-mail. There was an investigation, after which she told her commander, in a memo, that she was gay.

"I want to be respected for it, and if I am going to be disrespected I don't want to be here," Chaurasiya said in an interview.

But she didn't get into a relationship or out herself just to get a discharge.

"My intention is not to get out," she said. "But if I am going to be kept in and treated unfairly either from my peers or by the military itself . . . then I want to be loud about it to bring about the change, or I do not want to be here."

Chaurasiya has managed to turn DADT into a well-deserved, albeit bad, punch line.

Poll-itics: 50% would support openly gay president

By GottaLaff

So why is repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell a problem again?

The latest 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll finds 50% of respondents said they would support an openly gay person to serve as president while 44% said they were opposed.

Hopefully, Americans are wising up and finally seeing that Teh Gay is Teh Okay.

Dutch furious at U.S. general for blaming gay soldiers

By GottaLaff

Remember this from yesterday's Rachel Maddow Show?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So does the Dutch Prime Minister:

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende attacked on Friday claims by a retired U.S. general that Dutch forces were overrun in Srebrenica in 1995 because of the presence of gay soldiers. [...]

"The remarks were outrageous, wrong and beneath contempt," Balkenende told a news conference.

Yes, in fact they were.

Oh, it gets worse:

The Dutch Defense Ministry called Sheehan's claims "absolute nonsense" and added that gay Dutch soldiers routinely cooperate with the U.S. military in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen called the claim "the bizarre private opinion of someone without an official function".

Renee Jones-Bos, the Dutch ambassador to the United States, said in a statement, "I couldn't disagree more" with Sheehan, adding there was no evidence of his claims in the extensive record of research on Srebrenica.

Military unions were equally angry. Dutch news agency ANP quoted the head of the military union AFMP as saying Sheehan's comments were "out of the realm of fiction", while the head of the gay soldiers' group SHK called his comments "the ridiculous convulsion of a loner".

You might say a few well placed people were a tad offended, mightn't you?

Somebody alert Donald Rumsfeld. It looks like "old Europe" is more evolved than some of our commanders on the ground.

VIDEO: Dan Choi and Jim Pietrangelo handcuffed to fence, arrested at WH in DADT protest

By GottaLaff



Via AMERICABlog:

Choi and Pietrangelo have been arrested. [...] The crowd is applauding them. [...]

After delivering remarks, Dan and Capt. Pietrangelo handcuffed themselves to the fence in front of the White House. [...] Handcuffed to the fence in front of Barack Obama's White House to protest the President's failure to deliver on his promise to end DADT.

This isn't exactly the kind of publicity President Obama wants. The gay community is already ticked off that things have moved much more slowly than they anticipated to end Don't Ask Don't Tell.

It's a ridiculous policy, and it's on its way out, but not quickly enough for many, many people.

The argument is that the administration has its hands full with other major issues. This is true. Nonetheless, there has been a backlash, and this is part of it.

Added- More video from Americablog-

Video- Chris Matthews commentary on DADT

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have my problems with Tweety, but I thought this was very sincere and poignant for a 64 year old man.

Petraeus offers first public support for repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

By GottaLaff

Ruh roh! This will get ol' John Sidney McCain's dander up, which is probably about the only thing he can get up. (Cheap shot; bygones)

Will he listen to the commander on the ground?

Nah:

Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Tuesday that the time has come to consider changing the controversial law barring openly gay from people serving in the U.S. military.

It was the general’s most direct answer to date on the issue.

"Consider"? Come on, General Petraeus, you can do better than that. But it is a step in the right direction.

However (there's that H word again):

Petraeus cautioned that the change to the Clinton-era law should be done in a “thoughtful manner” and should not be rendered prior to making assessments on how a change would affect recruiting, retention, morale and cohesion within the military services.

So he'll consider repealing DADT after a year of mulling and assessing and studying and stalling.

Real progress takes way too long

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow owns J.D. Hayworth

By GottaLaff

I liveblogged it here. And here is the post about Hayworth's despicable comments comparing same-sex marriage to bestiality.

Now the video... enoy:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Liveblog: J.D. Hayworth on the Rachel Maddow Show

By GottaLaff

J.D. Hayworth is on The Rachel Maddow Show.

She just asked him about receiving money from Jack Abramoff. He denies getting much money, and that it was awhile ago. He had trouble remembering the name CREW, see, and it's their misinformation that's the problem, he says. Abramoff never "lobbied me directly".

He talked over Rachel. She would have none of that.

Rachel: "You're known as an Abramoff guy."

"Rachel.. Rachel... your researchers should have done a better job." Now he's attacking McCain. He's "correcting" Rachel. And attacking McCain: "He's unfit for service in the U.S. Senate."

Rachel: You had a bunch of fundraisers in Abramoff's sky boxes... starting in 1999. For free.

Ha! Now J.D. says she has a capable staff. Which is it?

J.D.: Once it was brought to my attention, we cleared it up. No charges were brought by the F.E.C.

Random quotes:

Rachel: So McCain's earmarks were bad and your earmarks were good?

J.D. is rambling on and on and on.

Rachel is now bringing up the bestiality quote. Audio is at that link. He compares same-sex marriage to marrying horses.

Rachel: Where does it say "establishment of intimacy" in Supreme Court ruling? It's just not there, let alone the horse thing. I don't think it's true, sir.

J.D.: We have a disagreement.

Rachel: It's either true or it isn't.

J.D.: I appreciate you're having me on.

Yeah, I bet he did.

Aaaand, he was outta there... and he never stopped smiling. Not once.

Rachel Maddow Among GLAAD Award Recipients

By GottaLaff

Here's a little good news to perk up our Sunday. GLAAD held their Media Awards event. Guess who won a little something:

MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" won the Outstanding TV Journalism - Newsmagazine award for the "Uganda Be Kidding Me series.

As she should have. That reporting was superb.

Rachel deserves every award anyone can come up with. She is a standout, period.

Military to Review Sodomy Ban

By GottaLaff

That months-long review on Don't Ask Don't Tell? It extends to rules on sodomy and oral sex:

The Pentagon's chief legal counsel said a nine-month study on gays in the military will likely review rules for troops on sodomy and oral sex.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits sodomy and oral sex, even among consenting adults and married couples.

No wonder this is taking a year. I'm sure the Pentagon feels that some things just need a whole lot of scrutiny... a slow, long, extended, penetrating examination of... the facts.

It's important to be thorough.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Pentagon moves to allow women to serve on Navy submarines

By GottaLaff

Click on image to enlarge. Via.

So serving with the opposite sex in close quarters is perfectly fine, but fighting side by side with Teh Gay is still a no-no to people like, say, John McCain?

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress in a letter signed Friday that the Navy intends to repeal the ban on women sailors on subs.

At issue is the end of a policy that kept women from serving aboard the last type of ship off-limits to them. The thinking was that the close quarters aboard subs would make coed service difficult to manage.

I guess the thinking is that gay men and women have no self control, but straights are the epitome of self-discipline.

CPAC gay-basher's past: Domestic violence plus...

By GottaLaff

Remember this guy?




Well now, via TPM, we find out he has quite a past:

The man who cited natural law in an off-script anti-gay rant at CPAC has had two run-ins with the real law in the past decade, including a restraining order for domestic violence, according to court records in California.

Ryan Sorba of California Young Americans for Freedom, who is a longtime anti-gay activist, in 2001 had a restraining order brought against him by a woman in a San Bernardino County domestic violence case, according to case records.

What a guy. How inclusive of the GOP to give him a platform.

He was also ordered to move out of the "family dwelling" in Highland, a small city outside San Bernardino, according to records. Sorba was 19 at the time and did not appear in court for any of the proceedings.

In an interview with TPMmuckraker this morning, Sorba declined to provide a detailed account of what happened, but dismissed the matter as "the stupidest thing you could ever imagine."

"I got in a fight with a kid in my neighborhood. And the mother did not want us getting in any more fights," he said. "And so the mother filed a restraining order. And then nothing else ever happened."

He says they're all pals now. And he says they were pals then. With friends like Sorba....

But wait! There's more!

In 2008, Sorba pleaded guilty to a noise violation for a disturbance at a polling place on election day. He told TPMmuckraker that he was handing out pro-Prop 8 flyers when "some homosexual guy came up and I guess he called the police and they gave me a ticket."

Asked how he knew the man was gay, Sorba said "because he looked gay, he sounded gay -- it was evident."

"I'm proud of that ticket. I look at that ticket as if it's a trophy," he said.

Welcome to The Big Tent GOP.

H/t: Harborguy