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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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National News |
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| National News | |
| by Rex Wockner -
SGN Contributing Writer Obama spokesman: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is history New White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on open Gays in the military will be repealed. In a video posted in mid-January at change.gov, in which Gibbs answered some of the 72,000 questions Americans have submitted to the site, he said: "Thaddeus from Lansing, Mich., asks, 'Is the new administration going to get rid of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy?'" Gibbs answered: "Thaddeus, you don't hear a politician give a one-word answer much, but it's 'Yes.'" Equality Summit drops restrictions on media The California Equality Summit, a large Gay activist powwow being held in Los Angeles January 24, has abandoned a plan to block media access to portions of the gathering. The meeting of more than 250 California GLBT activists at the Los Angeles Convention Center will focus on strategizing and organizing to win back same-sex marriage in California. Internal meeting minutes and e-mails, given to reporters by a disgruntled co-organizer, had made clear that the 53-member organizing committee had decided to prevent reporters from attending at least some portions of the summit. "Media will have access to cover only a portion of the summit," stated the minutes of a December 18 planning-committee meeting. "Co-chairs will determine which section that is." The policy was reiterated as late as December 29, when summit coordinator Anne Marks of Equality California informed the planning committee that the summit's co-chairs "have decided not to revisit the committee's decision on media policy." But after the documents became public and news stories were published on January 5 and January 7, organizers apparently opted to reconsider the decision. A note published January 13 on Equality California's website stated simply, "There will be press access at the entire summit for pre-registered members of the media." The planned media limits had been controversial because the people who ran the failed campaign against Proposition 8 have been widely criticized for their alleged insularity during the campaign, in which Equality California had the lead role. Prop 8, passed narrowly by voters on November 4, 2008, amended the California Constitution to wipe out same-sex marriage, which had been legal since June 16, 2008, following a state Supreme Court ruling that found the state's opposite-sex definition of marriage unconstitutional. Prop 8 itself is now under attack before the Supreme Court as allegedly unconstitutional for a variety of reasons. A ruling is expected in June. Study: Legislators are not hurt by voting for same-sex marriage Voting for same-sex marriage or against an attempt to ban same-sex marriage is a safe move for politicians, a new study by the group Freedom to Marry has found. A review of such votes in 21 states by more than 1,100 legislators found that the legislators were consistently re-elected. The report revealed: * Legislators who voted to end marriage discrimination in California, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts had a 100 percent re-election rate in all 499 instances in three consecutive elections. * Legislators who changed their position from opposing to supporting same-sex marriage had a 100 percent re-election rate in consecutive elections. * Legislators who voted for marriage equality in their state's lower house and then sought higher office all won. * None of 664 legislators from 17 states lost re-election after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. "For politicians, standing up for marriage equality is not touching a third rail; rather, it is a track to re-election," said Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson. "Legislators should take the findings of this report as proof that there's no reason to back down from supporting the freedom to marry and opposing anti-Gay measures. And those of us outside the legislature should not be afraid to ask our representatives to do the right thing." Gay bishop Robinson also selected for inaugural Amid the controversy over Barack Obama's selection of anti-Gay preacher Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inaugural, Obama announced January 12 that the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the openly Gay and partnered bishop of the Episcopal Church's New Hampshire diocese, would deliver the invocation at the inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18. Obama attended the concert. Because Robinson is Gay and partnered, his selection as bishop in 2003 has led to an evolving schism in the Episcopal Church and a near-schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. "President-elect Obama has made a stellar choice in selecting Bishop Gene Robinson to offer the prayer at the Lincoln Memorial to kick off the inaugural festivities," Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said after the announcement. "For the first time in history, an out Gay man will lead the nation in opening the transfer of power from one administration to another." Log Cabin Republicans are broke The Gay group Log Cabin Republicans is broke and $100,000 in debt, according to the Washington Blade. LCR President Patrick Sammon said the troubled U.S. economy has impacted donations to the organization. The group currently has two full-time employees and one part-time employee, three fewer than a year ago. Prop 8 supporters sue to block access to donor records Supporters of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that amended the California Constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage, have sued to remove their donor rolls from the public record. Protect Marriage and the National Organization for Marriage California claim that their donors have been targeted with harassment, boycotts, death threats, envelopes of white powder, and nasty phone calls, e-mails, postcards and fliers. Ironically, the California law that makes such donor lists a public record was itself passed by a ballot initiative, in 1974. Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors called the lawsuit "hypocritical." "During the Proposition 8 campaign, the very same groups who filed this legal challenge sent menacing letters to Equality California's donors, as well as corporations, labor unions and individuals who stood up to discrimination and supported the NO on 8 Campaign," Kors said. "Now they are calling themselves the victims." "What's more," Kors continued, "these groups are arguing on the one hand that voter initiatives like Prop 8 should never be overturned by courts. On the other, they are asking a federal court to void a campaign reform law that was passed by voter initiative in California. They are asking that donations to Yes on 8 and only Yes on 8, even if illegal, be hidden from the public. This leads us to wonder what they have to hide." Larry Craig abandons toilet-case appeals Former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has ended his appeals aimed at reversing his guilty plea in the case where he was arrested by an undercover cop in a Minneapolis airport men's room. Craig's lawyer said a further appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court would be futile. Craig has claimed he isn't Gay and wasn't cruising, while the police report says Craig engaged in common cruising moves, such as peering through a stall-door crack, moving his foot in a precise manner used by cruisers, and repeatedly sliding his hand under a stall divider in a specific way. Craig has maintained he was just looking for an open stall, adjusting his position on the commode, and dealing with a piece of toilet paper that was underneath or had gotten stuck to his shoe. He has said police Sgt. Dave Karsnia misinterpreted his actions. At one point in the saga, which began in 2007, The Idaho Statesman newspaper published the stories of several men who claimed they'd had sex with Craig or experienced sexual come-ons from him. With assistance from Bill Kelley |
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| picture top: Gene Robinson middle: Patrick Sammon below: Evan Wolfson |
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