Court Ends Log Cabin's Case Against DADT | advocate.com

By Michelle Garcia

DADT UPDATE X390 (THINKSTOCK) | ADVOCATE.COM

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to end the Log Cabin Republicans’ challenge to the federal government over “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The organization filed the suit to repeal the ban on gays in the military in 2004. In 2010 a district court judge ruled that “don’t ask, don’t tell” was unconstitutional, and the case advanced toward the Ninth Circuit, but thereafter, Congress and President Obama repealed the law, and the military trained the ranks on sexual harassment and sexual orientation.

The San Francisco court said in September that the case is moot because the law was overturned, and Wednesday the court said none of its judges wanted to vote on rehearing the case, as requested by the Log Cabin Republicans, according to the Associated Press.

The organization wanted the case to continue, as there have been some threats to reinstate “don’t ask, don’t tell” after President Obama’s term in office ends, or with a new Congress. Additionally, Log Cabin wanted to continue challenging the law because several affiliated benefits for members of the military are being blocked due to the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing the marriages and civil unions of gay citizens, specifically gay service members.

Log Cabin executive director R. Clarke Cooper said the court’s decision clashes with its duty to “defend the constitutional rights of service members.” He added, “Log Cabin Republicans will continue to fight for uniform treatment of all servicemembers, in Congress and in the court of public opinion, including working to end the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which wrongly discriminates against military families.”

Dan Choi vows to re-enlist | gayagenda.com

With the fallen Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy behind him, Dan Choi, a gay veteran of the United States Army, announced Friday he would re-enlist. Choi waited only 2 days before he began the process of re-enlisting in the army CBS News reports.

Choi has been a visible activist for the LGBT community ever since 210 when he was discharged after having had a decorated and exemplary career for the Arm. As a participant in several rallies and protests, Choi recently found himself in the spotlight as he stood trial for a November 2010 arrest during a White House protest.

ACTION ALERT!!! SLDN: Will I See You in California?

In September, I retired after twenty years of service to the Air Force - a day I didn’t think I would see. After nearly three years of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” investigations and discharge proceedings– with SLDN by my side providing the legal help I needed to stay in the military– I was able to retire on time and receive my full retirement benefits.

But SLDN’s work is far from over.  Last week, they filed suit in federal court, challenging DOMA and other federal statutes that prevent gay and lesbian military families from receiving the same recognition, benefits, and support as their straight, married peers.  To learn more about the suit, click here.

That’s why I’m traveling the country to help strengthen support for SLDN.  This week, I’ll be in Southern California with SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis, and I hope you will join us for one of the events below. We’ll be discussing the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and SLDN’s ongoing work to achieve full LGBT equality in our military.

San Diego: Thursday, November 3rd:

www.sldn.org/SanDiego2011

West Hollywood: Saturday, November 5th: www.sldn.org/WestHollywood2011

We hope to see you there!

11-02-11 By Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, USAF (Ret.) |

Gay American Troops Demand Equal Benefits

Let us be equal! It’s been just over a month since that folly, ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, allowing openly gay service men and women to serve in the military. Now a new fight for equality started last week when a group of gay and married military personnel sued the U.S. government for the same benefits as straight military couples, they claim its a matter of justice and national security.

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court claims the government’s Defense of Marriage Act violates their constitutional rights.  It also asks the military to recognize their marriages and provide spousal benefits such as medical coverage along with the right to be buried together in military cemeteries, benefits already enjoyed by straight service personnel

The Defense of Marriage Act means the Pentagon bound by law to ignore same-sex marriages, even though they are currently legal in six states and in Washington, D.C. itself.    “While the repeal of (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) was an important first step in the military’s march for equality, it is time to take the next step and provide equal benefits for equal work,” the lawsuit claims.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has filed this new lawsuit on behalf of eight service members both active and retired.   “It’s about justice for gay and lesbian service members and their families in our armed forces rendering the same military service, making the same sacrifices, and taking the same risks to keep our nation secure at home and abroad,” Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said in a press release.

The lawsuit calls the continued denial of benefits to gay spouses “a threat to national security.” It argues that, given the extreme mental and physical demands of modern warfare, the military has already recognized that “service members who are distracted by thoughts that their loved ones are not being cared for may render the service members less effective combatants.”

Equality may not be an ideal wanted by all, Elaine Donnelly, president of the Centre for Military Readiness, claims the lawsuit is an attempt to impose throughout the military a definition of marriage that’s accepted in just a handful of states, but then that group was strongly opposed to the repeal of DADT.

To many it should be a clear cut case, if you want an equal fighting force, then that forces personnel should all have equal benefits.  However, as we all know, what may seem like a certainty is very rarely the case. Especially as we head into a presidential election year normal rational thinking may not apply.

Chicago veteran of Don't Ask, Don't Tell reenters military in wake of repeal | windycitymediagroup.com

by Erica Demarest

Discharged veteran Lee Reinhart made history Oct. 24 when he became the first known openly gay man in Illinois to reenlist in the U.S. Armed Forces since the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“We should be proud of Lee and proud of our country,” said Rep. Mike Quigley ( D-Ill. ) , who administered Reinhart’s reenlistment oath. “Dr. King had it right: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ This is our country getting it right.”

Reinhart served in the U.S. Navy from 1995 to 1999. After Sept. 11, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard but was quickly discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Reinhart spent the next decade working with Quigley and fellow activists to achieve repeal.

Click on the link above to read the full article.

Brown won't allow ROTC because of trans* discrimination

gaywrites:

Many colleges across the country have revoked their bans on ROTC programs and military recruiting on campus because the bans were based on the discrimination of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. 

Brown University, however, will keep its ban on the ROTC program because the military still discriminates against transgender individuals. 

Ruth J. Simmons called on the university to “commit to helping to arouse greater national attention to the discrimination of the military and others against transgender individuals.” And her proposal must now be considered by the university’s Corporation, which has final say. 

“Many speak about the importance of service to the nation through the military and they are correct,” Simmons wrote. “However, to root out the manifestation and vestiges of discrimination from our national life is an equally important dimension of serving the nation.” 

Wow. Props for Brown’s integrity. 

(via )

Source: gaywrites

Gay Veterans Will Have Their Day in Court | aclu.org

We may be a few months out from the new year, but it’s safe to say that the demise of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will be marked as a highlight of 2011. The end of that discriminatory statute and its demeaning implications to the men and women who serve our country is something to be celebrated. But even though DADT is gone, the legacy of unfair treatment of gay and lesbian veterans continues.

One of those legacies is the Defense Department’s separation pay policy for discharged service members. If you serve six years in the military and are then discharged involuntarily, Congress says you’re entitled to separation pay to help ease your transition to civilian life. But the DOD has an internal policy — not required by any statute — of cutting that separation pay in half if you’re discharged, even honorably, for “homosexuality.”

Let’s be clear: Many of those who were discharged under DADT were distinguished soldiers, airmen or cadets and had an unblemished record. They were service members in good standing, and there was nothing dishonorable about their discharge. Yet they are denied the same separation pay as other honorably discharged service members merely because they’re gay or lesbian.

That’s what happened to our lead client in our class action lawsuit challenging this needless policy. Richard Collins was a decorated Air Force Staff Sergeant who served nine years before being kicked out under DADT. He was seen kissing his civilian boyfriend, in a car at a stoplight, when he was off duty, out of uniform, and 10 miles off base. After being discharged under DADT, Staff Sgt. Collins discovered that his separation pay was cut in half.

We filed this lawsuit on behalf of Collins and 142 other service members about a year ago. We expected at the time that, once Congress passed the statute authorizing repeal of DADT, the government would quickly settle the case and give these honorably discharged service members the separation pay they are entitled to. Instead, the government has inexplicably dragged its feet every step of the way.

In May, the government asked the court to dismiss the case, without even defending the constitutionality of the policy. Instead the government argued that the courts could not provide any relief to service members whose separation pay was cut in half while DADT was still in effect. It didn’t make sense to us, and apparently, it didn’t make any sense to the court. Today, Judge Christine O.C. Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied the government’s request and will allow these veterans to be heard.

The court’s decision means that these 142 service members will finally have their day in court. The government will have to explain to them and to the rest of the public how cutting their pay in half served important governmental interests. The government will have to make that explanation, even though the Pentagon has already issued a detailed report making clear that discrimination against gay and lesbian service members is entirely unnecessary and doesn’t serve the interests of the military. Good luck with that.

The government’s conduct is all the more baffling because in other contexts, the Justice Department has worked hard to defend LGBT people from this sort of pointless discrimination. Most dramatically, the Justice Department issued a thorough legal opinion explaining why discrimination based on sexual orientation must be treated as constitutionally suspect and has refused to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in federal court. But apparently, the relevant decisionmakers at the Pentagon haven’t gotten the memo, and continue to defend this outdated and irrational policy.

This case is about more than money. It’s about basic fairness. When you make a mistake, the right thing to do is to apologize and try to fix the problem. The government can’t undo all the harm that DADT inflicted on Mr. Collins and other honorably discharged veterans. But it can at least take the small step of giving these veterans the separation pay that was gratuitously taken away from them. In Richard Collins’ own words: “We gave all in serving this nation. The Pentagon should not give us half in return.”

Op-ed: Equal Sacrifice Demands Equal Rights | advocate.com

While the Wilfahrt family shows us the right way to honor soldiers who died in combat, the Republican presidential candidates show us the wrong way.

By Melanie Nathan, op-ed contributor

CORPORAL ANDREW WILFAHRT 390x TALL (COURTESY) ADVOCATE.COM
Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt

We say the greatest sacrifice of all is to give one’s life for one’s country.  It is those who are left behind who ensure the legacy. Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt was willing to die for his country, and notwithstanding their insurmountable grief, his parents are charged with ensuring their son’s relevance in a country that has failed LGBT service members.

Until the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” gay and lesbian service members had to serve in silence unable to reveal their true selves.   On September 20, the Draconian law died, but not before Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt’s death. He was never able to enjoy the openness he deserved.

And as a result, his parents are left in a fight that most others who have lost a son or daughter to war can skip. Most parents whose children’s lives ended in the service of our freedoms do not have to justify their family and their dead son’s life. Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt now boldly perceive that added burden as their obligation to their son, his military family and their country. The grieving and loving parents are reminding America that even though their son served in great honor, he served in exclusion. Even though others can now serve openly, the discrimination our service members carried through silent service persists until such time as full equality is attained for all LGBT people in the United States.

Openly Gay National Guard Member Running For Office in Colorado | justout.com

by Ryan Prado

The positive effects of the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell have been rolling in since the official repeal date of September 20. Add the story of Brian Carroll to the collection.

Carroll is running for the newly drawn House District 28 in Colorado, and believes he is the first active National Guardsman in the country to run for office post-DADT.

“Ultimately, what this comes down to, I believe, is standing up and providing an opportunity for leadership,” said Carroll in an interview with HuffPo. “Really, the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ provides that opportunity — not only for myself, but for so many other openly gay members of the military. This really is a historic moment, and I think the people are going to look back at this, and say, ‘This is history in the making. This is when the entire ballgame changed.’”

More:

Carroll served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq with Army Special Forces Information Management Division, Special Operations Command and was openly gay in defiance of DADT. While abroad, Carroll specialized in building infrastructure and information technology resources in remote area.

While Carroll appears to be the first openly gay active-duty service member to run since DADT’s repeal, other gay veterans have run in the past. As Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly noted, in 1999, Steve May, then a GOP lawmaker in the Arizona state legislature and a member of the Army Reserve, came out in a floor speech in the house. The Army began discharge proceedings against him, but it eventually dropped the case and reached a settlement.

Carroll expects to face incumbent state Rep. Andy Kerr (D) in the primary, and state Rep. Ken Summers (R) on the GOP side if he makes it to the general election.

State Rep in Trouble After Comments on Booed Soldier | advocate.com

By Winston Gieseke

ALFRED Baldasaro X390 (TIMOTHYHORRIGAN.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM
Alfred Baldasaro

A New Hampshire state representative and prominent supporter of Texas governor Rick Perry’s presidential campaign who said he approved of the booing of a gay soldier during last month’s Republican presidential primary debate has been called on to apologize and resign.

Over the weekend, Al Baldasaro told ThinkProgress’s Scott Keyes that he thought the booing was “great,” because “I was so disgusted over that gay marine coming out.” Of the soldier, Stephen Hill, Baldasaro also said, “He doesn’t realize it, but when the shit hits the fan, you want your brothers covering your back, not looking at your back.”

Baldasaro said Tuesday that while his comments had brought him unwanted attention from “10 or 15” reporters, he stood by them.

“I already said what I said,” Baldasaro said, quoted by the New Hampshire Union Leader. “This is just getting to be a big thing because this is the political season.”

Baldasaro, a former Marine, said it was against military rules for active soldiers to appear in uniform at political functions. “He had no business being there. That’s what I meant when I said it was disgusting. It was concerning him coming out of the closet on national TV, pretty much at a political function.”

Jeff Ballard, Baldasaro’s Democratic opponent, issued a press release Wednesday, condemning Baldasaro’s remarks and calling on him to apologize and resign. “As a veteran and a New Hampshire citizen,” Ballard’s statement said, “I found his applauding the booing of an Iraq War Veteran appalling. Rep. Baldasaro may have freedom of speech, but it exists because Stephen Hill, the veteran he called a ‘disgrace,’ risked his own life to protect it. … Republican House Speaker Bill O’Brien should immediately call for him to resign and remove him as Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the State House. Rep. Baldasaro is clearly incapable of being an advocate for all veterans.”

Read more here.

Pentagon: Chaplains may officiate over same-sex weddings | gayagenda.com

Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness Clifford Stanley (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Pentagon issued on Friday guidance clarifying that military chaplains are allowed to officiate over same-sex marriages and base facilities can be used for same-sex weddings in states where such unions are legal.

In two separate memos to the military services, top Pentagon officials specify that such actions are possible in the wake of the end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

In one memo dated Sept. 30, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness Clifford Stanley writes military chaplains “may participate or officiate any private ceremony” provided such ceremonies aren’t prohibited by local or state law.

The guidance further clarifies chaplains are “not required” to participate in a private ceremony if doing so is contrary to their religious beliefs. Additionally, the guidance says a chaplain’s participation in such ceremonies doesn’t constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by the Pentagon.

In another memo dated Sept. 21, Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson says the determination of using a military base facility for private functions should be made on “a sexual-orientation neutral basis” as long as such use isn’t prohibited by local or state laws.

Johnson writes these ceremonies won’t be official activities of the Pentagon, nor does the act of making base facilities available to these functions constitute an endorsement by the Defense Department.

Neither memo explicitly mentions same-sex marriage. However, the Pentagon is promulgating them in the wake of controversy over a Navy memo issued in April affirming that chaplains could officiate at same-sex weddings and base facilities could be used for that purpose in states that have marriage equality.

After an outcry from social conservatives, that Navy memo was rescinded, and the Pentagon said it would reissue the guidance at a later time.

LGBT advocates hailed the Friday memos from the Pentagon as the affirmation of gay service members’ right to marry.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said the guidance “strikes the right balance” between allowing gay service members to marry and the respect for religious beliefs.

“We are pleased the Department of Defense has made it clear that a military Chaplain is allowed to perform any lawful ceremony that is consistent with his or her beliefs and is not required to perform a ceremony that is inconsistent with those beliefs,” Sarvis said. “We are also pleased that accessto military facilities will be granted on a sexual-orientation-neutral basis.”

Sarvis continued, “The guidance issued today strikes the right balance between respecting the faith traditions of chaplains and affording all service members the same rights under current law. This is another logical step in the direction of full equality for gay and lesbian service members, and we hope the Department will continue to move down that path.”

Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said the memos reflect the “basic constitutional rights and respect for marriage” that he said is deserved by all people, including service members.

“Discrimination has no place in the military, or in marriage, and of course people, gay or non-gay, should be able to celebrate their love and commitment in ceremonies without interference by the government,” Wolfson said.

Wolfson continued, “In the months ahead, Americans will see gay service-members getting married, surrounded by loved ones, and will get an even better understanding of how the freedom to marry helps families while hurting no one, increasing support for an end to marriage discrimination.”

Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemember United, also said the change is appropriate in the wake of the end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Now that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is gone, there is nothing prohibiting chaplains whose denominations do not discriminate from treating same-sex couples equally in accordance with state and local laws,” Nicholson said. “There are many chaplains in the military who simply do not believe that gay and lesbian servicemembers are second-class citizens, and those chaplains should have the freeom to practice their religion as they see fit, including officiating at ceremonies that their denominations recognize.”

View Source at Washington Blade – Gay News

Really, Don’t Ask: Gay soldier booed for asking question at GOP debate | 365gay.com

A gay soldier currently serving in Iraq asked on video during Thursday’s GOP debate whether the candidates would reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The audience booed.

Let me say that again: the Republican audience booed an active duty soldier currently serving in Iraq.

And Rick Santorum, who answered the question, didn’t halt the booing and didn’t thank Stephen Hill for his service. Nor did any of the other candidates.

This is shameful.

Click the link above to watch the video.