Obama's Open Letter to the LGBT Community

Well, better now than never, Senator. Personally, I find his position of wanting to leave it up to the states to decide how many or what specific civil rights LGBT folks have downright awful and reeking of pandering. Not to mention how reminiscent of the calls for states' rights in the South during the Civil Rights Movement. If equality is a "moral imperative," why would you let Gerogia or Vermont or Utah decide how equal LGBT people are to everyone else? Anyways, at least he's at long last finally "talking" about the issues:

I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.

Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.

The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.

We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia – that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president. That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached.

Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.

Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.

army recruiting: peter pace style

here's a little story of a kid looking for a job online who ended up getting bigoted, hateful e-mails from an army recruiter...

"Corey Andrew had his profile and resume posted at Careerbuilder.com, and it caught the eye of Army recruiter Marcia Ramode, who contacted him. He wasn’t interested in a position in the military, particularly because of the ban on gays and lesbians in the military. When Andrew informed Ramode that he is gay, and believed that the DADT policy was wrong, the two engaged in a three-day email exchange that included statements by Ramode, in her official capacity as a recruiter, that boggle the mind."

here are some excerpts fromt the e-mails the recruiter sent to mr. andrew:

"GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE.”


oh, where to begin with this one....again, the bumper sticker logic that freedom is not free. nice to know that team america-rationale has made it to the armed forces, and does the army not have spellcheck or are the caps locks busted? and how did gays supposedly descend from the native americans? donde los yikes, indeed.

duncan hunter defends pace

rep. duncan hunter (R and presidential candidate) tried his best not to sound more bigoted than pace did the other day when he got up and defended pace yesterday:

Rep. Duncan Hunter said that homosexual conduct "is not moral conduct" and that the right of Pace to express his views "is what Marines go to war and fight for...to have morals."

The presidential aspirant and top House Republican on military matters said that "Marines are allowed to have principals" and that in his view, Pace's views "will receive a resounding 'yes' from Marines defending our rights" to have morals and principles.

Hunter referred to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, passed by Congress after a firestorm of debate in which advocates argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units.

FACT: Seventy-three percent of service members in a recent poll said they felt comfortable around gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and 78 percent reported that the inclusion of gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the military would not avert their intentions to enlist....so I think that 78% would be more like a resounding no, congressman.

hunter even goes on to try and compare the pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church to what would happen if gays were allowed to serve openly in the military. yeah, that exactly what would happen, right after pigs fly out of your butt. how can you even TRY to draw that comparison? what an IDIOT...who's running for president, of course.

and as for gays hurting morale and cohesion of combat units, i'm going to let MY joint chief of staff, admiral percy fitzwallace of The West Wing, answer that:


FITZWALLACE
You just don’t want to see [gays] serving in the Armed Forces?

MAJOR TATE
No sir, I don’t.

FITZWALLACE
‘Cause they oppose a threat to unit discipline and cohesion.

MAJOR TATE
Yes sir.

FITZWALLACE
That’s what I think too. I also think the military wasn’t designed to be an instrument of social change.

MAJOR TATE
Yes sir.

FITZWALLACE
The problem with that is that what they were saying to me 50 years ago. Blacks shouldn’t serve with Whites. It would disrupt the unit. You know what? It did disrupt the unit. The unit got over it. The unit changed. I’m an admiral in the U.S. Navy and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...Beat that with a stick.

peter pace: homosexuality is immoral and like adultery...all at the same time

ya know, mr. pace, i don't think someone who's helping to spearhead an unjustified war should really do around calling what other people do immoral...

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said.

I CERTAINLY don't condone your immoral acts of war either, mr. pace, but i'm not stupid enough (or desperate to create a diversion from the war in the media) to liken them to adultery.
what an idiot.

"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.

oh, he's such a tool...do i start my list here of immoral american policies that in no way involve who you sleep with? the rest of the article follows:

The chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported. Marine General Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on Monday on its web site. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview. Pace, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and a 1967 graduate of the US Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing. He said he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell policy" in which gay men and women are allowed in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private. The policy, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits commanders from asking about a person's sexual orientation. "I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said. The newspaper said Pace did not address concerns raised by a 2005 government audit that showed some 10 000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy. With Democrats in charge of Congress, Democratic Republican Martin Meehan has introduced legislation to reverse the military's ban on openly serving homosexuals.

don't know, don't think

steven colbert has a few thoughts on the legislation seeking to end don't ask, don't tell...

"That is why I am encouraging the Pentagon to adopt an even stricter policy, 'Don't Know, Don't Think.' Under the new policy, it will be against regulations for a soldier to even know what homosexuality is."

see the rest of "the word" segment titled An Army of Mum here.