Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 140

Again, I'm Here Near The Place I Was Last April

As you read this, I've again began engagement in direct action with my peer activists over Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Five of the six of us who handcuffed ourselves to the Whitehouse Fence on April 20th are again here -- I'm here with Mara Boyd, Jim Pietrangelo, Evelyn Thomas, and Dan Choi. There are others here too, and these include Robert Smith, Geoff Farrow, Miriam Ben-Shalom, Michael Bedwell, Justin Elzie, Robin McGehee, Scott Wooledge, Chris Tina Bruce, and Ian Finkenbinder -- among others. Eight of us are in military uniform, many who are not in uniform are here too.

I'm again at the same place in the sense I'm here in Washington DC, and in the sense that I'm emotionally and idealistically in the same place as I was last April.

I remember still what Martin Luther King Jr. said:

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.

If only one of the subcommunities of the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community finds an issue to be an important issue -- even if that issues doesn't affect my transgender subcommunity or me personally -- then it's still my issue too.

Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) is an issue that still will not directly effect those who identify as trans, nor will it directly affect me. If DADT were to be repealed tomorrow, lesbian, gay, and bisexual servicemembers would be able to serve openly, but trans servicemembers still wouldn't be able to serve openly.

We began the day by honoring Leonard Matloveich. Per Wikipedia:

Matlovich was the first gay service member to fight the ban on gays in the military, and perhaps the best-known gay man in America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause c?l?bre around which the gay community rallied.

We went to Senator Reid's office next, asking when the Senator will uphold the promise to Lt. Dan Choi at Netroots Nation that Don't Ask, Don't Tell will be repealed.

This afternoon, we are at the White House.

So again, I hold true that the good neighbor looks beyond him-, her-, or hirself, discerning those inner qualities that make all humankind human, and therefore, siblings. Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell may not help my trans siblings, but it still helps my other siblings in the LGBT community. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues are still my issues.

I still, as a disabled transgender veteran who retired after twenty-years of service, choose to engage in civil disobedience with GetEqual for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I still choose to engage in personal sacrifice for others' civil rights in the broader LGBT community in the exact kind of way I would hope that others in the LGBT community would sacrifice for my subcommunity's civil rights.      

I don't choose to fight for civil rights because this is about me, but instead I still choose to fight for civil rights because this is about us; this is still about being the good neighbor in the LGBT community.

As a military retiree who receives a pension, I am still considered by the United States government to be receiving lesser pay for lesser work. I am still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) because I am a military retiree, and I am still receiving that pension. There still could be real consequence for engaging in the type of civil disobedience in which my peers and I are engaging. But, we still know how sacrifice; we still know how to combat the forces that oppose us. And, justice is still so on our side, that justice is still what is going to see we in the LGBT community through.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he would die for, he isn't fit to live.

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist. He discovered something worth dying for, and he died for it. I'm still not likely to die in the next few days for engaging in direct action with GetEqual. But that said, it doesn't mean I don't voluntarily sacrifice to achieve the LGBT community goal of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It is my broader community neighbors that I choose to sacrifice for in the short term, and possibly into the long term as well.

So, I am still challenging those of you reading this at Pam's House Blend to ask yourself if you have discovered something for which you would die for -- or even for which you would just engage in significant sacrifice for. Would you sacrifice for your family? For your personal goals? The goals of your community neighbors and siblings that might not directly affect you?

I'm still asking you, my siblings in the LGBT community, if you are a lesbian, gay, or bisexual person, would you sacrifice for your trans neighbors and siblings? If you are trans, would you sacrifice for your gay, lesbian, or bisexual neighbors and siblings? I said last April, that this is worth knowing about yourself and your LGBT siblings, and I will say again that it is still worth knowing about yourself today.

And I ask this question too: Is the freedom, equality, and justice for LGBT people about your civil rights, your LGBT subcommunity's civil rights, or is it about our civil rights? Is it about you, your demographic peers in community, or is it about us?

I choose to make my efforts towards achieving freedom, equality, and justice about us. When it comes to liberty and justice, I choose to put my efforts towards fulfilling the American ideal of liberty and justice for all.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

~Cesar Chavez

Today I stand with many peer LGBT activists over the legislative repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Some are engaging in the direct action in front of the cameras, and some of us are supporting in strategy and logistics. those who are asking Senators and the President to make real the promises of democracy to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who wish to serve their country in military uniform. It is time for the Senate to vote to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell so that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people may openly serve their country in military uniform. This is not the time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism -- my activist peers and I are here to remind our Senators, our President, and the American public of the fierce urgency of now.

Study: Heavy coffee drinkers 'more likely to hallucinate'

I'm an English Breakfast tea drinker myself, but I guess my Blenders are spacing out right now on the java here in the coffeehouse...

Heavy coffee drinkers are more likely to have hallucinations or feel "the presence of dead people," according to new research.

A UK-based study quizzed 200 students on their caffeine intake and found those with the highest consumption were also more prone to report seeing, or hearing, things that were not there.

Those who consumed a daily equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee or more - high caffeine users - were three times more likely to have extra-sensory experiences than low users, who had less than one cup daily.

BREAKING: 3 generations of advocates, vets fighting for repeal of DADT facing arrest at WH

They've done it again - including baristas Autumn Sandeen and Scott Wooledge, as well as Blender Michael Bedwell. NOTE: Talk About Equality has coverage and photos. One WH shot:

Washington, DC - This afternoon, three generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans and advocates went back to the White House fence to call for the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and President Obama to make good on their promises to secure the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during the abbreviated, lame-duck session of Congress that started today.

During the direct action organized by GetEQUAL - a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization - and local activists, 13 veterans and advocates handcuffed themselves to the White House fence in an act of non-violent, civil disobedience protesting the un-American, discriminatory law yet to be repealed by Congress -- regardless of the numerous promises by President Obama, Congressional leaders and national LGBT leaders that they would do so by the end of this year.

Photos and video of the three generations of veterans and repeal advocates taking part in an act of civil disobedience today at the White House will soon be available online at www.getequal.org. Also, you can visit GetEQUAL's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/getequal) to stay up-to-date regarding the well-being and release of the 13 veterans and advocates arrested today.

The 13 veterans and repeal advocates arrested today include:

Five veterans (Lt. Dan Choi, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, Cpl. Evelyn Thomas, and Cadet Mara Boyd) who were arrested back in March during the GetEQUAL organized "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" act of civil disobedience at the White House fence demanding President Obama show leadership on repeal.Robin McGehee, co-founder and director of GetEQUAL, and Dan Fotou, action strategist for GetEQUAL.Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-Shalom, who was discharged in 1976 for declaring and admitting she was a lesbian. She became the first-ever LGBT servicemember reinstated to her position in the U.S. Military, by a U.S. Federal District Court. On July 30th, 1993, Miriam and 26 other protesters were arrested at the White House fence for protesting then-President Bill Clinton's broken promise to repeal the gay ban - instead signing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill into law.Former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Justin Elzie who, in 1993, became the first Marine ever investigated and discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. Elzie was also the first soldier to be discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to fight his discharge and win - resulting in his service as a Marine for four years as an openly gay man.Former U.S. Army Arabic Linguist Ian Finkenbinder, who was discharged from the Army in December 2004 after announcing to his superiors that he was gay. Finkenbinder is an Iraq war veteran and was about to return for a second tour of duty when he was discharged.U.S. Army Veteran and Repeal Advocate Rob Smith, who was deployed to both Iraq and Kuwait before being honorably discharged after deciding not to re-enlist in the U.S. Army due to the added pressure of living under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.Father Geoff Farrow, a Catholic priest who spoke out against the church's official stance in support of California's Proposition 8, removing the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Because of his courageous stance against Prop 8, Father Geoff Farrow was removed as pastor of St. Paul's by his bishop and suspended as a priest.Scott Wooledge, a New York-based LGBT civil rights advocate and blogger who has written extensively on the movement to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Daily Kos and Pam's House Blend.Michael Bedwell, long-time LGBT civil rights advocate, close friend of Leonard Matlovich, and administrator of the site www.leonardmatlovich.com."On the White House fence today, and in a jail cell this evening, are thirteen American patriots," said Robin McGehee, co-founder and director of GetEQUAL. "Included in the thirteen arrested are veterans and advocates spanning three generations of brave and courageous Americans, who sacrificed their careers and lives to see the day this discriminatory ban on openly gay and lesbian service in the military finally goes into the history books. Today, we have sent a loud and clear message to the U.S. Senate and President Obama that we expect them to make good on their promises to end this inhumane law this year, during the lame-duck session of Congress."

"Today, I stand again at the White House fence - 17 years later - still protesting the injustice and hypocrisy of a failed law," said former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-Shalom. "And with us today is not only the spirit of Lieutenant Enslin, the first to be discharged from the U.S. Military for being gay, but also standing here in spirit are every young woman and man awaiting discharge under the shameful 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law.  They are here and we are here, all together still America's daughters and sons, still willing to serve and protect this country. I sincerely pray our country's elected leaders in Congress and the White House will have the courage to repeal this law and make this the last time I have to come back to this fence and be arrested in protest of a law in direct contrast with our values and beliefs as Americans.

GetEqual at Reid's office. Staffer on commitment to lame duck repeal - 'I don't know'

UPDATE: GetEqual is at Sen. Harry Reid's office. A Tweet from Scott Wooledge:

@ltdanchoi asks Deputy Chief of Staff if @HarryReid will commit to repealing #DADT in lame duck: "I don't know."

If Dan is permitted to speak with the Senator, keep in mind what happened at Netroots Nation this year. I was at Dan's table when he strode onto the stage and gave him his West Point ring and a letter:

This summer, Lt. Dan Choi made headlines at Netroots Nation in Las Vegas when he approached Senator Harry Reid on-stage at a main conference event and gave his West Point cadet ring to Senator Harry Reid. At that time, Senator Reid - in front of this large crowd of progressive/liberal bloggers and activists, Senator Reid promised Dan that he would return the ring by the end of this year when the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is repealed.

Dan's question to Senator Reid - "can I expect my ring back this year or not?"

GetEqual, DADT repeal supporters (including Blenders) hold vigil at the grave of Leonard Matlovich

From GetEqual's release:

The vigil, held to coincide with the starting day of the lame-duck session of Congress, will send a clear and frank message to the United States Senate - repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" now. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, President Barack Obama, and other Democratic leaders have continually reassured the LGBT community that the legislation would be repealed during the current session of Congress.

The vigil is set to center around the gravesite of gay Vietnam Veteran Leonard Matlovich. Matlovich, a recipient of both the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, made headlines in the 1970s after he came out as openly gay and fought to stay in the U.S. Air Force - landing him on the cover of Time Magazine. Matlovich's tombstone at the Congressional National Cemetery is meant to be a memorial to all gay veterans and is inscribed with the well-known phrase: "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

The vigil will be one in a series of actions GetEQUAL will engage in throughout the week to pressure the Senate to repeal the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.  The lame-duck session begins on Monday, November 15, and is expected to run approximately two weeks - or until leadership has the votes to call adjournment.  With Congressional leaders such as John McCain and Carl Levin in discussions over the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, national activists across party lines are making their voices heard.

Lt. Dan Choi preparing Sgt. Leonard Matlovich's grave before this morning's vigil.

"Paying respects to the memory and legacy of Sgt. Leonard Matlovich - and re-dedicating ourselves to the movement focused on repealing DADT" --

Blenders at today's event include Autumn Sandeen, Scott Wooledge (Clarknt67) and Michael Bedwell. Note that this is one of a few actions planned -- so stay tuned.

Bombshell: two gay military groups back removal of DADT repeal to pass Def Auth bill

And look at this bombshell from The Politico:

Two gay troops' groups will announce today that they'd support breaking off DADT repeal if doing so would help the defense authorization act pass - but they'll keep pushing for repeal in the lame-duck Congress, Morning Defense has learned. The statement from OutServe and Knights Out is just one prong in a complex offensive planned for lawmakers' return to Washington this week, organizers said.

"On behalf of the more than 1,000 active duty gay and lesbian service members and 500 gay and lesbian veterans we represent, we respectfully urge Congress to pass the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to fund the aircraft, weapons, combat vehicles, ammunition and promised pay-raises for all troops, whether or not the repeal of don't ask, don't tell is included," the statement will say. "To be clear, we will continue to fight for our integrity as gay and lesbian service members and we hope that legislative action in Congress can be taken in 2010 to lift the ban."

Here's the release; I'm just passing it on (via The Palm Center). I have no clue what strategic purpose this serves to help repeal a discriminatory policy.

Today, OutServe and Knights Out issued a statement responding to current efforts in Congress to filibuster the FY2011 National Defense Authorization Act because of its inclusion of conditional repeal for the 'don't ask, don't tell' law and policy. The statement reads:

"There is nothing more important than loyalty to those with whom we serve. This means ensuring that no one issue interferes with funding the courageous and selfless work our fellow service members are doing around the world. Therefore, on behalf of the more than 1,000 active duty gay and lesbian service members and 500 gay and lesbian veterans we represent, we respectfully urge Congress to pass the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to fund the aircraft, weapons, combat vehicles, ammunition and promised pay-raises for all troops, whether or not the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" is included."

"To be clear, we will continue to fight for our integrity as gay and lesbian service members and we hope that legislative action in Congress can be taken in 2010 to lift the ban. With the support of President Obama, Chairman Mullen, Secretary Gates and the reported seventy-percent of service members surveyed, a new day of openly gay service is at hand if Congress acts during this lame duck session. We are proud to serve in the United States Armed Forces today and tomorrow."

OutServe is a network of approximately 1,000 active-duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and members of the Coast Guard. JD Smith is a pseudonym.

Knights Out is an organization of West Point alumni, staff and faculty who are united in supporting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender soldiers to openly serve their country. The group has 203 members and graduate supporters and 462 allies.

Update: Statement from Alex Nicholson, Servicemembers United:

It has been the position of the organizations that actually work on repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to strongly oppose stripping the repeal language out of the defense authorization bill. That position has been based on the reality of the vote count, and those facts on the ground here in Washington have not changed. Servicemembers United, which is the nation's largest gay troop and veteran group by far, strongly agrees with the White House that stripping DADT out of NDAA is simply a non-starter.

Americablog:

It's pretty clear to both Joe and me that the Palm Center is doing this on behalf of some other unnamed groups, who are working on behalf of an unnamed elected official who has a record of being rather un-fierce. You can do the math.

We'll be writing much more about this incredibly idiotic strategy in the coming hours and days. But read this press release that the Palm Center is sending out to the entire world. It's an invitation for John McCain to kill the repeal of DADT. It's clearly part of some larger super duper 11th dimensional chess strategy, and it's dumb as hell. You can thank the Palm Center, and their secret patrons who convinced them to do this, when DADT repeal dies in the coming weeks.

Former U.S. Congressman Bob Barr again calls for repeal of DOMA, endorses marriage equality

NOTE FROM PAM: This is the first of two reports for the Blend by Anthony Varona, Professor of Law and the Academic Dean of American University's Washington College of Law (right). He contacted me a few weeks ago because he was invited to participate in a symposium on marriage equality and religion at St. John's Law School, held this past weekend. As a reader and fan of the Blend he wanted to contribute an account of the event from his unique perspective. This report on the views of by former Congressman Barr, the lead sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act, provides a window into the former Republican's viewpoint and current legal status of the Act.

Having already called for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act when he ran for president in 2008 as the Libertarian Party nominee, Bob Barr returned to the topic of DOMA's dysfunctions during an extensive lunchtime address at the November 12th symposium entitled "Legal, Secular, and Religious Perspectives on Marriage Equality/Marriage Protection/Same-Sex Marriage" at St. John's University School of Law in New York City. Barr, who was the lead author and lead sponsor of DOMA when he served as the Congressman from the seventh district in Georgia, characterized DOMA as an example of excessive government control of private relationships. Barr said:

The federal government has no business whatsoever defining social, personal relationships other than those perhaps that relate specifically to an enumerated proper function of the government. For example, [with] the issue of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, one can say that at least the issue of homosexual activity or homosexual persons in the military falls within the ambit of a legitimate government concern. [The issue of gays in the military] falls into a very different category than something that ought to be defined as that large universe of policy decisions left by the Tenth Amendment to the people of the states, and that is where the issue of marriage always resided until recent decades.

Barr decried how DOMA has "morphed into" a significant barrier for the recognition of same-sex marriage among the states and a model for states' own versions of DOMA, when, according to him, its principal purpose was much more modest and narrow. He said:

Here we had a piece of federal legislation that said for federal law purposes only,...this is what marriage means, reflecting the vast majority of Members of Congress representing the vast majority of people in the country at the time in 1996. A lawful union of one man and one woman. Yet what happened is rather than simply provide a shield for purposes of distributing federal moneys pursuant to that definition, the Defense of Marriage Act over the intervening years has been used as a club to force states not to adopt any definition of marriage other than the one that is supposed to apply just for federal law purposes.

Barr's remarks glossed over the fact that DOMA's Section 2 specifically addresses -- and has very much influenced -- state definitions of marriage by prescribing that no state "shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding" of any other state that recognizes a same-sex relationship as a marriage. DOMA's purposes were thus not as narrow as Barr recalled. Nevertheless, he views DOMA's restrictive anti-gay definition of marriage as another example of excessive federal government control over our lives, and an "effort by government to control individual liberty" on par with "how fast you can go on the freeway, to what the fill capacity in the toilet in the restroom is, to what kind of a bulb you can use in a lamp, and to what doc you can go to and what you can be treated for."

Speaking in favor of the right of same-sex couples to marry, Barr said that marriage equality "is an issue of individual liberty" and "fundamental freedom." He observed that "back in the 1850s" marriage "was considered for what it truly is -- a personal relationship, a contract between two individuals." It was, according to Barr, only "after the regulatory state began to take hold that government realized that [the regulation of marriage] was another way to control people."

The chances for DOMA's repeal dimmed considerably with the Republican takeover of Congress. A judicial overturning of DOMA's Section 3, which defines "marriage" for federal purposes as "a legal union between one man and one woman," would be more likely to happen sooner. Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on July 8th ruled in the case of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional because it lacked a rational basis. He separately ruled that DOMA's Section 3 violated the Spending Clause and the Tenth Amendment in the partner case of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. Just last month, the Obama Administration filed an appeal to the decisions. For more information on the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders' (GLAD's) extraordinary legal work in bringing these lawsuits, click here.

***

Professor Tony Varona teaches Contracts, Administrative Law, Media Law, and Introduction to Public Law. Before joining the WCL faculty, he was an associate professor of law at Pace Law School in New York. Before that, he served as general counsel and legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay civil rights organization. He built HRC's legal department, directed its legislative and regulatory lawyering and appellate amicus work, launched national law fellow and pro bono attorney programs, and served as counsel to HRC's board of directors and the organization's corporate, educational, and media initiatives.

Professor Varona taught as an adjunct law professor for three years at Georgetown University, and served as a Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School. He serves on the board of directors of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and is a member of the Society of American Law Teachers and the Hispanic Bar Association of Washington. He has served on the boards of the Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance for Justice, was on the New York Advisory Board for the American Constitution Society, was founding chairperson of the AIDS Action Council's Legal Advisory Board, and served as a member of the Judicial Selection Steering Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.



Dr. Varona's second report will be equally interesting - a first-person account of serving on a panel at this symposium with the grande dame of discrimination, Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage.

Michigan: openly gay student defends teacher at school board meeting (video)

Ann Arbor student Graeme Taylor stood up at a school board meeting in support of his teacher, Jay McDowell, who had disciplined two students for making anti-gay remarks in class. McDowell, in turn was disciplined on October 20 for that action, which spurred 14-year-old Taylor to speak out publicly. Via Towleroad:

During his speech in support of his teacher, Taylor revealed his problems with bullying and a suicide attempt at the age of 9.

Making Darkness Visible: Seeing the Relationship of Laws, Homophobia, and Suicide

And because no breeze stirs this caldron, because there is no escape from this smothering confinement, it is entirely natural that the victim begins to think ceaselessly of oblivion.

William Styron, Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

I hadn't intended to write about the topic of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.  The recent, horrific rash of suicides among young people bullied and harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation has already received abundant attention, all of it well deserved.  But as a lawyer, I'm disappointed that there's an aspect of this issue that hasn't been much discussed.  To me, an important but unmentioned factor in this is the relationship between homophobic laws and the psychological health of LGBTs.  So after a little background, let me see if I can shed some light on what I believe that relationship to be.

The issue of suicide is something I know personally, because many years ago, I myself was one of those bullied young people.  Like them, I desperately wanted the torment I endured at the hands of my peers to end.  I felt trapped and alone, because I had no one to whom I could turn for help.  As the years stretched on, the taunting and physical and emotional harassment continued unabated, and I began to believe that death offered the only way out.  I dreamed of ending my own life, thinking that in the grave I would at least find peace.  Fortunately, I lacked the courage to actually perform the deed, and eventually I escaped the suffocating atmosphere of elementary and high school to find a better life. Life got better for me, and I permit myself to believe that it will get better for most of the young LGBTs who are currently the subjects of physical and emotional abuse.  To his enormous credit, columnist Dan Savage has tried to bring this message of hope to beleaguered and desperate LGBT youth with his " It Gets Better Project " on YouTube.  The project has been so successful that some of our country's most prominent public officials -- President Obama , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- have recorded videos for it.  While I commend all three of them for their efforts, I think that as public officials, they have a responsibility to address the role that legal discrimination plays in creating the homophobic and transphobic attitudes that motivate bullies and bring such despair to gender variant youth. Many people don't stop to consider how laws that require discrimination against LGBTs help create and perpetuate a climate of prejudice.  I strongly believe, however, that laws like the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (DADT) and the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) play an important role in fostering bigotry against LGBT Americans.  Let me explain why. Viewed most broadly, laws are the formal expression of society's value judgments.  They can be seen as a kind of official statement of position on a particular subject.  Criminal laws, for example, define acts that are so unacceptable society will punish their commission.  So when a government, be it federal, state, or local, enacts a statute mandating discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, that government declares -- in the most solemn and official manner possible -- that LGBTs are an inferior caste.   That's what DADT does when it declares that "[t]he presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit  cohesion that are the essence of military capability."  (10 U.S.C. § 654(a)(15).)  The same is true of , which Congress passed "to define and protect the institution of marriage" by declaring that "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."  With that simple definition, Congress made gay and lesbian relationships strangers to federal law.  Thirty-nine states have copied Congress and enacted their own prohibitions on same sex marriage.  Typically, voters have approved these bans by overwhelming margins after campaigns that have demonized as a threat to society gays and lesbians who simply want to marry. If you're skeptical of the connection between laws and homophobia, you should know that there's research to back me up.  Studies show that statewide campaigns to ban same-sex marriage are harmful to the mental health of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals.  According to the American Psychological Association , anti-gay "legislative and initiative actions can also result in psychological distress for lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people.  Immediate consequences include fear, sadness, alienation, anger, and an increase in internalized homophobia."  And one study has found a correlation between same-sex marriage bans and an increase in rates of HIV infection among gay men. Homophobic laws send a pair of dangerous and damaging messages to society at large.  They tell LGBTs, including LGBT youth, that they are second class and less worthy than their straight peers.  At the same time, they give the nod to bullies that it's okay to do violence to a group of people whom the law itself says are inferior.  No one should be surprised, then, that violence against LGBT youth is the result, or that LGBT youth sink into despair and thoughts of suicide.  When those entrusted with making laws enact statutes requiring discrimination against LBGTs, they help create and sustain an atmosphere of hatred and bigotry. So while I welcome the encouraging words from President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and Speaker Pelosi, I want them to realize that words are not enough.  If they are serious about combating suicide among our community's youth, then they must devote themselves to the task of dismantling this country's appalling system of legal discrimination against LGBTs.  And doing that will require them to do much more than make videos. (Posted originally on my blog at TheBody.com.)

The DADT Pentagon study results are not enough to quell the homobigotry of John McCain

On Meet the Press, Senator John McCain again moves the excuse goalposts regarding DADT. He has in the past made bold claims that he would support whatever the military commanders recommended, but as Think Progress notes:

McCain has always said he will reconsider his stance on DADT "the day that the leadership of the military comes to [me]" and says it should be overturned. Yet, when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates came to McCain in February announcing they were in favor of repealing DADT, McCain invented a new condition - the completion of a study the Pentagon is conducting looking into the repercussions of repealing DADT.

Last month, reports surfaced that the study had found that a majority of American servicemembers would not object to serving alongside openly gay troops. Then this week, sources familiar with the study, which is to be released in December, told the Washington Post that the study had concluded that repealing DADT will not disrupt the military during a time of war. But appearing on NBC's Meet the Press today, McCain yet again moved the goal posts, deploying his latest stumbling block to repeal. The problem? The study McCain demanded is now not good enough:

MR. GREGORY: That said, seven in 10 members of the military think it would be just fine to have it lifted.

SEN. McCAIN: Yeah. You and I have not seen that study. And this study was directed at how to implement the repeal, not whether the repeal should take place or not. But, very importantly, we have people like the commandant of the Marine Corps, the three other-all four service chiefs are saying we need a thorough and complete study of the effects-not how to implement a repeal, but the effects on morale and battle effectiveness. That's what I want. And once we get this study, we need to have hearings, and we need to examine it, and we need to look at whether it's the kind of study that we wanted. It isn't, in my view, because I wanted a study to determine the effects of the repeal on battle effectiveness and morale. What this study is, is designed to do is, is to find out how the repeal could be implemented. Those are two very different aspects of this issue.

Why the perpetual need for a "do over"? At this point it makes no sense to any thinking person. Also, for all of the gays who support McCain (and repeal), how do this reconcile this recalcitrant bastard's bigoted POV? He most certainly has served with gays; he knows the only excuses left for the discriminatory policy lie not in "morale" or "battle effectiveness." All I've heard so far seems to revolve around:

1. The "soap dropping in the shower."

2. "Teh homos are going to be looking at my pee-pee."

3. "I'm going to be assaulted in my bunk."

These are juvenile, absurd and quite frankly, an embarrassment to those currently serving and working with colleagues who are lesbian and gay (and even out in many cases). How weak must our military be to fall apart and be unprepared for battle because of purported privacy issues? And if there are moral objections, that's irrelevant. You. Take. Orders. Reactions:

SLDN:

Statement by Army veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis:

"Sen. McCain is clearly out of touch, not only with the American people, but also the Pentagon and our troops. McCain seems to be saying he wants a do-over because he doesn't like the findings and recommendations in the Pentagon report going to Secretary Gates. In other words, McCain is telling the Pentagon: Keep working until you produce the outcome I'm looking for."

HRC's Joe Solmonese:

"Obviously the senator doesn't like the preliminary findings of the Pentagon's DADT survey, which found a clear majority of U.S. service members are okay serving with their gay and lesbian comrades. The senator has known all along the study developed by the Pentagon Working Group was looking at how to repeal DADT-not whether to do so.

"McCain has said he wanted to hear from the senior military leadership. He heard loud and clear from Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, last February when both were firmly in support of repeal.

"McCain has said he wanted to hear from rank-and-file troops. He has just heard loud and clear from them through the survey. But he doesn't like their answer-- and is stonewalling, trying to run out the clock on repeal by calling for congressional hearings.

"The truth is McCain is increasingly alone in his irrational opposition to open service. Sixty-four percent of Republicans disagree with McCain and favor lifting the ban. No matter the evidence, McCain will use whatever tactics at his disposal to not only stop repeal from moving forward, but will hold hostage the most critical military defense bill to do so."