Tag Archives: Bill Clinton

Gay History – September 21: Edward II, Daughters of Bilitis Formed, Fannie Flagg and Happy Birthday Dan Savage

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1327 – Edward II died. He was murdered at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire on 21 September 1327 by being held down and having a red-hot poker inserted inside his anus, and his screams could be heard miles away. This cruel torture was most probably devised as punishment for his presumed sexual acts with men.

1944:  Fannie Flagg (born September 21, 1944) is born. She is an American actress, comedian and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–82 versions of the game show Match Game and for the 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes. In the late 1970s, Flagg had a relationship with American writer, Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944). Flagg also lived for eight years with former The Bold and the Beautiful actress Susan Flannery (born July 31, 1939).

1955:  Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization, is formed by four lesbian couples, including Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.

The Daughters of Bilitis was originally formed as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were subject to raids and police harassment. As the DOB gained members, their focus shifted to providing support to women who were afraid to come out. The DOB educated them about their rights, and about gay history. Historian Lillian Faderman declared, “Its very establishment in the midst of witch-hunts and police harassment was an act of courage, since members always had to fear that they were under attack, not because of what they did, but merely because of who they were.” The Daughters of Bilitis endured for 14 years, becoming an educational resource for lesbians, gay men, researchers and mental health professionals.

1971: Thomas Craig “T. C.” Jones the great American female impersonator passes away. T. C.”was known for his impersonations of stars such as Tallulah Bankhead, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn and others. He has been described as “probably the best female impersonator since vaudeville’s late famed Julian Eltinge”.   Although Jones was straight he had a huge gay following. T. C. Jones also appeared in New Faces of 1956, directed by Paul Lynde.

Jones made a number of television appearances, including portraying a homicidal transvestite with a penchant for strangling nurses in “An Unlocked Window”, an Edgar Award-winning episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965 and another killer transvestite in “Night of the Running Death”, a 1967 episode of The Wild Wild West. Jones appeared in a male role opposite Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren in the film Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964) and played dual male/female roles as Mr. and Mrs. Ace in The Monkees’ film Head (1968)

1993: Actress Amanda Bearse comes out while co-starring on the television series Married with Children. Bearse publicly announced her lesbianism in an interview in the September 21, 1993 issue of The Advocate, where she also encouraged other gay celebrities to use their fame and position to increase gay visibility.

In the interview, Bearse expressed relief at having been outed by the tabloids. “The outing really was quite a freeing experience. . . . That one thing, that one big secret is out. For a lot of people, it was just a confirmation of what they thought about me. I mean, I look like the girl next door, but I was always kind of off-center.”

1998: “Will & Grace,” the first prime-time program to feature openly gay lead characters, premiers. While a solid hit. many find the gay stereotyping offensive.

2010:  Dan Savage (born October 7, 1964) and husband Terry Miller upload their first It Gets Better video on YouTube, to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth. Dan is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and activist for the LGBT community.

In his writing and public appearances, Savage has clashed with both social conservatives and the LGBT establishment. He has opposed Rick Santorum’s views on homosexuality and advocated for gay marriage and other LGBT causes. He has made several controversial public statements in various media, often lambasting people with whom he disagrees.

Gay History – September 10, 1996: Congress Passes the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) Rejects The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

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On September 10, 1996 the United States Senate dealt a double defeat to gay-rights activists, voting to reject same-sex marriage  (Defense of Marriage Act – DOMA) by a vote of 85-14. It also rejected (50-49) a separate bill that would have barred job discrimination against gays. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Initially introduced in May 1996, DOMA passed both houses of Congress by large, veto-proof majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in  late September 1996. By defining “spouse” and its related terms to signify a heterosexual couple in a recognized marriage, Section 3 codified non-recognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, social security survivors’ benefits, immigration, bankruptcy, and the filing of joint tax returns, as well as excluding same-sex spouses from the scope of laws protecting families of federal officers (18 U. S. C. §115), laws evaluating financial aid eligibility, and federal ethics laws applicable to opposite-sex spouses.

Democratic Senators voted for the bill 32 to 14 (with Pryor of Arkansas absent), and Democratic Representatives voted for it 118 to 65, with 15 not participating. All Republicans in both houses voted for the bill with the sole exception of the one openly gay Republican Congressman, Rep. Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin

The official political position at that time of President Bill Clinton was against same-sex marriage, Clinton criticized DOMA as “unnecessary and divisive” But Clinton, who was traveling when Congress acted, signed it into law promptly upon returning to Washington, D.C., on September 21, 1996.

In 2013, Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary at the time, recalled that “[Clinton’s] posture was quite frankly driven by the political realities of an election year in 1996 and wanting  to get re-elected.  The reaction from the gay community to Clinton signing DOMA was shock,  anger, and the feeling of being betrayed.

Finally on December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of the United States v. Windsor

Oral arguments were heard on March 27, 2013. In a 5–4 decision on June 26, 2013, the Court ruled Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional, declaring it “a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment.

On June 26, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the 14th Amendment requires all U.S. state laws to recognize same-sex marriages. This left Section 2 of DOMA as superseded and unenforceable.

It took almost 20 years, billions of dollars, and many lives ruined to dismantle the Defense of Marriage Act.

Meanwhile we are still waiting for some version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act now packaged as the Equality Act to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to give protections to the LGBT community against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. 

When will this happen?  Who knows. 

It has only been over 45 years since it was first introduced. 

Gay History – July 19, 1993: President Bill Clinton Unveils Disastrous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy

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July 19, 1993 -President Bill Clinton Unveils “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy:

Let me say a few words now about this policy. It is not a perfect solution. It is not identical with some of my own goals. And it certainly will not please everyone, perhaps not anyone, and clearly not those who hold the most adamant opinions on either side of this issue.”

These are the words said by then President Bill Clinton on this day in 1993 as he unveiled a new policy on gays and lesbians in the military, which he called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue.”

This new policy according to Clinton was as a “compromise “ therefore breaking his campaign promise to overturn the military’s ban. “Because [the military] is a conservative institution, it is right for the military to be wary of sudden changes…it is also right for the military to make changes when the time for change is at hand.” Clinton said.

Clinton’s original plan for repeal was fought by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), chair of the powerful U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. With the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Congress began the process of rushing through a federal law to reinforce the Pentagon’s then-existing policy of total exclusion. Clinton instead of fighting immediately worked on a compromise , and so on July 19, at a speech at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair Clinton unveiled DADT

I have ordered Secretary Aspin to issue a directive consisting of these essential elements: One, service men and women will be judged based on their conduct, not their sexual orientation. Two, therefore the practice, now 6 months old, of not asking about sexual orientation in the enlistment procedure will continue. Three, an open statement by a service member that he or she is a homosexual will create a rebuttable presumption that he or she intends to engage in prohibited conduct, but the service member will be given an opportunity to refute that presumption; in other words, to demonstrate that he or she intends to live by the rules of conduct that apply in the military service. And four, all provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice will be enforced in an even-handed manner as regards both heterosexuals and homosexuals. And thanks to the policy provisions agreed to by the Joint Chiefs, there will be a decent regard to the legitimate privacy and associational rights of all service members.

Sen. Nunn and other opponents of lifting the ban altogether accepted this so-called compromise, and it was attached to the Defense Appropriations Act of 1994 and passed later that year. But put to the test it was a major failure. Service members were discharged based solely on evidence of sexual orientation, recruits were asked about their sexual orientation as part of their enlistment procedure, and any hint that a service member was gay — even if that hint did not come from the service member himself — resulted in an immediate investigation with the goal of discharge from the armed forces. Over the next eighteen years that the policy remained in effect, 14,346 gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors and airmen/women were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until it was finally repealed by President Obama in 2011.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was a total disaster.

“In retrospect, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was an astonishing act of political cowardice,” Matt Taibbi wrote in Rolling Stone magazine. “Telling gay men and women that they had to hide who they were in order to earn the privilege of getting shot at for our idiot military adventures was almost worse than open bigotry. It essentially institutionalized the closet.”

After DADT the Clinton Administration entered a phase of deep reluctance to tackle substantive gay-rights issues on the national stage. Although Clinton made a number of first-ever, high-profile appointments of gay leaders to his team, any kind of gay-rights policy agenda seemed stalled as a result of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

On September 21, 1996 President William Jefferson Clinton would blindside the LGBT community once again for his own political gain by signing the Defense of Marriage Act into law,

GAY HISTORY- September 20, 1996: The Day Bill Clinton Sold Out The Gay Community And Signed DOMA Into Law

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September 20, 1996:

On this day in 1996, then President Bill Clinton announced his signing of the Defense of Marriage Act, which outlawed federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and which allowed the Federal Government to ignore the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S Constitution and refuse to recognized valid marriages from other states. Clinton said that he signed DOMA to head off a federal constitutional amendment, but LGBT advocates and many in the political pundits agree  that the act was less than a defense against a federal constitutional amendment and more a defense of his 1996 re-election campaign. Those suspicions were confirmed when the Clinton released a campaign ad in 15 Christian radio stations  in conservative states boasting that he had signed the Defense of Marriage Act. After being found out and because of the response to loud protests from LGBT advocates, the Clinton campaign pulled that ad two days later.

In March of 2013 , Bill Clinton finally disavowed the Defense of Marriage Act entirely, urging that the law be overturned by the Supreme Court.

According to Hillary Clinton in 2915:

“On Defense of Marriage [Act], I think what my husband believed — and there was certainly evidence to support it — is that there was enough political momentum to amend the Constitution of the United States of America, and that there had to be some way to stop that. And there wasn’t any rational argument — because I was in on some of those discussions, on both ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and on DOMA, where both the president, his advisers and occasionally I would — you know, chime in and talk about, ‘You can’t be serious. You can’t be serious.’ But they were. And so, in a lot of ways, DOMA was a line that was drawn that was to prevent going further. It was a defensive action.”

A review of congressional record and news coverage from 1996 found little public evidence that Democratic lawmakers decided to vote for DOMA because of a threat of a constitutional amendment.

Elizabeth Birch, former head of the Human Rights Campaign who fought against DOMA, said the actual threat of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage came after President George W. Bush took office and vowed to reserve marriage for heterosexual unions. There was not, at the time, a kind of concentrated threat of a constitutional amendment. That came four years later.”

Birch and many others have always said that President Clinton’s support for DOMA was a defensive move in that he wanted to “take it out of play for the 1996 election”

In fact Bill Clinton campaigned using DOMA as a re-election tool and ran a controversial radio ad that touted his signing of the Defense of Marriage Act which aired on Christian radio stations in several states

Fast forward to present day.

“President Clinton has evolved on this issue just like every American has evolved,” said Human Rights Campaign, President Chad Griffin. 

Which bears the comment that if he was really against it at the time why would he have to “evolve”.

A little trivia for those who don’t know. Chad Griffin worked as White House Press Office manager  for Mr. Clinton’s White House administration during the time that Clinton  signed of DOMA. 

It took the gay community almost 20 years and countless millions of dollars to undo the harm that Bill Clinton did by signing DOMA into law.

Clinton has never formally apologized for signing the Defense of Marriage Act into law.

Bill Clinton’s Weekend “Honey-Do List” – 1. Attack Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire – Video

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Bill Clinton GLAAD award

 

While stumping for wife Hillary in New Hampshire. Bill Clinton shed the calm and refined demeanor of an a former United States President last night and tore into Bernie Sanders over “double standards”.

Via Politico

Clinton’s milquetoast stump speech touting his wife’s biography and her power as a “changemaker” has transformed into a brutal litany of attacks on Bernie Sanders and the devious campaign the Clintons apparently believe he is running.

“When you’re making a revolution, you can’t be too careful with the facts,” he told the crowd of just under 300 who came to hear him speak Sunday afternoon while Hillary Clinton paid a visit to Flint, Michigan, to visit a church. “I want you to laugh, because when you’re mad you can’t think.”

Without mentioning Sanders by name, Clinton recited a laundry list of double standards and lack of details in policy proposals he has identified in Sanders’ campaign — and labeled “her opponent the champion of all things small and the enemy of all things big.”

Speaking of double standards Bill. How did that DOMA and DADT signing treat you?

 

Bill Clinton Performs At Human Rights Campaign Gay-la National Dinner (Video)

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Bill Clinton HRC

 

Via Politico:

The fired-up crowd attending the Human Rights Campaign’s national dinner at Washington D.C.’s cavernous convention center was particularly enthusiastic whenever he mentioned Hillary Clinton, a likely 2016 Democratic candidate. The former president noted her support for gay rights during her time at State, when she said that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” “I love the HRC. The initials are great,” Clinton said as the crowd embraced the dual reference to the rights organization and his wife’s middle name, Rodham. Early on, the former president also mentioned Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who is thought to be a candidate to run Hillary Clinton’s potential presidential campaign. Bill Clinton noted several times how much has changed on the gay rights front — including court-sanctioned gay marriage in many places — since he addressed the organization in 1997. “One thing we have learned is no human heart is immune to an honest outreach,” he said. “No one can forever ignore their personal experience. If you ask somebody who the most conservative member of the Bush administration was, most people say Dick Cheney. But Dick Cheney was for gay marriage [and] gay rights because of his daughter [one of whom is gay], because of his personal human experience.”

NO mention of DOMA.

NO mention of DADT.

NO mention that he SIGNED those bills, had the nerve to campaign for re-election using them as campaign points and that he helped create over a decades of inexpressible heartbreak and inequality for hundreds of thousands of gays and lesbians in the United States

And still NO apology to the Lesbian and Gay community for signing either.

(And lets not forget Welfare reform. The selling-out of the middle class.and not thaving enough respect for the presidency to keep his pants zipped for a few years.)

 

Bill Clinton To Keynote Human Rights Campaign’s Gayla Gala Dinner

The Human Rights Campaign has announced that former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address next month at their annual National Gala Dinner.

Via press release:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality, announced today that President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at the 18th Annual HRC National Dinner to be held on Saturday, October 25, 2014, in Washington, DC. “President Bill Clinton is a transformational leader for our nation and the world,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His ability to build partnerships around the globe and harness the power of human potential is truly remarkable, and we are thrilled he will be returning as our keynote speaker for our national dinner.”  After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation with the mission to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote health and wellness, and protect the environment. In addition to his Foundation work, President Clinton has served as the top United Nations envoy for the Indian Ocean tsunami recovery effort and as the UN Special Envoy to Haiti. Today, the Clinton Foundation is supporting economic growth, capacity building, and education in Haiti. President Clinton attended HRC’s first national dinner in 1997.

No mention was made by HRC or Chad Griffin, a former Clinton White House staffer about the fact Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes into law and ruined thousands of live and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) during his tenure in office selling out the gay community for his re-election campaign.   Both of which he has NEVER publicly apologized to the gay community for.

Well for years HRC made hundreds of millions of dollars of DOMA and DADT.  I suppose its just right that they make a little more and honor the man they made it off of.  *snort*

The October 25,th. event is already sold out.  But to be perfectly honest HRC sold out a looooooong time ago.

Today In Gay History September 20th: The Battle of The Sexes, The Saint NYC, DOMA and DADT

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The Saint White party

1973: Out tennis player Billie Jean King squared off against Bobby Riggs in what the press dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes.” King went on to defeat Riggs and made history for women in sports.  Billie Jean King was still in the closet when she won the match against Riggs and her sexuality would not become public until may of May 1981 when a ‘palimony’ lawsuit filed by her longtime secretary and girlfriend, Marilyn Barnet.

1980: Love Sensation by Loleatta Holloway goes to #1 on Billboard’s dance chart.

1980 – Opening night at “The Saint”, New York’s premier gay dance club of the located in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan.  The Saint was opened by Bruce Mailman and his business partner and his architectural designer, Charles Terrell and was as financed in large part by Mailman’s other gay venture, the nearby St. Marks Baths.  Several times during the year, themed parties such as the “Black Party” and the “White Party” attracted celebrities from around the world. These Saint parties are considered by most disco historians to be the precursors to the circuit party and were attended by thousands of gay men each year.  The Saint closed its doors in 1988 but the “Black Party” and the “White Party”lives on.

1996: President Bill Clinton announced he would be signing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law, thus making marriage federally recognized as being only between one man and one woman. At the time Clinton stated, “…this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation.” (Yeah, right!) Clinton later flipped on the issue, and stated he regretted signing DOMA into law. But NEVER apologized to the LGBT Community for doing so.

2011: After 18 years the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ruling that kept lesbian, gay and bisexual people from openly serving in the military, was repealed. The transgender cocommunity was once again shamelessly left out.

 

 

 

Bill Clinton Accepts GLAAD Media Award, Does Not Apologize (Again) for DOMA or DADT – VIDEO

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Bill Clinton GLAAD award

Last night was the second installment of the $500 dollar a plate ($1000.00 for V.I.P seating)  24th GLAAD Media Awards held at the JW Marriott in Los Angeles, CA.  former President Bill Clinton was the “star attraction”  and the controversial recipient of the Advocate for Change Award.  And  during his speech once again Clinton did not mention his role in signing DOMA and DADT into law, nor did he apologize for it. Instead  he gave the credit of  his “evolution” on LGBT equality to his daughter, Chelsea Clinton who made a surprise appearance after his speech to present him the award.

Said Clinton: “(Chelsea) had a profound impact on the way I see the world. Chelsea and her gay friends and her wonderful husband have modeled to me the way we all should treat each other.”

And while Clinton ignored all responsibility for both DOMA and DADT he talked about his present support that DOMA  be struck down.

‘I want to keep working on this until not only DOMA is no longer the law of the land, but until all people, no matter where they live, can marry the people they love,’ he said. ‘I believe you will win the DOMA fight, and I think you will win the constitutional right to marry. If not tomorrow, then the next day or the next day.’

Presenting Clinton with this award has only further cemented the evolution of GLAAD (the organization formerly known as Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) march into irrelevancy.  It’s become apparent to everyone that the awards are not based on merit but on name recognition and draw.  At the first installment of this years awards GLAAD awarded Brett Ratner its “Straight Ally of the Year” who in 2012 was fired resigned from producing the Academy Awards after telling an audience that “rehearsing is for fags.”, and then quickly apologized  and worked with GLAAD  making a celebrity studded “Coming Out for Equality PSA” series not for actually being a selfless straight ally.

And as much as I live Hillary Clinton as for Bill he sold our community out, to The Right Wing, for a few votes bragged about it and never apologized.

The GLAAD Media Awards are a joke, a sham and just further proof of Gay Inc’s elitism and its greed.

After last night Vito Russo (GLAAD’s founder) is spinning in his grave, no doubt.

GLAAD Conveniently Forgets DOMA and DADT, To Give Bill Clinton “Advocate for Change” Award

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OH COME ON!

As if giving Anderson Cooper the Vito Russo Award and Brett “Rehearsals are for fags” Ratner the Ally of the Year Award wasn’t enough to make you think that someone is spiking GLAAD’s watercooler with LSD.  Today GLAAD announced today that they will honor Bill Clinton later this month at their Media Awards in Los Angeles.

Via press release:

Bill Clinton will receive GLAAD’s first Advocate for Change Award during the event. In 2011, Clinton advocated for marriage equality in New York, stating that “for more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.” In 2012, he joined the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families in working against North Carolina’s proposed Amendment One to ban marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Most recently, he called for the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

During his administration, Clinton became the first U.S. President to appoint out gay and lesbian people to all levels of government. He appointed more than 150 including James Hormel as America’s first openly gay ambassador. During the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, his administration convened the first White House Conference on the epidemic, created the national AIDS Policy Coordinator post, and expanded funding for research.  In 2002, his Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) began as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in the developing world.

Who’s going to present him the award?  Ken Mehlman?

Really now have they forgotten that Bubba signed DOMA and DADT into law?

Look I know that was a long time ago and he’s changed and has now jumped on the bandwagon after he threw us under the bus (although he’s still NEVER apologized for it)  and I’m kinda okay with Bill now (mostly because of Hillary), but giving him an award?  REALLY?

This is just one more example GLAAD’s  zero accountability and its own lack of sensitivity.  And once again provesits incessant need to ass-kiss and star fuck with celebrities and former presidents whose images need a makeover all for themselves and the almighty dollar and NOT for the greater good of the LGBT community.