Tag Archives: DADT Unconstitutional

Log Cabin Republicans File Brief Opposing The Department of Justice’s Request for STAY DADT Injunction – Gay Inc. Should Be Ashamed

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“With the injunction in place, nothing will change with regard to the composition of the military, the training, promotion, demotion, and deployment of servicemembers, the mission and operations of the armed forces, or anything else that pertains to the important governmental interest that the military serves. The evidence at trial showed that homosexual men and women already serve today; they are deployed to theaters of combat when needed – indeed, retained overall in greater numbers during times of combat – even if they are openly homosexual; it is their discharge, not their presence, that if anything impacts morale and good order.”

So states the brief, in part, filed by The Log Cabin Republicans opposing the government’s request for a stay of the injunction barring enforcement of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Now, I am no fan of the Log Cabin Republicans and I can hardly believe that they are actually doing some good when it comes to the repeal of DADT.  But this also makes another major point at how inepdt Gay Inc. really is when the HRC, Lambda Legal and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is shown up and left in the dust on an important gay rights issue lie the DADT repeal by a bunch of homocons like the LCR.  They should be ashamed and we should learn a lesson from it.

You can read the FULL LCR “Opposition to Stay” after the jump….

DADT UPDATE: Judge Virginia Phillips DENIES Stay AGAIN, Department Of Defense ADMITS "No Enormous Consequences" From DADT Halt, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Spokesman Says There Is "NO Gaurantee’s" For DADT Repeal Vote During Lame Duck Session Or Next Year and Dan Choi and Alex Nicholson Talk to Anderson Cooper (VIDEO)

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So much DADT News overnight,  Here’s a morning update.  Hold on to your hats.

*  Federal District Judge Virginia Phillips has once again rejected the government’s request for a stay on the injunction  barring enforcement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.  The Obama administration can now ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay — and he Obama administration most probably will which would be a travesty and unconstitutional in its own rights. 

*  A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that no disciplinary problems or mass-resignations have been reported  since last week’s judicial injunction even though for years, defenders of the policy predicted chaos and dissension in the armed forces if gay discharges were halted.

*  While the White House keeps lying and insisting that DADT must and will be repealed by Congress soon.  A spokesman from Majority Leaders Senator’s Harry Reid  had said there are “no guarantees” the votes will materialize to repeal the law in a post-election session of Congress or next year, when Republicans are expected to have more seats in both chambers.  Also Congressional observer Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute doubts Senate Democrats will overcome another filibuster in the so-called “lame duck” session of Congress. “There simply will not be the time or the inclination to take this all the way to the limit,” said Ornstein. “And so I suspect we are going to have to wait for another day to see a real resolution of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ question.

If you have read Back2Stonwall in the past, AmericaBlogGay, Pam’s House Blend, or many of the other LGBT blogs out there we have all wrote and warned over and over that if LGBT issues were not taken care of within the first few years of Obama’s tenure that there would be a good chance that they wouldn’t be due to Senate and House midterms.  A few of you listened, but many of you trusted, and even apologized and defended both the Obama administration and the HRC,  Now I’m not saying this to rub it in.  Actually I wish I would have been wrong.  But I really hope that we all have learned a lesson that the LGBT Community needs to form its own political Caucus and PAC and ONLY endorse and support PROGRESSIVE Candidates.

*  Dan Choi who re-enlisted in the Armed Forces yesterday talked last night to Anderson Cooper on AC360 as did Alexander Nicholson, the sole named plaintiff in the Log Cabin Republican case which led to the striking down of the discriminatory measure.  Watch the video below.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The United States Army ACCEPTS The Re-Enlistment Of Openly Gay Lt. Dan Choi (Video)

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The U.S. Army has ACCEPTED the re-enlistment of Lt. Dan Choi. Choi now merely has to supply some medical paperwork tomorrow and he’s in.

Choi says he found today’s event to be “absolutely exciting, absolutely vindicating.”

Dan Choi Attempts To Re-Enlist In The Military at Times Square, NYC Recruitment Station – Told He’s "Too Old" For The Marines

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A Pentagon spokeswoman announced today that Military recruiters have been told that they must accept gay applicants, following a federal court decision striking down the ban on gays serving openly in the military. 

Following the news Dan,Choi, who was discharged under DADT earlier this year, immediately headed to the Times Square military recruiting station in NYC to reenlist.

Choi first attempted to re-enlist in the Marines and was told he was “too old” so he is now trying to enlist in The Army.

Judge Virginia Phillips DENIES The Government’s Request For A Stay On The DADT Injunction

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Judge Virginia Philips today DENIED the government’s request for a stay in the injunction against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.  Judge Phillips wasted no time in rejecting the government’s arguments that barring DADT immediately would be an undue burden on the military and called the justice department’s declarations to the court both vague and insufficient  

From the Associated Press
:
Phillips called (the DOJ) request ‘untimely,’ saying the government had plenty of opportunity to modify her injunction before she ordered it last Tuesday. She also balked at their admission of a Rolling Stone article to support its argument that the abrupt change in the policy would hurt military readiness. ‘I hardly need to say more than that,’ Phillips said of the article. ‘It’s hearsay. It’s not reliable.’ Phillips also said the Justice Department also did not present evidence at the trial to show how her order would cause irreparable harm to U.S. troops. Justice Department attorney Paul Freeborne told her the government had no reason to respond until her order came down. He said her nationwide injunction is unrealistic. ‘You’re requiring the Department of Justice to implement a massive policy change, a policy change that may be reversed upon appeal,’ Freeborne told her. Freeborne said the government would go to a higher court if she denied their request to temporarily freeze her injunction.”
 
Phillips is expected to issue a formal ruling later Monday or early Tuesday
 
Obviously Judge Virgina Phillips has bigger balls than our “fierce advocate”.  This almost makes one think maybe one of the three branches of government is working,
 
BRAVA Judge Philips!

Is Military Gay and Lesbian Segregation Becoming Part of the DADT Repeal? Is That Why It’s Taking So Long?

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Back in  July I wrote a post that The Obama Administration and the Pentagon might  be considering segregating Gay and Lesbians solders if DADT is repealed. (Which they denied.)   A this week with the “leaking” of the first results from the DADT Survey sent to military members I said that it sure sounded like that they might be setting Gay and Lesbian soldiers up limited duties if DADT is passed.

Well it seems I am not the only one who thinks this might happens,  In an editorial from today’s New York Times points out that in the stay appeal the DOJ points to Clifford Stanley, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness stating that “things” have to be taken into consideration.  And these “things” sure sound like the possibility of Lesbian and Gay soldiers being “separate but equal”/

Clifford Stanley, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a court filing that ending the antigay policy would require training, and reworking regulations on issues like housing, benefits and standards of conduct. He said the Army had to consider the “rights and obligations of the chaplain corps.” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the military had to consider whether barracks should be segregated and whether partners of gay soldiers should have benefits.

Enough is enough.  Israel, Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and other nations have managed this without all of the drama.  No judge should grant them a stay especially if they are working on a “separate but equal” discrimination policy since DADT was found unconstitutional on the grounds of discrimination.

Is this the REAL reason why this is taking so long.  They need to set up “separate but equal” policies for Lesbian and Gay soldiers before they repeal?

It’s sure beginning to look that way.

HRC’s Joe Solmonese Is "Disappointed" That President Obama and The Department of Justice Is Appealing The DADT Ruling. Gosh Darn It!

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Joe Solmonese, the overpaid, DNC ass kissing, cocktail partying, clotheshorse, Hair Plugs for Men member and President of the Human Rights Campaign is “disappointed” that his good buddy President Obama and the Department of Justice are appealing the recent Federal Court Judge’s decision that DADT is Unconstitutional.

Not angry, confused. disgusted, enraged, mind boggled, disgusted, incensed, or just plain pissed off like the rest of us.  Only“disappointed.”

“It is certainly disappointing and frustrating that the administration has sought a stay. There is one simple way to put the endless legal wrangling behind us and do what the president and the American people want to strengthen our military: The administration and Congress need to finish the legislative work on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal after the election.”

Oh Joe.  Hopefully you’ll be over your “disappointment” by the next White House Cocktail Party.  I’d so hate for you not to enjoy it.

Asshole.

The First Results Of The DADT Repeal Survey Leaked In The L.A, Times And It’s Not Good

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The Los Angeles Times has leaked some of the first results of the horribly homophobic and offensive survey that the Pentagon sent out to over 400,000 active military members of the Armed Forces regarding the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell .

In the L.A. Times Story “Scholars question weight of Judge Virginia Phillips’ order overturning the law and halting all Defense Department proceedings aimed at discharging gay and lesbian personnel. ruling and the Obama Administration and the Justice Department appealing the decision to, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco or the U.S. Supreme Court to lift Phillips’ order while a full appeal goes forward and the DADT repeal slowly makes its way through Congress.  The litigation on the constitutionality of the law could go on for years said Aaron Tax, legal director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization that represents gay and lesbian military personnel.

At the end of the article the L.A. Times reports on the first results of the infamous DADT survey: (That cost the country over $400,000.00)

The Pentagon task force charged with examining the issue is “well along” in formulating recommendations, and the ruling is not expected to affect its work, another senior military officer.

The task force found deep resistance to the idea of repealing the law in some elements of the armed services, especially within the combat units, an officer familiar with the findings said. But the surveys also have found segments of the military who were not overly worried about allowing gays and lesbians to serve, the officer said.

One really has to wonder WHY the repeal of DADT has become such a clusterfuck. And why the Obama Administration is so hellbent on ONLY willing to follow a Congressional repeal to the end. Over 79 percent of Americans believe that DADT should end.  That it has reached this point because of political games, posturing, internal homophobia and just plain bullshit on the Federal level is an embarrassment to our country and HIGHLY OFFENSIVE to the LGBT Community and all Americans in general.

On has to wonder what the real motivation is behind this.  And why the surveys are so important.  Months ago there was a report about the possibility of segregation of Lesbian and Gay troops when DADT was repealed which the Pentagon “promises” will never happen.  And now we hear that in the heavily skewed survey that the Pentagon has sent out that they are “finding deep resistance” in combat units.  Could they possibly be setting up the repeal to done in such a way that gays and lesbians will be able to serve but NOT in combat units like women during WW2, Korea, and Vietnam?

There is so much blame to go around on why this has happened..  Blame on the Obama Administration, and the President himself.  Blame on the Pentagon, certain Democrats, the entire obstructionist Republican Party (with a special shout out to Olympia Snowe and Blanche Lincoln for being cowards), John “Grandpa Munster” McCain and of course our shame and of course the monumental failure of the Human Rights Campaign.

This is a travesty and an insult to us all.  Gay and Straight.

We are no longer the most hated country in the world (except by our own countrymen) we are now the biggest laughingstocks

Obama Administration Department Of Justice To Appeal Federal Judges Ruling To Halt "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" Discharges

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Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged the Justice Department is preparing to appeal a court’s decision against the law preventing gays from serving openly in the military, but said President Obama is still committed to ending the policy.

“This is a policy that is going to end,” Gibbs said. “It’s not whether it’s going to end. It’s about the process.”

Via Kerry Eleveld of The Advocate:

Reporter: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Apparently the administration will appeal the DOMA rulings. What are you going to do about “don’t ask, don’t tell,” on the grounds of the DOMA ruling that the administration always appeals laws that strike down or challenge existing laws that are on the — or rulings that strike down existing —

Gibbs: Let me — I’ve had a chance to talk to the President about this this morning. I’d refer you to Department of Justice on appeals and that sort of thing. You’ve heard the President discuss this for several years, but I want to reiterate that the President strongly believes that this policy is unjust, that it is detrimental to our national security, and that it discriminates against those who are willing to die for their country. And the President strongly believes that it’s time for this policy to end. As you know, the President has implemented a process with the Department of Defense, with the Secretary of Defense, with Admiral Mullen and the other members of the Joint Chiefs to move forward in implementing an end to this policy in an orderly way.

The best way to end it is for the Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives so that that end can be implemented in a fashion that’s consistent with our obligations in fighting two wars. But absent that action, the President again has set up a process to end this policy. And I think the bottom line is, that recent court rulings have demonstrated to Congress that it’s time to act and end this policy, they’ve demonstrated that time is running out on the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and that the bottom line is this is a policy that is going to end. It’s not whether it will end, but the process by which it will end

.I’m going to let Keori of Pam’s House Blend sum this up, because it’s perfect stated and frankly this shit is about to make my head explode.

“Let’s be honest: this President hasn’t set up jack shit, preferring instead to let his Bush-holdover SECDEF run the show. This President doesn’t want repeal to happen. This President has lied repeatedly, and undermined the repeal process at every turn. We were told that he had set up that “required” Pentagon study group in March of 2009. He hadn’t. This President said he wanted Congress to repeal DADT. He bullied Congressmen into withdrawing repeal language from legislation instead. This President could have included repeal language in his transmittals to the House for inclusion in the Defense Authorization act. He refused. This President could have respected the rule of law and instructed to DOD to follow the Witt standard. He didn’t. When it came down to the wire, instead of expending a bit of effort to get the votes in the Senate to repeal DADT, this President chose to instead call the WNBA champions and congratulate them. And now, when he has been handed an opportunity on a silver platter to end DADT, he’s fighting back.  But don’t forget, Republicans are worse.”

And the Human Rights Campaign LOVES Obama! (After all he gies them job security)

Federal Judge ORDERS Obama Administration To Stop All DADT Discharges Immediately"

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Earlier today U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips who last month ruled that DADT was UNCONSTITUTIONAL saying that the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy violates the 1st Amendment rights of lesbians and gay members,after hearing appreals (And of course the DOJ had to appeal it.) has ordered the Defense Department to ‘immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding.'”

ORDERS Defendants United States of America and the Secretary of Defense immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Act, or pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 654 or its implementing regulations, on or prior to the date of this Judgment

This is probably the LAST chance that President Obama will have to take the easy route out and toput up or shut up. Blame the judge and don;t appeal.  Obama doesn’t have to fight this decision., the DOJ doesn’t have to seek a stay —  For the past year, a wide array of apologists have challenged that view.  What happens now will truly l tell you all you need to know about whether the Democratic party is on your side, or whether they are simply using you for your vote and your money. 

Expect a decision shortly from the White House.