New Loss for Lt. Dan Choi

In the most high-profile case of its like, Lt. Dan Choi, an Arabic interpreter in the National Guard, was recommended for discharge yesterday from the military by a panel of four officers due to breaking the infamous Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. So, he's out, and now he's out.

From the MSNBC story:

Lt. Dan Choi would be the first New York National Guard member discharged for violating the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, a spokesman for the New York Army National Guard.

Choi, a combat veteran, said it amounted to firing him "for nothing more than telling the truth about who I am."

"I'm a leader. A setback is an opportunity to keep fighting, and I'm going to do that through my actions," said Choi, who on Sunday was a celebrity grand marshal in San Francisco's Gay Pride Parade.

Choi says he will go on to fight the decision, but it is unlikely that he will win due to the recent setback on the federal level on Don't Ask, Don't Tell where the Supreme Court refused to hear a case.

My suggestion? Let's expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- as suggested by the group The Power -- to include sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, and then move on to court cases. We need some kind of law on our side first, right? Seems reasonable, yea?

Thanks to Wolfie at Back2Stonewall for the heads up on this video of Keith Olbermann's take on DADT:

"Love is bigger than government."

Former Governor Jesse Ventura, speaking on MSNBC's Verdict, against Pat Buchanan of all people. Here's a bit of him speaking from the transcript:

Well, first of all, I made a statement when I was governor and stand by it today. Love is bigger than government. Who the hell are we as a government to tell people who you can fall in love with? I think it‘s absurd that fact it‘s even being debated.

We can solve the problem simply. Government only acknowledges civil unions then you don‘t have to put your sex down. Let the churches acknowledge marriage. They are the private sectors. If they don‘t want to acknowledge it, they have every right to do so. How on earth can we even entertain the fact that government should have the ability to tell you as an individual who you can fall in love with? Ridiculous...

Let me throw something out. You can‘t take a civil rights issue and put it up to a vote. If you did that, we might still have slavery if it was allowed to be voted on...

If the elected officials stand up for what‘s right and do what‘s right for civil rights like they did back then, I fully agree with you. But you can‘t put a civil rights issue on the general ballot in a state and let people vote on it because if do you that, in the southern states before you can bet, they would have voted to continue slavery.

Well said, Mr. Ventura, well said.

GAY STUFF: South Carolina is SO gay

Thanks to my dad for the email on this one!!!

Follow up to one of the bits from this blog about the "South Carolina is SO gay" ad that was pulled by the state tourism board... (Original story here at MSNBC)

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A gay pride organization said Thursday it plans to raise $5,000 to pay for an advertising campaign that proclaimed "South Carolina is so gay" after the state refused to pick up the tab.

SC Pride Movement president Ryan Wilson said his group wants to restore the state's good name after the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department refused to pay. The state was one of a half-dozen highlighted in the London-based ad campaign aimed at gay travelers.

Joel Sawyer, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, said tax dollars should not be used for ads "that promote any group with a particular social or political agenda."

From the media release from SC Pride, and their official statement:

"Someone needs to rise above and do the right thing, and the GLBT community of
South Carolina should be the ones to do it, and the SC Pride Movement is going
to take the lead." Wilson continues, "South Carolina may not be "so gay"
currently but we are going to show the world that we can be and we WILL BE so
gay, and gay friendly some day!"

Make sure you donate to them to support the money they are putting out to have this ad published!!!!

(What's really funny is that you'll notice that the City of Columbia -- the capital of SC -- is a sponsor of SCPride 2008)

GAY STUFF: Interesting story about Lawrence King

This is an interesting, longish, and intelligent story that was on the front page of MSNBC this evening. Five months after the event, this is a really fascinating look into the Lawrence King story... There is an interesting point where they talk about Asst. Principal Epstein, who would counsel Larry. What makes me sad is that, when I came out in middle school, there was an important administrator who helped me too. I'm glad that Larry had someone to talk to, I know it helped me.

The Larry King shooting became the most prominent gay-bias crime since the murder of Matthew Shepard 10 years ago. But despite all the attention and outrage, the reason Larry died isn't as clear-cut as many people think. California's Supreme Court has just legalized gay marriage. There are gay characters on popular TV shows such as "Gossip Girl" and "Ugly Betty," and no one seems to notice. Kids like Larry are so comfortable with the concept of being openly gay that they are coming out younger and younger. One study found that the average age when kids self-identify as gay has tumbled to 13.4; their parents usually find out a year later.

What you might call "the shrinking closet" is arguably a major factor in Larry's death. Even as homosexuality has become more accepted, the prospect of being openly gay in middle school raises a troubling set of issues. Kids may want to express who they are, but they are playing grown-up without fully knowing what that means. At the same time, teachers and parents are often uncomfortable dealing with sexual issues in children so young. Schools are caught in between. How do you protect legitimate, personal expression while preventing inappropriate, sometimes harmful, behavior? Larry King was, admittedly, a problematical test case: he was a troubled child who flaunted his sexuality and wielded it like a weapon—it was often his first line of defense. But his story sheds light on the difficulty of defining the limits of tolerance. As E. O. Green found, finding that balance presents an enormous challenge...

One of the most distracting lines in the whole piece is something LK said to a friend about the class mates teasing him.

" 'One day, they'll regret it. One day, I'll be famous'."

Very, very prescient, this one was.

(Oh, and PS, being an out gay kid in Middle School, I would be ASKED who I like, regularly. I'm sure this wasn't always something Larry did on purpose... no doubt, a lot of this were middle schoolers being middle schoolers and saying stupid shit.)

This story would also explain why we're suddenly getting a lot of hits from people searching for Lawrence King.

ELECTION 2008: 270toWin.com

Thanks to the authors of 270toWin.com who pointed me to a more precise polling estimates as to who will be winning the EV's on their site. Here is their email to me:

Hi,

Thanks for including 270toWin in your recaps. In terms of reporting our current polling estimates, you might want to work off this map:

http://www.270towin.com/2008_polls/mccain_obama/

The home page interactive map, which will eventually align with the above map as we get closer to the election, is changed less frequently as we base it more on historical trends. For example, while North Dakota and Montana are polling close right now, we’re not yet convinced they’ll actually really be in play come Election Day.

They were so nice. This changes their estimate (at the moment) to: 229 (BO), 160 (JM)-- still not a clear winner, but the numbers are higher. Damn, I think I got those numbers wrong. I'm stupid and can't read graphs. Much love

And they're right about Montana and North Dakota. There is always, of course, the possibility of the Bradley Effect in play here.

---------

Also, random point from FOXNews this morning... is John McCain eligible to run for President? He was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 and thus, per Article, Section 1 of the Constitution, not a "natural born citizen." However, his parents were both US citizens serving a military purpose (his dad was in the Navy -- cue the Village People!!!!). The full wording of the Article is:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Here are some people that believe that: American Chaos, Real Truth Online, and the LRC Blog.

Shockingly we may have a good answer from an MSNBC article, which indicates the intent of the forefathers, who passed a law in 1790 that said anyone born to US Citizens outside of the country is a natural born citizen. The text is here:

"And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens." (from a great summary here, which also includes a Supreme Court case ruling in 1927 that indicates Mr. McCain is OK)

And there is a great article from the International Herald Times discussing the issue.

However, the Senate passed a non-binding resolution on April 30, 2008 stating that he is a natural-born citizen. Even if it were to come to court, I think there is enough indications that it's ok.

POLITICS: Jesse Helms is Dead @ 86

Via Joe. My. God. Couldn't really find much on his death yesterday. Apparently fluff stories about July 4th are more important.















Bad taste, bad taste. (From MSNBC)

But I'm giggling.

Also giggling from the funny related post over at Bilerico.

GAY STUFF: Gay marriage in California (AGAIN)

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the original lesbian activists, got married again. :-)

Congrats, girls. Seems it's a big year for all the equal rights movements.

(MSNBC article here)

PS Now how creepy is this: to the reader from Cincinnati who came to Queer Cincinnati via the newest cinplify posting -- thanks Dan! -- and then left via cincinnatidailyphoto... you were my 1,000th visitor!

GAY STUFF: Gay Marriage in.. NEW YORK! (well, sort of)

From the Associated Press via MSNBC (original articles linked)

SAN FRANCISCO - As California set June 17 as the first day gay couples in the state may wed, a newspaper reported that New York's governor has told state agencies they should begin recognizing gay marriages performed in states and countries where they're legal.

Gov. David Paterson spoke of the changes in a videotaped message shown to gay community leaders earlier this month, The New York Times reported. He said the move is "a strong step toward marriage equality."

Paterson's legal counsel issued a written directive to state agencies on
May 14, The Times reported. The directive says there will likely need to be
changes in some agency regulations. Among those are rules affecting inheritance
rights for pensions and property.

YEA!!!! I like this new governor of New York every day more and more.

For those who aren't following, New Yorkers were one of the few groups of people, like Rhode Islanders, who could travel to Massachusetts to get married, as the two states lacked a Defense of Marriage Act or any law illegalizing gay marriage.

ELECTION 2008: Simone de Beauvoir

Per Simone de Beauvoir:

There are two kinds of people: human beings and women. And when women start acting like human being, they are accused of trying to be men.

Hm.

Anyone have any idea about this thing -- the Morning Joe show on MSNBC let slip but I can't find any evidence for it -- that Michigan is re-running their primary??? And, btw, it's possible that Florida will rerun its primary.

ELECTION 2008: Bill Richardson chooses a side

MSNBC is really beginning to annoy me.

Clinton Hints She'll Stay in the Race

Thanks, MSNBC... you mean she's not going to throw out the millions of dollars she's already spent to be in a dead heat with Obama... a dead heat, I might remind you means that they are tied. Obama may be the super-kid at the moment, but stop calling her campaign dead, for the love of god.

But here's the little bit in the article that interests me: Bill Richardson is asking her, if Obama sweeps, to pull out... without endorsing either side.

This means that: Richardson is a Clinton supporter (although I think this would hamper his ability to be considered as VP), but acknowledges the reality of situation and is afraid to back her right now when it seems like Obama will win the nomination.

Which is why I wanted him as president originally. Let's remember why...