Lt Gary Ross of the US Navy decided to get married the moment DADT’s repeat went into effect, just after 12:00 AM today; he did it in Vermont at gay-friendly Moose Meadow Lodge. How fitting: Vermont was the first state to offer LGBTQ people civil unions (as well as being the home of Truth Wins Out). Congrats, Lt. Ross and Mr. Dan Swezy!

We’re all relieved that DADT has passed into history. Yet we can’t forget that LGBTQ soldiers still lack basic civil rights their straight buddies enjoy. According to the great state of Vermont, Swezy is Ross’s legal husband, but he is nonetheless ineligible for military health insurance. Incredibly, anal and oral sex are still court-martial offenses under Article 125 of the military legal code. Transgender people may not serve at all.

Read Nathaniel Frank’s thoughtful piece on DADT’s damage, its legacy and what its tenure says about the national psyche.

[h/t AMERICAblog Gay]

[Note from Evan:  This is Jenny Blair, and she's going to be pitching in a bit with the writing around here.  Welcome her!]

One of only two law schools in the nation to have denied military recruiters access to its campus during the “don’t ask, don’t tell” era recently announced it will lift its ban once DADT is repealed in September.

Unlike the overwhelming majority of American law schools, the Vermont Law School has kept recruiters off its campus because the military’s barring of openly non-heterosexual people violated a non-discrimination policy that the school adopted in 1985. That lack of hypocrisy cost VLS dearly–to the tune of some $500,000 a year in federal funds since 2000–when the Defense Department decided to withhold federal funding from all universities of which any part prohibited military recruiters. [The Defense Department can do that because of the Solomon Amendment, which prevents schools from receiving federal funding if they don't allow military recruiters on campus.]

In other words, the students, faculty, and trustees of Vermont Law School said no thanks to over $5 million in order to uphold the school’s own stated principles. Who says lawyers’ loyalties are for sale? Bravo, VLS.

Weekly Column

Anti-gay activists have long considered 1993’s Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell compromise one of their most prized victories. In one fell swoop, they humiliated President Bill Clinton, flexed their political muscle, and put lesbian and gay people in their place.

What the extremists never understood was that Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell was their movement’s death knell. This bitter fight elevated gay rights to a national issue for the first time in history. Prior to 1993, discussions about LGBT people were usually spoken in hushed tones. Suddenly, gay people were photographed on the cover of magazines, quoted in the A Section of newspapers, and interviewed on television news programs (not just the daytime talk shows). The nation was introduced to honorable role models such as Tracy Thorne, the Top Gun pilot with movie star looks, (pictured)  and Vietnam Bronze Star recipient Grethe Cammermeyer.

The national March on Washington occurred at roughly the same time, offering an opportunity for thousands of people, emboldened by the gays in the military debate, to come out of the closet in a safe and inspiring atmosphere.

Up until that moment, the public, the media, and religious institutions had decided to render gay people invisible or portrayed them as sinful circus acts. There was virtually no effort to show homosexuals as multi-dimensional people who led complete, fulfilling lives.

The first Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell loss was actually a victory (except for the 14,000 brave gay troops who were fired) because it destroyed the taboo of homosexuality. At that moment, LGBT people became an identifiable group to mainstream Americans and were firmly ingrained in public consciousness.

Seventeen years later, the scare tactics of the opposition were rendered ineffective because people had friends and family members who were openly gay. Even the majority of the troops said they thought they had served with gay service members.

This time around, our gay spokespeople were seen as dignified and patriotic, while the opposition appeared freakish, paranoid, and melodramatic. America looked at our opponents and asked, “What are you so scared of? Your fears are misplaced and, quite frankly, weird.”

There was one striking difference in this year’s tussle. In 1993, it was the politicians who were trying to get out in front of public opinion. In 2010, two-thirds of the public was squarely in favor of repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, yet many elected officials were bucking the views of their constituents to appease anti-gay special interests.

The unsettling disconnect between the majority of Americans and some members of Congress – overwhelmingly Republican — who kowtow to hardcore litmus test voters, remains a real problem that will be exacerbated in 2011 when Republicans take over the House. Indeed, passing the bill took a massive lobbying effort, which included Washington insiders and new direct action groups. The legislation only made it through at the last possible moment – flaring tempers and fraying nerves.

President Bill Clinton’s painful experience with gays in the military led Obama to be overly cautious, almost killing repeal efforts. His go slow approach was frustrating and, at times, infuriating. But, in the end, he will be judged by what happens on his watch — and his efforts just earned him an upgrade from a Casio to a Rado.

To get the Rolex, he will have to sign a law prohibiting employment discrimination and abolish the odious Defense of Marriage Act. Still, the President did enough to temporarily quell bubbling anger in the LGBT community, while earning himself a degree of trust. He said he would end this heinous policy – and he did. Few people will remember the details and history will celebrate the signing ceremony, which signaled a major victory for the LGBT movement and the Obama administration.

However, expectations will be higher now that the ghost of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell has been slain. The integration of openly gay soldiers will prove to be a non-event, (like gay people marrying in 5 states) giving wavering Democrats and moderate Republicans few excuses not to vote for equality in the future.

As for our foes, they will be in disarray and have to live with the inconvenient fact that their gloom and doom scenarios never came to pass. And, they will soon have to watch their worst nightmare come to fruition, as heroic openly gay and lesbian soldiers stand on elevated platforms to receive medals for saving lives in the heat of battle.

It is telling that the week ended with former president Jimmy Carter, an observant evangelical Christian, saying he thought America would soon be ready for a gay president. With this week’s historic victory – suddenly anything looks possible.

Colonel Mark Abraham, head of diversity for the British Army, told People Management the lifting of the ban on gays serving in the military in 2000 had “no notable change at all.” According to PinkNews UK:

He added: “We got to the point where the policy was incompatible with military service and there was a lack of logic and evidence to support it.

“We knew a lot of gay and lesbian people were serving quite successfully, and it was clear that sexual orientation wasn’t an indication of how good a soldier or officer you could be.”

He continued: “The reality was that those serving in the army were the same people the day after we lifted the ban, so there was no notable change at all. Everybody carried on with their duties and had the same working relationships as they previously had while the ban was in place.”

Colonel Abraham argues that the lifting of the ban actually made the armed forces more productive: “A lot of gay and lesbian soldiers who were in the army before the ban was lifted, reported that a percentage of their efforts was spent looking over their shoulder and ensuring they weren’t going to be caught. That percentage of time can now be devoted to work and their home life, so actually they are more effective than they were before.”

This is Al Krieger, mayor of Yuma, Arizona. His masculinity is threatened by gay men:

Anyway, Al Krieger doesn’t really need to worry about “lacy-drawered, limp-wristed” gays in the military, because the kinds of gays who already serve in the United States military are the kind with the sort of training that would enable them to beat the hell out of sad sack men like Al Krieger with one hand tied behind their backs.

If you have a problem with Krieger’s comments, you ought to e-mail him at alan.krieger@yumaaz.gov.

(h/t Towle)

It is time for Congress to act swiftly and boldly to end the insane Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy by attaching repeal to the defense budget bill this week.

Doing so will be good for the military and America.

There are some who call for the completion of a Pentagon study, due in December, before abolishing the discriminatory law. However, we don’t need a study to know that the current policy hurts military readiness, wastes taxpayer’s money and ruins the lives of patriotic service members.

The sooner we stop fighting this ridiculous, counterproductive culture war, the sooner we will have the soldiers we need to fight real wars. More than 13,000 gay members of the military have already been forced to take off their combat boots to be booted out of the armed forces. This includes at least 58 Arabic linguists.

A GAO report released in 2005 estimated that DADT has cost U.S. taxpayers $200 million and the loss of “valuable personnel over the last decade.”

Can any serious person who cares about the success of our military say that we could not use these 13,000 trained soldiers today as we enter battle in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar?

The hard truth is that the Religious Right is eager and willing to sell out our military to peddle their socially conservative dogma.

A New York Times editorial on Sunday pointed out that gay soldiers are performing nobly and honorably in other western nations. Contrary to what fear-mongering supporters of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell are selling the American public, allowing gay people to serve has not led to a breakdown in unit morale or discipline. According to the Times:

Military generals from Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Israel were in Washington last week offering assurances that ending the gay ban became a nonissue once their services were justly integrated.

“There were concerns in the late ’90s of gay men walking across the gangplank in feather boas and high heels,” retired Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones of the British Navy related. “That just did not happen.”

Quite frankly, the religious right and their lackeys in Congress are insulting our men and women in uniform. What they are essentially saying is that American soldiers are uniquely socially stunted and lack the discipline to handle the integration of openly gay soldiers.

For people who like to fancy themselves as “patriots”, how do they justify their low opinion of our courageous men and women in the military?

We have the greatest military in the world. Unlike The Center for Military Readiness and their President Elaine Donnelly, I have faith that America’s Armed Forces will carry out gay integration as well — if not better — than any other nation on earth.

The Democrats control Congress and President Barack Obama has promised repeal. If not now, then when?

If you want to help with repeal, please contact SLDN. We can’t let this crucial moment slip away.

In a post yesterday, I wrote the following:

Personally, I don’t like the bogus term “SSA”, which stands for “same-sex attraction.” There is no such thing (or diagnosis) as SSA and it is a manipulative attempt to separate LGBT people from their natural, inborn sexuality.

The term SSA is skillfully employed to make it appear as if fundamentalist bigots are not attacking the person, just their sexual feelings. It is a diabolical method of creating a medical-sounding term to deliver Anita Bryant’ hateful “love the sinner, hate the sin” message. At least Bryant had the courage to say what she believes and not hide behind euphemisms and phony pop psychology.

If you think I am wrong, ask yourself: Why does disgraced “sexual reorientation coach” Richard Cohen (pictured) love the term SSA so much? It is all over his website and his books. He is basically turning you into a sick patient rather than a real person. The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) also loves SSA.

We should not help our enemies by adopting their language, which is specifically designed and employed to portray us as freaks with a problem that needs to be fixed. SSA — much like STD — sounds like you have a disease that can be cured by running to the local doctor for a shot, the pharmacy for a prescription, or the shrink for a session.

If you don’t think language is important, consider yesterday’s CBS/New York Times News poll. It found a significantly higher level of support for “gays” in the military rather than “homosexuals” in the armed services. Here is an excerpt:

A New York Times/CBS News poll finds that a majority of the public support allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military.

There’ less support, however, for allowing homosexuals to serve openly.

Confused?

The results highlight the importance of wording on the issue. In a test, half of the poll’ respondents were asked their opinion on permitting “gay men and lesbians” to serve, and the other half were asked about permitting “homosexuals” to serve.

The wording of the question proved to make a difference. Seven in 10 respondents said they favor allowing “gay men and lesbians” to serve in the military, including nearly 6 in 10 who said they should be allowed to serve openly. But support was somewhat lower among those who were asked about allowing “homosexuals” to serve, with 59 percent in favor, including 44 percent who support allowing them to serve openly.

At Truth Wins Out, we are not the word police. We allow a great divergence of opinion and if you love to use the phrase SSA, then keep doing so. It’s a free country. Please realize, however, that you are making Dr. Joseph Nicolosi and Richard Cohen quite happy by adhering to their slick public relations scheme.

More than 35 years after homosexuality was erased from the DSM (list of mental disorders) why voluntarily describe yourself in sterile, medical terms, as if you have a “problem” that quacks can “fix” for a hefty fee?

My new phrase of the week:

“It’s Gay, Not SSA”.

As the title of Jeremy Hooper’s post on this suggests, the AFA is beating the same old dead horse about the terrifying prospect of gays being in the military showers with straight people. Well, first of all, as Jeremy points out, homos are already in the showers with heteros in military showers. And the other newsflash, which I cannot stress enough, is that there are already lots of gay people serving openly, at least within their own chain of command. It really comes down to the luck of the draw these days. Some end up serving with people who know, are cool with it, etc., and choose to ignore DADT. Others use the law as their excuse to exercise their bigotry, and those servicemembers get kicked out.

The Christian Right’s fixation on this is so bizarre, because gays are in the same showers as straight people in lots of situations! If Tony Perkins has ever been to the gym (and I think he has), he’s been in the shower with gay people, unless he’s so genuinely frightened that a man might see him naked that he refuses to use them. High school sports teams? Gays. Check. Collegiate sports teams? Check. Showers. Gayness. Professional sports? Check. Gays. Sky not falling.

And here’s the other thing. As has been stated so many times before, most people in the military are already comfortable with gay people, and a growing number of them know for sure that they serve alongside gay people! So are we really having this conversation, for the sake of the small percentage of military men and women who are simultaneously completely oblivious to gay people around them AND so afraid of gay people that they can’t get in the shower for fear of catching the gay? AND! And and and and and! If we’re having this conversation for the sake of those people, are we saying that these “morally” minded soldiers and sailors and airmen, etc., who are that afraid of gay people, are our bravest?! I mean, really! Which leads me to this quote from the AFA’s piece: (Read More)

I agree with John Aravosis. Now that DADT repeal is really (hopefully) underway, it’s a good time to revisit one of The Onion‘s greatest video reports ever, “Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat.”

Enjoy, if you haven’t seen it.

Wow.

As many of you know, when something big happens in the news involving gays (or a number of other subjects), Pam Spaulding loves to hop over to Free Republic to see what sort of hilarious pout-rage and fear their commenters are hunting and pecking onto the internet through their AOL accounts.

Well, as you would imagine, they are feeling frightened, betrayed, outraged and confused by the fact that Admiral Mullen, Defense Secretary Gates, and now even Colin Powell have given full-throated endorsements to repealing the ridiculous policy. Pam collected a bunch of their comments, so you should click over to read them all, but I wanted to highlight one comment that really struck me as particularly funny:

If the ban is lifted homosexuals will flock to the military and overrun it and have the full force of military law behind them, the military will be theirs.

Oh. My. God.

Bear in mind, the commenters at Free Republic think of themselves as the tuffest of the tuff, the patriotest of the gun-totin’est patriots. You know, manly mens! And that’s why this is so funny, because in the space of just over 140 characters, this commenter, whoever he is, has revealed what a terrified scaredy-puss he really is. He’s actually frightened that gay people will take over the military. And do what? God only knows what ludicrous fantasies this poor thing has created in his little head. You see, wingnuts act like they’re the strongest guys on earth, but they’re all false bravado. This person, whoever he is, has concocted a world where gays are the ultimate boogeyman, and has endowed us with superpowers we can’t even imagine. (Really, we can’t, because hey, we’re actually just normal people living our lives.)

But this is the same weak-kneed fear that’s still keeping them up at night over the failed underpants bomber. They’re terrified of everything. “We want our country back!”, they scream. Jon Stewart was right when he said that the country they want back is the country they knew when they were children, whenever that was. These are people who have grown up into weak human beings who reach for their firearms every time they hear the house settle. The only time they can remember not being afraid is when they were children, when they had strong adult figures to shelter them from fear. They want that back. This also explains why they react so positively to empty bravado in presidents, movie characters (they worship Gladiator), and talk radio hosts. In their minds, George W. Bush, Russell Crowe, and Rush Limbaugh are protecting them. (And when they need the good old-fashioned commiseration of a shared night terror, there’s always Glenn Beck. He cries with them!) It’s also, conversely, why they feel threatened by liberals, because they see in us a silent self-confidence that doesn’t feel the need to prove itself. No, we’re really not broken up about the dumb underpants bomber. We want him prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and we want the government to do its job in fixing the holes that allowed him to slip through, but that’s about the extent of it. We’re just not losing sleep over it.

The real reason they’re threatened by gays and lesbians openly serving in the military isn’t their juvenile, prurient obsession with what goes on in military showers. That’s a factor, but it’s not primary, because most of these people have never served and will never serve in the military. No, the real reason is that if gays and lesbians are able to serve openly and honestly, then they, the Free Republic sort of wingnuts, will have to endure the reality of the fact that there are faggots out there who are stronger, faster, and braver than they ever will be. These types fetishize the military beyond belief. The first question they ask when they meet someone who’s recently come home from war is “Did you kill anybody?” Trust me, that is the last question returning troops want to answer. So for these types of people, the mere possibility that the man (and yes, it’s about their fear of gay men) who captured the terrorist they fear the most is a…faggot?…is simply a bridge too far. As long as DADT remains in effect, these Freepers can remain in blissful denial, in a magical land where all gay men are girly and weak, where they never have to consider the possibility that there are gay men and women actively protecting the freedoms they cherish the most.

The picture above is of a billboard put up by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center a few months back. It’s a simple, nonthreatening message, an acknowledgement of reality. A valiant uniformed Marine. The fact that he’s gay is just one piece of his reality. The billboard was, of course, vandalized within days.

For some, reality is simply too frightening.