Via Gay Politics Report:

• Fight against marriage equality propelled Bachmann's career, some say
  Rep. Michele Bachmann's time in the Minnesota Senate was marked by a near-obsession over the consequences of allowing gays and lesbians to marry, her former colleagues recall. Bachmann was able to thrust herself into the political limelight by making herself the focal point of a crusade that was dubbed the "Bachmann marriage wars" by one Minnesota state senator. "That's her recipe: Find the issue, then use it politically to mobilize previously marginalized or disconnected groups," said Lawrence Jacobs, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (7/16)     

• LGBT groups strategize against Bachmann: LGBT organizations say they are going to counter efforts by presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to distance herself from her long record of taking divisive, anti-LGBT stances. "We're going to be looking for opportunities to get her record and her rhetoric out there," said Michael Cole-Schwartz of the Human Rights Campaign. Politico (Washington, D.C.) (7/18)     

• Giuliani urges Republicans to drop anti-gay rhetoric: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani advised his fellow Republicans this week to stop talking about trying to prevent same-sex couples from legally marrying. "I think the Republican Party would be well advised to get the heck out of people's bedrooms and let these things get decided by states. We'd be a much more successful political party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots," Giuliani told CNN's Candy Crowley. CNN (7/17)     

• U.S. troops' same-sex spouses won't get benefits
  Legally married gay and lesbian service members will not be offered the same spousal benefits as heterosexual troops after the "don't ask, don't tell" policy ends, according to this article. The military must adhere to current federal law, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (7/16)