Stand Up! - Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

Via JMG: Gay Sailor Wins Discharge Hearing

Petty Officer Derek Morado today won his discharge hearing with the Navy after being told he faced ejection due to a MySpace photograph that was turned in anonymously. In the photo, Morado is seen kissing another man. Morado's lawyer told KMPH News that even though DADT has been repealed, that doesn't mean the military's investigations are over.

"There's nothing illegal about what the Navy is trying to do to this man right now as I understand it," Attorney Mark King said. King says that's because the law, is the law. "If someone does something in January that by June is no longer a crime, there's nothing unconstitutional about prosecuting them in September over what happened in January, because in January it was against the law," King said. A Navy spokesperson tells KMPH News, the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has to be certified by the Secretary of Defense, Chairman and President. After that, it will take another 60 days before it goes into effect. "We have to treat them all with dignity and respect. At the same time there is a law and we have to maintain that law," Navy Commander Danny Hernandez said. But for Derek Morado, it wouldn't matter. On Thursday the board voted against discharging him, which means he can continue his dreams of a decorated military career.

According to a press release from GetEQUAL, the Navy's panel voted 3-0 in favor of Morado's retention.

Labels: DADT, LGBT rights, military, Navy

reposted from Joe

Via AMERICAblog Gay:

Navy decides NOT to discharge gay sailor

Joe and I just sent out the following update to our email list about yesterday's action to help a gay sailor who was almost kicked out under DADT today. Great news.

Victory!

Derek Morado -- who was faced with discharge even though we were "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was history -- just telephoned GetEQUAL to let them know he won his battle to stay in the military today.

Thank you to the thousands who signed our petition on behalf of Derek over the past 24 hours. We sent your names to Derek this morning right before he went into his hearing, so in a very real way you were there with him.

According to Derek, all three members of the hearing board voted to retain him in the military -- an incredible result.

Derek gets the lion's share of the credit for today's victory, but I really believe each and every one of you who joined AMERICAblog and GetEQUAL in this action played a role, and you should be proud.

Please share this success with your friends -- and encourage them to join us in our effective activism.

Click here to share on Facebook.

Click below to tweet this message:

Victory! Navy will not discharge sailor under DADT. Join our action ntwk & join the fight: tinyurl.com/684aghv @americablog

There isn't anything we can't accomplish if we work together. Thanks so much, and congratulations again,

John Aravosis, Editor of AMERICAblog
Joe Sudbay, Deputy Editor of AMERICAblog

P.S. You can read some background on Derek's story here.

Via JMG: WASHINGTON: Legislature Votes To Recognize Out Of State Gay Marriages

Today the Washington state Senate voted 28-19 to recognize all legal partnerships (marriages, civil unions, etc) from other jurisdictions. The state House approved the bill last month.

“This bill is about making sure that people who love one another - and that love and friendship respected and honored in another state or another country - when they come here they have the same opportunity,” Sen. Kevin Ranker, D- San Juan Island, said on the Senate floor. Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, cautioned lawmakers against passing the bill because he argued it would subject the Legislature to laws that other state legislatures pass.

The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has promised to sign it.

Labels: LGBT rights, marriage equality, Washington state

reposted from Joe

reposted from jmg: Tax Campaign: Refuse To Lie

Equality Florida tips us to a new campaign in which legally married gay couples will "refuse to lie" and will therefore file joint tax returns.

Each year the federal government demands that thousands of married couples lie. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) not only denies legally married gay couples the benefits of heterosexual marriage, but we are also told to disavow our spouses and file our taxes as "single." The Federal Government must stop requiring legally married gay couples to deny the existence of our families and hide our marriages. It is dehumanizing and it is wrong. Across the country, legally married gay couples are taking a stand. We are refusing to lie about the fact that we are married.

Refuse To Lie organizers warn: "Taking this principled stand is not without risk and each person doing so needs to carefully consider those risks before deciding if it is a stand you are willing to take." Facebook page here.

Labels: activism, DOMA, marriage equality, taxes

reposted from Joe

reposted from jmg: Tweet Of The Day - Porno Pete

Presumably PFOX head Quinlan's "testimony" won't include mention of his ex-wife, who dumped his totally gay ass four years ago after they'd paraded themselves on Christian networks as models of reformed homosexuals.

Labels: "ex-gay", assholery, bigotry, Greg Quinlan, liars, Peter LaBarbera, PFOX, religion, still totally gay

reposted by Joe

Via AmericaBlog: Vatican warns the Internet is leading the young to Satan, then finds way to wiggle out of pedophilia scandal (again)

A Vatican affiliated university is holding a conference on Satan and exorcism because apparently the Internet has been a big boon for the lord of darkness.

"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.

The Internet is for Satan? And here I thought the Internet was for porn.


(Another very cool version of this song.)

And it wouldn't be the Vatican if they didn't roll out yet another excuse for their aiding and abetting of pedophilia.

The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.

Yes, the devil made you do it. Considering the Pope was a party to all of this, that would mean he's been influenced by the devil too. And tell us again why then its okay for him to continue leading the church?

Via ALCU: Don't Filter Me!

Reposted from JMG: Andrew Sullivan On Gay Deportations

"The US government regards gay Americans as sub-human in their needs and wants and rights. Their loves and relationships mean nothing under the law every time they encounter federal authoritah. Aaron and I are total strangers to one another in the eyes of federal law. And because we are legally married, I am paradoxically more vulnerable to being deported than I would be if I were single - because it's plain that I intend to reside in the US indefinitely, even though my visa has an expiration date.

"So I'm a risk - hence my huge anxiety if I ever leave the country. I am lucky to be able to apply for a Green Card on my own merits, under the rubric of what's called extraordinary ability in my field (it's still in process). But most people are not so lucky. They just fall in love. Only to have their own government rip their marriage apart, or force the American into exile. If this isn't wrong, what is?" - Andrew Sullivan, commenting on the news that the foreign partner of legally married binational gay couples may still be deported.

Labels: Andrew Sullivan, DOMA, immigration, LGBT rights

reposted from Joe

Repost from GetEqual:

Dear Daniel,

In December, when President Obama signed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010," I breathed a sigh of relief. Although there is still work to do to make repeal fully inclusive and get it implemented, my hope was that at least now we would not lose another servicemember because of that discriminatory law. After so many discharges even as late as last year [1], I thought we were finally out of the woods.
Sadly, I thought wrong.
A short time ago, we were contacted by an active-duty servicemember who -- despite the repeal of this horrible law -- is still going through the process of being discharged. The process started for him on November 8, 2009, when someone anonymously outed him after seeing his MySpace page.
Within weeks, his discharge process began -- but it limped along while the government waffled about what to do about repeal. A year went by before he got any kind of update, each day believing it was his last day to serve his country. After the repeal bill was signed into law, he believed his case to be over.
But Derek got bad news earlier this month. Despite DADT repeal, his case is still being pursued and his hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. With implementation still not in place, is this the Navy's attempt to slip in another discharge or bully him with a hearing...just because they still can?
Click here to show your support for Derek and to fight back against his discharge!
Derek joined the Navy right after high school -- here are his own words:

This lengthy matter has been tearing me up; it has destroyed relationships and displaced loved ones who were relying on me. But even after the U.S. Government has made it clear they don’t want this law in effect the Navy has said that, because the paperwork has been submitted and the policy is technically still active, they have no choice but to continue.

I have been in the U.S. Navy since I graduated high school. It’s all I know and all I want to do. I have dreams of grandeur, hopes of retiring a young, highly-decorated, respected senior enlisted sailor. My resolve is weakened but not broken. I just have to place my fate in the hands of three strangers -- strangers who I hope have strong moral convictions and like-minded sentiments to my own.

Click here to add your name to the list of supporters Derek will take into his hearing with him!
Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!
Robin McGehee, Director
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[1] "Servicemembers United: An 'unusually high' 261 discharges under DADT in FY 2010" -- http://gay.americablog.com/2011/03/261-discharges-under-dadt-in-fy-2010.html