Wow!
As of this week, an estimated 265 service members will have lost their jobs under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since January 20.
That's when President Obama and the new Congress came to town promising change -- change they've failed to deliver, certainly with respect to repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Every day they wait to act, another service member is fired simply because of his or her sexual orientation.
We're marching to the White House this Saturday to call on President Obama to show leadership on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Even though you're not near Washington, you can join this effort by telling your friends why 265 is disgraceful -- and why we've got to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell":
http://www.sldn.org/265IsDisgraceful
Like those who drew a line in the sand 40 years ago at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, we're standing up to demand action. It's past time for these discriminatory discharges to end.
After 16 years of this nonsensical law, it's critical that President Obama and Congress act to kill "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Together, marching, we have a real opportunity to deliver a powerful message to the White House, to Congress, and to the American people -- and to let our service members know they have not been forgotten.
Tell a friend now why 265 is disgraceful:
http://www.sldn.org/265IsDisgraceful
Thank you so much for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Ben Mishkin
Grassroots Organizer
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
P.S. On Facebook? Spread the word about Saturday's event to friends who are in the Washington area:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109860618827
Yesterday, Father's Day, former pro wrestler and current Florida politician Brian Blair, who campaigned against the Day Of Silence, silenced his two children by beating and choking them. Blair, 52, was arrested shortly after 5 a.m. after an altercation at his family's home in the Forest Hills area of Tampa, sheriff's Deputy Larry McKinnon said. Blair and his wife, Toni, have two sons, Brett and Bradley, according to his campaign Web site. Blair, a former professional wrestler who is 6 feet tall and weighs 235 pounds, pushed his older son Brett, 17, in the chest about 4 a.m., according to an arrest report. The teen tried to walk away, but Blair grabbed him and punched him in the face with a closed fist, leaving a red mark and swelling, the arrest report said. Blair then put the 17-year-old in a choke hold, causing him to have trouble breathing, according to the report. Deputies said Blair then let go of his older son and grabbed his younger son by the throat. He punched the boy, leaving a bump on his head, the arrest report said. In the report, a deputy gave the younger son's age as 12, though Blair's campaign Web site said he is 13. Both sons identified their father as the person who attacked them, deputies said.In addition to promoting the bullying of gay students, Blair endorsed Florida's ban on same-sex marriage and voted to ban recognition of gay Pride events. Blair doesn't want homos to impose their "social and sexual agenda upon the rest of us and especially, on our children." But he's clearly OK with imposing his hands around the throats of his own kids.
Labels: Brian Blair, child abuse, Day Of Silence, family values, Florida
Both these sentiments are echoed in our own times by Bahá’u'lláh:
O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
(The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic No. 68)
and
O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.
(Ibid: Arabic No. 2)
If only most of us could live according to those two principles the world would be transformed. How many times must they be repeated before we get the point?
Thank you Everybody Means Somebody!
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed the first amicus brief in support of Ted Olson and David Boies' federal marriage suit. "The constitutional challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court persuasively argues that the measure's only conceivable purpose was to withhold honor and respect from the relationships of same-sex couples, and to do so to them alone," Herrera said. "This kind of discrimination against lesbians and gay men as a class has been remedied before in our federal jurisprudence -- in Romer v. Evans, in Lawrence v. Texas, and in other cases. The plaintiffs here make a compelling case for the federal courts to ensure that justice is done in California, and I am pleased to offer San Francisco's expertise to support their efforts." Herrera's brief additionally supports the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, which if granted would immediately require local governments in California to resume issuing civil marriage licenses to same-sex couples.Two days ago California Attorney General Jerry Brown said that Prop 8 be kept legal until the federal suit is resolved.
More reaction from the Obama administration. The DOJ has agreed to meet next week with Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and other LGBT orgs to "hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases." Via Greg Sargent:Keep up the pressure, it's working.The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next week with the groups, in an apparent effort to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act. Tracy Russo, a spokesperson for Justice, confirmed the meeting to me, after I posted below that top gay rights lawyers were miffed that administration lawyers had rebuffed their requests to meet and discuss ongoing litigation involving DOMA. At the meeting — which hasn’t been announced and is expected to include leading gay rights groups like GLAD and Lambda Legal — both sides are expected to hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.
Labels: DOJ, DOMA, GLAD, Lambda Legal, LGBT righs, marriage equality, Obama administration
