Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to hold Senate hearings on DADT

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 15:00:00 PM EDT

Jason Bellini reports that Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand is scheduling Senate hearings to review Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

After determining she didn't have enough votes in support of a temporary suspension of the ban on gays in the military, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tells The Daily Beast she has secured the commitment of Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on "Don't Ask Don't Tell" this fall. It would be the first formal re-assessment of the policy since Congress passed it into law in 1993.

A statement from the Gillibrand's office, shared exclusively with The Daily Beast, notes that "265 men and women have been unfairly dismissed from the Armed Forces since President Barack Obama took office."

Gillibrand's fast-track proposal for halting DADT, an amendment to the Military Reauthorization Act that would have ordered the Defense secretary to stop investigating gay service members, was never introduced. Even with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressing his support, Gillibrand couldn't gather the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster, according to a spokesperson.

"I thought it was a long shot from the very beginning," says Aubrey Sarvis, executive director the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization fighting for the end of DADT. "Clearly one of the positive things that came out of the Gillibrand amendment was that it served as a catalyst for hearings," he added.

Donnelly treated the panel to an extraordinary exhibition of rage. She warned of "transgenders in the military." She warned that lesbians would take pictures of people in the shower. She spoke ominously of gays spreading "HIV positivity" through the ranks.

"We're talking about real consequences for real people," Donnelly proclaimed. Her written statement added warnings about "inappropriate passive/aggressive actions common in the homosexual community," the prospects of "forcible sodomy" and "exotic forms of sexual expression," and the case of "a group of black lesbians who decided to gang-assault" a fellow soldier.

At the witness table with Donnelly, retired Navy Capt. Joan Darrah, a lesbian, rolled her eyes in disbelief. Retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a gay man who was wounded in Iraq, looked as if he would explode.

......"Like a woman who is stared at, her breasts are stared at," Donnelly explained. She further explained the "absolutely devastating" effect of homosexuals "introducing erotic factors" and made a comparison to Sen. Larry Craig's adventure at the Minneapolis airport. She said admitting gays to the military would be "forced cohabitation" and a policy of "relax and enjoy it."

Donnelly, btw, has never served in the military, and admits she has no qualifications or expertise on sexuality.

Doyenne of discrimination Donnelly claimed in 2008 that members of The Homosexual Agenda somehow coerced former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John M. Shalikashvili (who suffered a stroke more than two years ago), into supporting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which he declared in a NYT op ed. Any rethinking of his position must, in Donnelly's eyes, have been a result of a sinister fag-dyke mind-control effort out there. Look at this flaming crap:

Donnelly notes that Shalikashvili has in the last year or so suffered a debilitating stroke and is, in her words, "struggling to retain his health." She says it is "really sad" to see someone like the general being used by the homosexual propaganda machine as "the latest tool of a public relations campaign."

BREAKING: Harry Reid backs DADT moratorium amendment, calls for permanent suspension

by: Pam Spaulding

Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 16:38:33 PM EDT

Reid declared his support for the amendment when asked about it by the Blade at a news conference Tuesday.

"I feel on this issue that we're having trouble, we're having trouble getting people into the military and I think that we shouldn't turn down anybody that's willing to fight for our country - certainly based on sexual orientation. I feel strongly that - I support the president. I support the members of the Joint Chiefs who have not spoken out publicly. If Kirsten offers this amendment I will support it, at least as far as I understand it. What you've just told me, it would basically change the current policy for 18 months, is that right? I would support that. My only difference I would have is I would make it permanent."

More detail on it, from The Advocate:

A "don't ask, don't tell" repeal bill has never been introduced in the U.S. Senate, which means there's no point of reference on support for repeal. Gillibrand's potential measure would be even more of a wild card because it does not amount to full repeal but rather a temporary cessation of the policy. On the one hand, it could attract the senators who are leaning toward full repeal but want more time to study the long-term implications. On the other, senators who want to overturn the policy entirely might view the measure as an inadequate fix.

But [Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director Aubrey] Sarvis said it's one way to stop the discharges while a more thorough review process ensues.

"This would keep the pressure on Congress and the White House to vote on full repeal," Sarvis said.

"Directs the Secretary of Defense to instruct the Secretaries of each of the armed services that there may be no investigations of or inquiry into, of any administrative action relating to, conduct described in 10 U.S.C § 654(b), 'Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed services,' until the end of the 111th Congress, provided that, this shall not limit the authority of the Secretaries of the armed services with respect to conduct that would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

DADT moratorium amendment may hit the Senate on Tuesday

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 06:15:00 AM EDT

Over at The Daily Beast, Jason Bellini reports that U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will introduce an amendment this week to stop the discharges of gay and lesbian service members -- that would create an 18-month moratorium.

It would be the first time since the implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993 that senators are forced to declare their position on the gay ban. A Senate staffer familiar with the matter says Gillibrand may introduce her amendment on Tuesday to the Defense reauthorization bill. If the amendment were to pass, gay-rights leaders expect it would stand a strong chance of being approved by the House and could be signed into law by President Obama, who has expressed his desire for the ban to be lifted. Rep. Patrick Murphy is trying to build support for a bill that has already been introduced in the House that would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

But Gillibrand's move would circumvent a long legislative process at a time when an average of two gay soldiers per day are being discharged.

A press representative from Gillibrand's office said the decision to introduce the amendment is not final.

Bellini also mentions that both HRC and SLDN were working behind the scenes to get this amendment into play, discussing this strategy in the offices of several senators. Why Gillibrand? Well, as the senator who replaced Hillary Clinton to represent the Empire State, she is now courting the LGBT community -- she faces a contested primary next year. Gillibrand has been strong on this particular issue, stepping forward to support Lt. Dan Choi's fight to continue serving.

David Mixner, who served as an adviser in the Bill Clinton White House, pulls no punches as to who in the White House has been gun shy on anything remotely g-a-y and why.

"Rahm has terrified everyone about their experience in 1993," former Clinton adviser and gay activist David Mixner said in a telephone interview. "At this stage, there is no reasonable or logical explanation of what is stopping them. It is irrational fear at best," Mixner said. "The fact of the matter is that he could have ended it with a stop-loss order, and it would have cost them nothing politically. For God’s sake, we are allowing convicted felons to serve."

NY: Gillibrand comes out for marriage equality

by: Pam Spaulding

Fri Jan 23, 2009 at 10:30:00 AM EST

Gov. Paterson must have extracted some promises from the woman who will replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate, given her past record representing a conservative district.  Just in from Empire State Pride Agenda (via email):

Last night likely Senate pick Kirsten Gillibrand spoke to Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle about issues important to New York's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

"After talking to Kirsten Gillibrand, I am very happy to say that New York is poised to have its first U.S. Senator who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples," said Van Capelle. "She also supports the full repeal of the federal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) law, repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) and passage of legislation outlawing discrimination against transgender people. While we had a productive discussion about a whole range of LGBT concerns, I was particularly happy to hear where she stands on these issues."

David Paterson's choice of Kristin Gillibrand is, by the estimate of the New York pols I talk to, a pretty good pick: A young woman who won a hard-fought, bruising upset in a Republican district in 2006 and held her seat with unexpected ease last year. She has a "moderate" reputation for her pro-gun stance -- but is more or less a down-the-line liberal Democrat; the gun position draws her some flack on her left flank to the same degree that it protects her right and strengthens her upstate. But she assured the state's leading gay rights group yesterday that she backs same-sex marriage, and shows no other conservative leanings.