Harry Truman and the Fight to Finally Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

If you were flipping through the pages of your local newspaper this morning, and stumbled upon the "This Day in History" section, you might have come across this entry:

July 26, 1948: U.S. President Harry Truman issues Executive Order 9981, effectively desegregating the U.S. military.

As Presidential executive orders go, this is probably one of the biggest in history. Civil rights activist Dorothy Height (who sadly passed away earlier this year) deemed Truman's order "the most significant institutional advance for the civil rights of black Americans since President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation." And the order was one of the finest examples of a President bucking popular opinion, in order to do what was fundamentally right.

As Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog notes, Truman's push to desegregate the military ran counter to popular opinion, with almost two-thirds of the country saying back in 1948 that the military was just fine as a segregated institution. Heck, even the U.S. military, when surveyed about their views on race, were hesitant to desegregating the military (as Igor Volsky at Think Progress pointed out last week). Still, Truman knew that it was the right thing to do. And sometimes, the right thing to do shouldn't have to wait until popular opinion catches up with it.

The parallels between Truman's push to desegregate the U.S. military, and the push today to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and open the U.S. military up to gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers are pretty striking. Indeed, it was Harry Truman's grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, who recently noted the similarities, saying that proponents of keeping the military segregated used similar arguments to proponents of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Clifton Truman Daniel wrote a letter to President Obama, on behalf of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), challenging "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" earlier this year. At the time he wrote that while he's uncertain how his grandfather, President Truman, would have reacted to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he was hopeful that his grandfather would have recognized the basic issues of fairness and equality in the debate.

"While I have no idea where my grandfather would stand on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I do know that he admired service and sacrifice. An estimated 66,000 gay and lesbian Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen are willingly risking their lives to defend our nation, despite being treated as second class citizens," Clifton Daniel Truman wrote. "I would hope that my grandfather would want his openly gay great-granddaughter and others like her to have the opportunity to serve the country they love with dignity and integrity."

We're hopefully heading in the right direction toward a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Indeed, nearly 80 percent of the country want to see the policy thrown out the door. The U.S. Senate is likely going to vote on their "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" compromise legislation in September, as part of the defense spending bill, which should set in motion (outrageous Pentagon surveys notwithstanding) the process for moving repeal forward.

But there is something to be said about Truman's bold act of courage in issuing Executive Order 9981. If only other Presidents had the same tenacity to break down institutional discrimination wherever it may exist.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Source By: Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor

Fire Someone in Memphis Because They're Gay? You Can Do That

Memphis. It's a city that has such deep ties to the movement for civil rights, that it's practically impossible to think about advancements in equality without mentioning the town. Yet to this day, the city of Memphis has no anti-discrimination protections for its LGBT citizens. That means that when it comes to the workplace, those who have a job in Memphis can be fired, denied a promotion, or harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And that's definitely a bleak spot when it comes to the reputation of the city.

But efforts are underway to change that. City Council member Janis Fullilove (who really has the most heart-warming last name of any politician I can think of) has introduced a measure that would add some really important language to Memphis's anti-discrimination ordinance. If Fullilove's measure passes, the following language will be added to the ordinance: "There should be no discrimination in hiring, promoting or demoting a city employee based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression."

The City Council will take up the measure next on August 3. But while it seems like a no-brainer that such an ordinance rooted in equal rights would pass, this measure is totally up in the air. And that's because several anti-gay politicians and church groups are organizing like the dickens to defeat it. Take Bellevue Baptist Church, which earlier this year made headlines for kicking a softball team out of their church league, because they were worried it had too many lesbian players on it. The pastor of Bellevue, Steven Gaines, is dead set against this ordinance.

"It's going to discriminate against people of faith who are Christians in their worldview, and I believe with all my heart that they have rights too," said Pastor Gaines, taking on the role of snake oil salesman to try and confuse people into thinking that this ordinance would discriminate against a Christian's right to hate gay people. Pastor Gaines said that he's going to organize his church, and other churches, to blast city council with emails and phones calls.

We can't let Pastor Gaines and his cohorts be the only voices touching the Memphis City Council. Send a message to the council today, urging them to pass this ordinance and take a bold step for equality. Already, fellow Tennessee city Nashville has passed an anti-discrimination ordinance inclusive of gender identity and sexual orientation. Memphis should be in the same league. Let's get them to pass this measure at their next meeting.

Source By: Michael A. Jones (Change.Org)

Strengthening America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities

President Obama signs an executive order to strengthen the capacity of and increase access to Federal funding for the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Source by http://www.whitehouse.gov/

EXTREME HUMOR

Obama healthcare summit fails to reach accord

A day-long televised healthcare summit in Washington hosted by President Barack Obama has ended without a deal to break the deadlock between parties.
Mr Obama outlined his reform plan but Republicans said it was not acceptable and called for a fresh start.
The president and his allies want to expand health coverage to include millions of uninsured Americans.
Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he was "discouraged by the outcome" of the summit.
He said it was "pretty clear" that Democrats and Mr Obama wanted to revive the healthcare bill passed by the Senate last December but now stalled in Congress.
"I do not believe there will be any Republican support for this 2,700 page bill," Mr McConnell said.
'Step closer'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Party would continue its campaign for healthcare reform.
"Those people who are struck will illness or pre-existing [health] conditions... want us to act, they want results," she said.
"We need to have the courage to get this job done, and we will. I think today took us a step closer to improve healthcare, to lower costs and to make it much more accessible to many more Americans."
The president had urged 40 Republicans and Democrats to avoid political theatre and focus on areas where they agreed.
He wants them to back the latest version of his $950bn (£621bn) plan to cover uninsured Americans, cut abuses by the health insurance industry and lower premiums.
Republicans say that the country cannot afford President Obama's plans and they want him to start again from scratch.
The stage is now set for a showdown in which the Democrats may use a controversial parliamentary procedure to force their plans through, says the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington.
The meeting - which began at 1000 (1500 GMT) - debated controlling costs, insurance reforms, deficit reduction and expanding coverage.
A long and often riveting day did little to break the deadlock, reports our correspondent, and healthcare reform, which everyone wants, is no closer as a result.
The two sides clashed, mostly politely but sometimes angrily, over a host of technical and philosophical differences.
The White House has signalled it may end up driving through a bill using a procedure called budget reconciliation, which only needs a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate.
Mr Obama said Americans wanted a final vote on healthcare. "I think that most Americans think a majority vote makes sense," he said.
Analysts say that was a hint he may drive the reform bill through Congress.
The reform plan is currently blocked as the Democrats no longer have the 60-seat majority required to thwart Republican obstruction tactics.

Partisan battle

The contentious debate was plagued by partisanship: even the shape of the table for the debate at Blair House, opposite the White House, was the subject of dispute.
President Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and other leading Democrats sparred with senior Republicans, including Mr McConnell and Arizona Senator John McCain.
Mr Obama opened the debate by emphasising that everyone present understood the importance of the healthcare issue, adding that there were significant points of potential agreement between the two parties on healthcare reform.
"We all know this is urgent and unfortunately, despite all the negotiations that have taken place, it became a very ideological battle; it became a very partisan battle where politics ended up trumping common sense," he said.
He added that he wanted to avoid the televised session becoming merely political theatre, hoping that those involved would work together to try to solve the problem.
"If we keep an open mind and are not trying to score political points then we may be able to make some progress," he said.
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander responded by saying that in order for Mr Obama to succeed on healthcare, he should scrap the health care bill that Senate Democrats passed in December, and start afresh with a clean sheet of paper.
"If we can start over, we can write a healthcare bill," he said. "It means working together... reducing healthcare costs... and going step-by-step to regain the trust of the American people."
Republican Senator Jon Kyl went on to argue that Democratic efforts to overhaul the current system would give Washington too much control over healthcare.
"There are some fundamental differences between us here that we cannot paper over," said Mr Kyl. "We do not agree about the fundamental question about who should be mostly in charge.

Cost of reforms?

The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says that while the president chaired the meeting firmly, trying to drag the Republicans into a concrete debate on detailed issues, there was almost no chance of the Republicans agreeing to anything that was on the table.
The House of Representatives and the Senate passed separate healthcare bills at the end of last year.
But efforts to merge them and sign a bill into law collapsed last month when Republicans won a special election in Massachusetts.
The victory deprived Democrats of their crucial filibuster-proof 60-seat Senate majority.
Republicans used Thursday's talks to highlight the cost of the Democrats' reforms, while outlining their own more scaled-back approach.
Democrats are expected to seek to portray the Republicans' plans as inadequate.
'Photo op'
The president has invested much political capital in his plans to make nearly all Americans take out health insurance and to stop abuses by insurance firms.
But the issue has become a rallying standard for conservatives, who say Mr Obama is bent on introducing European-style big government.
It has also worried a recession-mauled American public, which is not clear about how much reforms would cost them.
The US is the world's richest nation and the only industrialised democracy that does not provide healthcare coverage to all its citizens.





SOURCE BY BBC News and www.whitehouse.gov/

Marines chief says US military gay ban ‘is working’

"The commandant of the Marine Corps said yesterday he did not agree with lifting the ban on gay US soldiers being open about their sexuality.

General James Conway told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that he believed that the “current policy works”.

He is the highest-ranking military officer to disagree with president Barack Obama’s stance that the 1993 law should be repealed.

Gen Conway is thought to be the only chief to have carried out a survey of his generals on their feelings about lifting the ban.

In November, it was reported that he had been more outspoken than other service chiefs in his opposition to out gay soldiers.

Yesterday, he said: “I think the current policy works. At this point. . . my best military advice to this committee, to the [defence] secretary, to the president would be to keep the law such as it is.”

He added that repealing the ban should not be a question of fairness. Instead, he said, the question was whether it would “enhance the war-fighting of the United States Marine Corps.”

President Barack Obama and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen support repeal of the law, which allows gay soldiers to serve as long as they kept their sexual orientation secret.

If they reveal it, or are outed, they can be fired. Around 13,000 soldiers are believed to have been discharged under the law. In addition, their partners are not informed if they are killed or injured in action.

Earlier this week, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey and Army Secretary John McHugh told the panel they did not support a temporary ban on discharges while a year-long review is carried out.

In the House of Representatives yesterday, Congressman Jim Moran read a letter on the floor from an active duty soldier in Iraq.

He said that the soldier had “learned that a fellow soldier was also gay, only after he was killed by an IED in Iraq. The partner of the deceased soldier wrote the unit to say how much the victim had loved the military; how they were the only family he had ever known.”

According to the University of California’s Palm Center, the unnamed soldier is the second publicly known case of a gay soldier killed in action during the current wars in the Middle East.

The first was US Army Major Alan Rogers, who died while on patrol in Iraq in January, 2008.

Statisticians have estimated that more than 200 gay and lesbian service members have died in action since the onset of the conflict."

Source By Jessica Geen. Pink News

Top U.S. General: Let Gays Serve Openly

Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. general in Iraq (Source:AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)







The top U.S. general in Iraq said Monday he could slow the exit of U.S. combat forces this year if Iraq’s politics are chaotic following elections this spring. Gen. Ray Odierno said there are no signs that will be necessary, but he says he has a Plan B and told his superiors about it during Washington meetings over the past week.

The U.S. has about 96,000 troops in Iraq nearly seven years after the American-led invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein. That’s the lowest number of American forces in the country since the invasion.

Under an agreement negotiated under former President George W. Bush, all combat troops are to leave the country by Aug. 31 although some 50,000 will remain behind to help train Iraqi security forces.

The remaining support troops are to be gone by the end of 2011.

"If you ask me today, I’m fully committed and that’s the right course of action," Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon.

However, he noted earlier, "if something happens" between now and late spring - such as problems with the formation of the new Iraqi government following elections next month - the U.S. could slow down the rate of deployments. The U.S. also could speed up the withdrawal if necessary, he said.

When asked whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military, Odierno said yes, "as long as we are still able to fight our wars."

His comment was among the first to come from a senior military leader currently leading troops in battle since the Pentagon announced earlier this month that it will study the issue.

Odierno said he hadn’t had much time to think about the military’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy and said it has been a "non-issue" to him.

"That doesn’t mean it’s right," he said. "All I’m saying is as I’ve implemented this war now for seven-years, we’ve been able to get forces out that are ready and prepared to conduct operations.

"My opinion is everyone should be allowed to serve, as long as we’re able to fight our wars and we’re able to have forces that are capable of doing whatever they are asked to do," he said.

Source by Anne Flaherty Associated Press

Lawmakers to press military on fate of gay ban :: EDGE New England

Lawmakers to press military on fate of gay ban :: EDGE New England

Obama's promise and Obama's action...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He's Smart, he's Educated,he's Intelligent...but a lot of people still furious at the gap between Obama's promise and Obama's action!

Source by MSNBC TV VIDEOS