DECLINED: Betty to Marine: No Ball Date for You!

Aww, poor Sgt. Ray Lewis won't be attending his Marine Corps ball with a Golden Girl: Lewis, inspired by other Marines who invited certain A-listers to their upcoming galas, extended an invitation to "all-around perfect" Betty White. But while she is "deeply flattered"—and loves "a man in uniform"-—the 89-year-old actress says in a statement to Access Hollywood that she can't attend due to filming obligations. For happier endings, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, will be attending Marine balls.

REJECTED: Ninth Circuit Reverses Part of DADT Injunction!

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed course a bit on its injunction against Don't Ask, Don't Tell yesterday.

The San Francisco-based court previously approved a Log Cabin Republican injunction and ordered the military to stop investigating, discharging and penalizing people under DADT. That ruling also declared that the armed services should start accepting applications from openly gay people.

The government, however, balked at the ruling, claiming the injunction would disrupt the "orderly process" of DADT's repeal, and would go against Congress' wishes.

"Congress made quite clear that it believed the terms of the transition were critical to the credibility and success of this historic policy change, and to ensure continued military effectiveness," the Department of Justice said in its request.

OVER: Pentagon Suspends Don't Ask, Don't Tell!

When Don't Ask, Don't Tell gets formally repealed later this year, it won't have much of a practical effect: The Pentagon today suspended enforcement of it, reports the Army Times. The military will now accept applications from recruits who identify themselves as gay and won't discharge any more homosexual troops. The move comes after a federal appeals court declared DADT unconstitutional this week.

President Obama already has signed repeal of DADT into law, but it doesn't take effect until top defense officials finish a review to declare that repeal won't hurt the military. The review is expected to be done by next month, and repeal would take effect 60 days afterward, notes the Army Times. The Pentagon could appeal this week's court ruling, but it looks to be a moot point now. DADT is effectively dead as of today.

Breaking News: 9th Circuit Halts DADT Enforcement!

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, today enthusiastically applauded the order issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifting its own stay of a lower court's injunction barring enforcement of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. This move once again renders "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unenforceable by the Pentagon.

"With the wait for certification dragging out beyond a reasonable time frame, the Court has once again stepped in to require the Pentagon to stop enforcing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and this time it very well may be for good," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and the sole veteran plaintiff on the case. "I am proud to have worked personally worked with Log Cabin on this case for more than five years now and to have represented the gay military community as the sole named veteran on this lawsuit. Despite the criticisms and years of waiting, this case has yet again successfully eviscerated this outdated, harmful, and discriminatory law."

PROOF: More Evidence surfaces that Manning is TRANS!

Bradley Manning “felt he was female," and looked into changing his gender, his former counselor tells New York. Though the suspected WikiLeaker “really wanted to do surgery,” the counselor says, “he was mostly afraid of being alone, being ostracized or somehow weird.” Manning used the Internet as a release: Online he could be “gay, patriotic, and powerful, too,” writes Steve Fishman. But in real life, his gender struggles and wartime deeds made him "feel like a monster," he sometimes wrote. 

Meanwhile, other soldiers “started figuring me out, making fun of me, mocking me, harassing me,” he IMed an online acquaintance. That led to "one or two physical attacks." He was deeply disturbed by his work in Iraq, particularly his role in providing information that led to an questionable killing. “I was a *part* of something … i was actively involved in something that i was completely against,” he wrote. The month he contacted the counselor, November 2009, was the same month he allegedly allied himself with Julian Assange.

TARGETED: Two Gay Soldiers Attacked In Colorado!

Two soldiers based at Fort Carson, Colorado, and their friends were reportedly attacked by homophobic bullies on Saturday.

The men, who would only give their first names, John and Ted, say they had been out at a gay club with friends, one of whom is a go-go dancer, and headed to a restaurant called Albert Taco for a late night snack when another group began hurling racial and homophobic invectives in their direction.

"As soon as we walked in, there was a group of [men] that walked in," said John. “And they started a confrontation with us because of the fact that one of our go-gos was still in his outfit.”

"[We] heard a lot of racial slurs [and] a lot of hatred slurs towards homosexuals," before the confrontation escalated into physical violence, John told local ABC-affiliate KRDO.

"I ended up getting kicked in the head and in the ribs several times. I have six bruised ribs. And my right eye was completely swollen shut for about nine or 10 hours," said the soldier. Another victim had to have his jaw wired shut.

Police, who are looking for the suspected assailants, will investigate the incident as a hate crime. The soldiers, meanwhile, plan on keeping their names out of the press because their homosexuality is "definitely frowned upon" at Fort Carson.

OUT too SOON: Pentagon Confirms Three More Discharges Under 'DADT'

Earlier this month we learned about the first, and at that time only discharge under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since Obama signed repeal legislation. There have been three more discharges of service members who have identified themselves as gay and asked to be discharged expeditiously before repeal takes effect, the Advocate reports: "A total of four airmen have been discharged under the policy in the last several weeks, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez confirmed Monday...Air Force spokesman Maj. Joel Harper told The Advocate that the discharges of three additional service members — two female staff sergeants and one male second lieutenant— have been approved since an April 29 discharge."

Said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United, in a statement responding to the discharges: 

"It is rather shocking that we continue to see isolated incidents of servicemembers trying to force the Pentagon to let them out of their service obligations because the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law still technically remains on the books. The Pentagon has made it abundantly clear that it does not want to enforce 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' any longer and that it is more than willing to deal with any lingering harassment issues through the chain of command or, in the case of command involvement, the base's or post's Inspector General's office. Thousands of servicemembers have dreamed of the day when 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' would be virtually dead and commands would plead with openly gay servicemembers to remain in the service. It really would behoove the Defense Department to expedite certification so that no one can use this archaic law as a loophole to leave the military early anymore."

No GO? Gates Unlikely to Certify 'DADT' Repeal Before Retirement!

Wtih Defense Secretary Robert Gates retiring on June 20, the Stars and Stripes reports that certification of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal is unlikely to happen before that happens. 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is unlikely to certify repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” before leaving office next week, senior defense and military officials said...

...Gay rights groups have for weeks been pushing for Gates to wrap up the process, concerned that his replacement, CIA director Leon Panetta, might wait several more months before moving forward. Now, with Gates’ retirement just days away, that’s becoming less realistic.

PROGRESS: Seattle Town Hall address the successes and the Delays in LGBT Equality!

Dunne and Pederson

by MK Scott

Last Night  the American Constitution Society For Law and Policy hosted an Informative Town Hall Meeting on LGBT Equality @ The Seattle Town Hall Meeting. Moderated by King County Superior and Lesbian Judge, Mary Yu with Panelists, State Rep, Jamie Pedersen; ACLU of WA Director, Sarah Dunne; and Jennifer Pizer from the Williams Intitute. WA has had many successes settle quietly behind closed doors and in fact before the News broke about the discrimination in Kent, the ACLU were talking about the it is already on the books that it illegal for business to discriminate consumers. Some Trans attendees has concerns about Health care cuts for Gender reassignment. 

Rep. Pedersen pointed out that everyone is being cut. Trans are protected in the Hate Crimes bill and Dunne spoke of the recent success in Kennewick that allowed the GSA to be formed.

Dunne also represented Margaret Witt on her DADT case. Dunne's secret blue print was OUTview Contributor, Nathaniel Frank's Book, 'Unfriendly Fire'. OUTview first profiled Frank and his book in May 2009. 

WARMING: Obama on Gay Marriage: 'Evolving,'!

Barack Obama was in favor of gay marriage before Senator Obama was against it, and now President Obama is again considering the issue, having said publicly that his views are "evolving." Obama will headline a pair of events for the gay community in coming weeks, and as he ramps up his re-election campaign, the White House is exploring the political realities of a sitting president endorsing same-sex marriage, reports the New York Times. 

Obama isn't under huge pressure from the gay community, having yanked the legal carpet out from under the Defense of Marriage Act and championed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal (Pictured with OURview contributor, Eric Alva). But with public support shifting in favor of gay marriage, the timing might be right for a president whose stance appears to be shifting from what's politically pragmatic to what is morally just. “This is clearly a president who is interested in making big historical changes,” says a strategist. “I think this issue has moved into that context for him.”

SILENCED: Government to Put Dan Choi on Trial in August!

The government will put Dan Choi on trial in August for chaining himself to the White House last November in protest of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because Choi refuses to accept a plea deal.

Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake was in the courtroom yesterday:

...Today [Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela ]George faced an equally skeptical Judge Alan Kay, who had little patience for George’s assertions that she did not know until today that Choi was refusing the government’s deal, and was thus unprepared to proceed.  At the the previous hearing, George spent considerable time complaining that Choi was not accepting the government’s deal and removing his name from the settlement documents.

Choi is represented by Kurland and Christopher R. Lynn, who came prepared to argue their case today.  Although Judge Kay said repeatedly he thought it would take a half day for the trial, George said she expected it to take two days, as she was prepared to call multiple witnesses.  She also told Choi’s attorneys that there was no way he could have failed to hear the order to disperse issued by the park service “unless he’s hard of hearing.”

READY: Half Military Now Trained on DADT Repeal!

(AP) – More than a million troops have now been trained on the law allowing gays to serve openly and military officials say that with around half the force now trained, the turmoil some had predicted is nowhere to be seen. "So far this seems to be a non-event," the Army's vice chief of staff says. He warned, however, that "this is not going to happen without incident—I'd be crazy to say that. Somewhere along the line something is going to occur. But we're doing everything we can to head that off in training." 

Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on his recent farewell visit to Afghanistan, told a Marine sergeant that troops who disagreed with the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy would be required to complete their enlistment " just like everybody else," reports Reuters. Service members disagree on religion, politics, and a lot of other things, he said. "But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that's all that matters." Since President Obama signed repeal into law last December, the only person discharged under the policy was an airman discharged at his own request in April.

BLAME: Manning a 'Wreck' Army Shouldn't Have Sent to Iraq!

Bradley Manning never should have been let near Iraq, much less the classified trove he spilled to WikiLeaks, reports the Guardian in a look at the Army private's mental health. "He was harassed so much that he once pissed in his sweatpants," says an anonymous officer from the base where Manning trained, calling him "a mess of a child." Manning was prone to outbursts, regularly hauled in for psych evaluations, and once punched "a chick in the face"—yet sent on his way to Baghdad, security clearance intact.


"Low-flying planes could have seen that kid wasn't suitable," says a former soldier who recalls Manning "curled up in a fetal position on his bunk." "He was a wreck." Couple that with security so lax that passwords were scrawled on sticky notes on laptops at Manning's base, and as a former comrade says, "no wonder something like this transpired."

HALTED: White House issues objection to DADT amendment!

R. Clarke Cooper, the executive director of the National Log Cabin Republicans, sent a letter yesterday to Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) requesting that Hunter halt plans to introduce a potentially disruptive amendment to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

The Washington Blade reports that Hunter announced his intention Monday to introduce an amendment to the 2012 fiscal year’s defense authorization bill that would broaden certification requirements necessary for the repeal to move forward. The proposed expansion would include the four military service chiefs among those required to sign off on the repeal of DADT before it could take full effect.

In his letter to Hunter, Cooper asked, “please do not road block the repeal of [‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] by introducing an amendment…which would add an unnecessary and unwanted certification measure to a clear, comprehensive and thus-far successful certification process.”

SETTLED: Witt Case over as Witt settles down, But the Fight is Far from OVER!

Decorated Air Force nurse and Spokane resident Maj. Margaret Witt has settled, tearfully today, with the Pentagon following a suspension of seven years (2004) and a discharge of five (2006). Witt has been granted full benefits and her discharge will now be removed from her record, according to Seattle Lesbian.

Although she may have won the battle, the war on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) involvement in the military is still raging. Witt originally intended to fight in order to get her job back, but that is no longer her focus. Now, she fights for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“I was one of the fortunate few who had a legal team who was willing to step up and fight,” Witt told the Seattle office of the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday. In her speech, she also noted that 14,000 service members have been discharged under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

To her comrades, she shared, “I’ll never forget your selflessness, your support and your kind words over all these years. Continue to keep each other safe.”