FollowUp 1: Pentagon and Pride 2012

This afternoon was formal recognition of Pride Month at the Pentagon.  C-SPAN covered the event.  Most notable, may I commend to you listening to Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh Johnson, above, where he gives his inside perspective on the process of repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).



The first person tales of the panel that follows, in the second video, are compelling.  Different military and civilian perspectives on LGBTQ service. 

If you have a full hour, please enjoy the full video at C-SPAN.

24 June 2012, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

Praise: Pentagon and Pride 2012

This weekend is seeing the Pride Parades in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere.  But this is the first year that LGBTQ military do not have to hide their nature during Pride.  When I received my Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Navy, over a quarter of a century ago, I never expected that future sailors might serve and be open about who they are.

Then, President Obama and the Congress repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Still, problems were anticipated by many.  According to the Stars and Stripes, there have been no significant problems with the repeal.  Even the Republican Chair of the House Armed Services Committee agrees.

The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday that allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a settled issue that he won't try to reverse even if Mitt Romney wins the presidency in November and the GOP captures the Senate.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon of California said his focus is on restoring money for the military after the latest round of defense cuts - a planned reduction of $487 billion over 10 years that could nearly double if Congress fails to avert automatic, across-the-board cuts that begin in January. Pressed on the divisive issue of gay rights that roiled Congress two years ago, McKeon said he wouldn't revisit it.

"We fought that fight," McKeon told defense reporters at an hourlong breakfast interview. He said his goal is to "get the things that our war-fighters need."

"A settled issue" is strong language in the legislature.  It is also a settled issue for those who serve today.

The military advocacy group Blue Star Families based in Washington said Friday that its survey of more than 4,000 families found no significant issues arising from the recent repeal.

Respondents reported no perceived effect on morale, national security or the desire for service members to re-enlist.

Seventy-two percent of respondents said it had no effect on their service member's ability to do his or her job, 65 percent said it had no effect on the desire to re-enlist or stay in the military, and 60 percent said it had no effect on morale.

Fifty-six percent said it had no impact on mission readiness or national security, and 55 percent of spouses said it had no impact on their military support group's morale.

The full survey report is available at http://bluestarfam.org/survey.

The icing on the cake is the Pentagon's recognition of Pride Month.

The Pentagon has declined to give details of the event that it will organise as part of pride month. But it is certain to involve the saluting of gay and lesbian troops, in an echo of how African American and other ethnic groups are celebrated at different times in the annual calendar.

The event will be the latest in the rolling out of the new tolerance within the military. Don't ask, don't tell, which was introduced under President Clinton in 1993, forced the discharge of more than 13,000 men and women sacked for revealing their sexual orientation.

The impressively rapid shift in culture has been evident in other ways. OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel in which Seefried is a co-director, has grown rapidly since the repeal last September.

Equality is still a work in progress in the United States.  My partner and I are not equal to heterosexual couples.  But, today is a great day to cheer the major accomplishments of the last few years.  Happy Pride!

26 June 2012, FollowUp 1.

Praise: President Barack Obama on Pride 2012

President Obama spoke on 15 June 2012 to some of the LGBTQ Community who were invited to a reception at the White House.

Repudiation: Tim Huelskamp Protects Chaplains from Imaginary Foe

In January, Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a member of the International Religious Freedom Caucus and of the Tea Party Caucus, proposed the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act, which I discussed after the National Organization for Marriage cited it as necessary since military chaplains were being required to perform same sex marriages.  There has never been such a requirement of chaplains and will never be.  Nonetheless, the proposed legislation is back in the news with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) picking up the story on 20 April.

U.S. Congressman Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, said chaplains and other military personnel are facing punishment for not supporting gays in the military.

His claims come after the Obama administration's decision to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that allows homosexuals to serve openly.

Rep. Huelskamp told the House Armed Services Committee that one chaplain was threatened with early retirement just because he forwarded an email about DADT.

So, let's break this down again.  Failure to support one's fellow military personnel would be cause for punishment.  That is not the meaning behind Mr. Huelskamp's statement, but it is important to recall that the word uniform does not refer only to what one wears in the military.

It would harm the efficacy of the military if any personnel were allowed to denigrate others for who they are.  Insulting a fellow sailor or soldier because of their color or ethnicity or ancestry or gender or sexuality would impair unit cohesion.  Straights don't need to cheer gays for being homosexual and gays don't need to cheer straights for being heterosexual and neither can be tolerated deriding the other any more than whites jeering blacks or men jeering women.  It would harm the military to do so.

The next day, 21 April, OutServe Magazine had a lengthy article that includes:

In January, thirty conservative House Republicans co-sponsored HR 3828, the so-called “Military Religious Freedom Protection Act.” In addition to prohibiting the use of military facilities for same-sex weddings, according to Attorney Jeffrey Hersh, legal director for [The Forum on the Military Chaplaincy (the Forum), a national coalition of military chaplains, lay leaders, and advocates], the “bill would effectively authorize chaplains to refuse any duty or function which could conflict with their personal beliefs.” Hersh further believes “if this bill passes, it could result in service members being denied free expression of their faith, and obstruct them from religious ministries and spiritual counseling – rights which the chaplain corps is sworn to secure.”

The OutServe article concludes

In their Covenant and Code of Ethics, the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF), the largest agency charged with endorsing chaplain candidates for military service, affirms a pluralistic ministry for all endorsed chaplains. The Code states, “I understand as a chaplain in the United States Armed Forces that I will function in a pluralistic environment with chaplains of other religious bodies to provide for ministry to all military personnel and their families entrusted to my care.” It is a code, which most service members can support, and NCMAF should hold their member organizations accountable for honoring it as they care for America’s troops.

Army chaplains perform their ministries under the motto, “Pro Deo et Patria,” for God and country. They, like all military chaplains, have a dual allegiance. They are endorsed as clergy by their respective faith groups, and commissioned as officers in the U.S. military. They must honor their oaths of office while remaining faithful to their distinctive religious faith – no easy task! Now that DADT has been repealed and gay and lesbian troops can serve openly, a higher level of professionalism and trust will be required of all military chaplains.

Will chaplains help bring an end to bigotry and bullying, or will they object on religious grounds and foster discrimination? Will there be a collision between chaplains most concerned about their own religious freedom, and service members who demand respect and equality from their chaplains and other military leaders? Will service members, like Airman Phillips, receive support from their chaplain when difficult family issues arise, such as a mother’s concern for her son’s “spiritual well-being?”

Fortunately, there have always been chaplains who have listened, cared and offered acceptance, without bias or discrimination, to all their troops. It is our hope that such a welcoming and affirming spirit will characterize the chaplain corps as we move forward to open and equal service for America’s military.

Airman Phillips, noted in the penultimate paragraph above, is on active duty in Germany and came out to his father on YouTube the day that DADT was repealed.  He has a YouTube channel called AreYouSurprised which included a humorous argument for marriage equality.

Back to the CBN article,  I can find no other reference on-line to a military chaplain facing early retirement because of forwarding an e-mailing regarding the repeal of DADT.  It might have happened.  As I wrote above, it is unacceptable and harmful to our fighting abilities for any military personnel to be denigrating any other military personnel.  It is amazing to me that supposed conservatives are arguing for measures that would degrade our military prowess.

The Military Religious Freedom Protection Act was referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel in February.

Praise: Pride Week at Norwich University

The last week of March is not when one usually thinks of Pride Week, usually a Summer event timed to be near the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots or a similar historic event.  But the Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies Club is holding it this week.  Let's phrase this another way, the oldest military academy in the United States, founded in 1819 as a military academy, is holding its first Pride Week.

The Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies Club held its first meeting the day of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).  From their blurb on the Student Clubs page

The Norwich University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allies club (NULGBTQA) was founded on the day of Don't Ask Don't Tell’s repeal, Sept. 20, 2011. The club specializes in providing a fun, engaging and safe environment for LGBTQ students and their allies to share ideas and information.

Each week the club meets in a open, glass-walled area within the Wise Campus Center to discuss current or historical issues of LGBTQ culture. The positive camaraderie of the atmosphere has been tremendously successful in creating an environment of personal growth and self-confidence.

It is the first of its kind in the nation, stemming from the oldest private military college in America. And from the day of its founding, its members have lived by their motto that states; “You Are Not Alone.“

Despite DADT, Norwich was not a school that explicitly discriminated according to the Washington Post.

As an institution, Norwich never banned open homosexuality in the corps of cadets, but because many of its students were destined for the military, which prior to the end of “don’t ask don’t tell” the law served to keep people quiet, said Norwich spokeswoman Daphne Larkin.

It is not surprising that some don't like the new club, but at Norwich they work together anyway.

Some members of Norwich’s Christian Fellowship have been uncomfortable with gay student club, but the two organizations have worked together, with members of each attending some of the other’s meetings, said biology emeritus professor Carlos Pinkham, the Christian group’s faculty adviser.

“We make it clear to them that we use the bible as our guide and that as a result we can’t condone the stuff they do,” Pinkham said. “But the Bible is also equally clear, in fact, even more clear. ... Being judgmental about the sin without extending love to the sinner is another form of sin.”

The week includes many activities (two activities each day, plus information tables and booths).

Monday:  LGBTQ Bias/Harassment and bullying; Tie Dye T-Shirt.
Tuesday:  Rapid HIV Testing; Condom Olympics.
Wednesday:  Anatomy of Hate (Film); Dinner and Chat with local Veteran.
Thursday:  Arts and Crafts; Ally Presentation.
Friday:  HIV Prevention; Lord, save us from your followers (Film).
Saturday:  Queer Prom; Free Love Dance.

Amazingly, the film on Friday, Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, is co-sponsored by the Christian Fellowship.  I know that many have come a long way in the very short time since the repeal of DADT, but the students of Norwich University have traveled further than I imagined possible in less than a year.  Kudos to all the students who are working together.  Bravo!

Praise: Military Six Months After DADT

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Ebron, Senior Chaplain NCO, 5th Signal Command, Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ashley Carothers, Supply Point Monitor, 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, talk about what life was like as gay servicemembers before the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and how life has changed for them in the six months after the repeal.

From the Stars and Stripes.  Thank you to the United States military for successfully transitioning to open service of lesbian and gay service members.  I expected it would go well, so I am not surprised.  Those who seek to reinstate Don't Ask, Don't Tell should be shunned.

FollowUp 4: Eugene Delgaudio Lies About Legislation Again

The delusional self-proclaimed Public Advocate of the United States wrote again today with more claims regarding supposed legislation.  The way Mr. Delgaudio begs for money is certainly performance art of a sort, but it is a sordid act.

Dear Some,

It's hard to write you this.

My office is in trouble.  And I need your help.

I have been working overtime fighting against the radical Homosexual Lobby.

Today, I'm worried.

Despite passing Thought Control and repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the radical Homosexual Lobby is drooling for more this year in Congress.

Thought control??!?  Really?  There is no such thing as thought control.  My best guess is that Mr. Delgaudio is referring to hate crimes legislation.  Perhaps he would be happier in a new tinfoil hat (very silly site that you otter go see).

And with this Congress, they have adopted new tactics.

I see well-known agents of the radical Homosexual Lobby everywhere. They are huddled in dark corners scheming and plotting.  They meet secretly with members of Congress in hopes of tempting them to advance their perverse agenda with campaign cash and the promise of votes.

A little paranoid?

This, in spite of the fact that we've defeated a major portion of the Homosexual Lobby's perverse agenda in the past .

Together, we held off the Gay Bill of Special Rights in 2011, and cut off the efforts of pro-homosexual Obama White House, but we had to spend everything to do it.

As we saw previously, Mr. Delgaudio is paying himself over one hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year from the donations he receives.  He is lining his purse very nicely as he had to "spend everything to do it."

There is not now and there never has been a "Gay Bill of Special Rights."  The LGBTQ Community continues to push for equal rights.  We want nothing more and nothing less than everyone else.  It is called equality, nothing special.

The Homosexual Lobby knows this, and it knows as well as you or me that if we can't finance ourselves, we won't be able to stand up to them in the future.

We haven't seen the last of the Gay Bill of Special Rights either.  Mark my words.

And the new year brings greater threats than ever before -- I am in trouble...

This is a painful email for me to write.

For the first time ever, I feel as if my pro-family supporters are letting me down.

Translation:  Mr. Delgaudio fears that he won't rake in as much money for his own "pay" this year as he did last year.  Money, money, money.

I have prayed about this matter.  I am sure that I am doing what is right .

It is our duty as decent God-believing adults to fight against the tyranny and immorality of the radical Homosexual Lobby.  But many good Christian supporters aren't coming through.

Tyrrany?  That is the domain of a majority that is able to inflict its will on a minority.  It is immoral to deny equality to all citizens.  Perhaps in these tight financial times, Mr. Delgaudio might have to do real work for a living, instead of simply accepting money for spreading hate.

It seems a lot of people believe all our problems are solved because we have a Republican Majority in the House.  And many pro-family leaders are complacent or just plain worn out, and they want to quit.

Somehow, listening to the GOP presidential contenders, I don't think that Republicans are complacent.  Certainly there are a lot of hate groups making a lot of noise that is better documented today.  Somehow Mr. Delgaudio has not yet made it onto the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate group listing, although he did earn two paragraphs at the conclusion of one of their intelligence reports.

I cannot believe it!  That'd be like surrendering after Pearl Harbor!

And after the holidays, many of my best supporters haven't been able to help like they used to...

In fact, money is so tight here that I have had to scale back important pro-family campaigns.

Since Mr. Delgaudio's "campaigns" appear to be limited to mass e-mails and rarely printing out copies of his hate to hand deliver in Washington, D.C. (he lives nearby), this shouldn't be too much scaling back.  We could hope for more.

Critical petition drives, grassroots lobbying campaigns, and citizen outreach programs may be closed down.

And as the radical homosexuals have gained almost complete control in Congress, my hands are tied...

Heaven forbid that Mr. Delgaudio cut back on his six figure salary from his hate campaign.

At times, life here in Washington has been a virtual hell for me...

I will not forget the past.

I've faced the blinding hatred of the Radical Homosexuals.

Gee, why would people who you work to keep in a lower caste possibly come to hate you?

Radical homosexuals have distributed hate flyers giving out my address and telephone number and urging sick and disgusting calls by homosexuals to harass my family.

Newspapers even print this "Hate the Delgaudio Family" material.

Doing a search on news.google.com for that exact phrase, since Mr. Delgaudio put it in quotes it must be exact, comes up with zero.  If a newspaper did print that, they did not include it in their online edition.  Or, Mr. Delgaudio is forgetting that he claims to be a "good Christian" and he is bearing false witness ... again.

I've received "crank" phone calls... even death threats!

Doing a search for Delgaudio death threat also came up with zero.  Remove the word death and the only news article that comes up is from a week ago, where Mr. Delgaudio is reported to have opposed drug rehabilitation programs as part of his job on the Loundoun Board of Supervisors.  He is quoted as saying, "I need that money for the people who are doing well in life."  This is despite the fact that the rehabilitation programs would have saved taxpayer dollars according to the article.

With his six figure income from his "work" as the so-called Public Advocate, he must need money for people like himself.  The term greedy seems appropriate.

Years ago, after a man in a black car was caught taking photographs of my children, I had to call in police protection for them.

One time a dead dog was left in my yard.  What kind of people would do this?

I was once even forced to send Sheila and the children into hiding for a short time .

They are safe now... There is no precaution that I will not take to protect my wife and precious children.

Some in the news media routinely promote or allow printed attacks on my wife, my children or me.

Sorry, but I don't believe any of this.  Mr. Delgaudio either never reported these assaults to the news media or they didn't happen.  In terms of attacks, those are missing as well.  There are rare responses, one of which I recently wrote about, but the purpose has been a response to Mr. Delgaudio's rants, never a threat of attack on him or his family.

Sometimes, I am afraid that without your support, I too will be forced to give in to the Radical Homosexual Lobby and stop fighting against their perverted agenda.

That's why I need to ask you today to seriously consider making an emergency contribution to Public Advocate.  Even a donation of $20 or $40 would make a huge difference.

Sorry, but I removed this link.  Mr. Delgaudio's begging does not need to be rewarded.  If that is your inclination, go to his website and do so, it is the first link in this blog post.

My friend, I am tired.

My health is suffering under the strain of fighting the Radical Homosexual Lobby with limited help.  I can't eat, I can't sleep and I am sick with worry.

Many nights I stay up and worry -- worry about my family, worry about Public Advocate's future, worry about the future of the American Family and morality.

Somehow he doesn't seem to be worried about the morality of fleecing his donors.

I have fought on, but I desperately need your help right now. Please don't let me down.

Last year's fights have put my office tens of thousands of dollars over budget.

Every day, it seems, it gets harder and harder to raise the money to keep our campaigns going .

I'm expected to expand programs to stop liberals in Congress from allowing homosexuals to run rampant over our country...

The Gay Bill of Special Rights is at the top of the agenda for pro-homosexual congressmen this year.

Last time the Gay Bill of Special Rights came up, only an outpouring of support by members like you allowed us to stall the vote in the House and buy us the time we needed to rally our troops.

If this immoral bill passes, it will mean pro-homosexual hiring quotas in workplaces throughout the nation.  It will also make it nearly impossible for employers to deal with unsatisfactory employees who are radical homosexuals.

No.  This is a bald-faced lie.  There has NEVER been legislation proposed that included a hiring quota for homosexuals.  Never written up as legislation.  Never proposed.  Mr. Delgaudio is back to bearing false witness.

Lesbians and gays want the same rights as straights.  We want to not be fired without cause.  That cause should not be our sexuality, but our work performance.  This is called equality.  No special rights, equal rights.  How radical a person's politics are away from work should not affect their employment performance review and retention or firing.  (There are some exceptions for employees who work with the public and who should not have their politics on display ... such as public school teachers.  But it should still be equal rules without regard to sexuality).

President Barack Obama has vowed to use his power to pass pro-homosexual legislation before it's too late.

The only other significant "pro-homosexual legislation" is the Respect for Marriage Act.  That legislation, which would effectively repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), will not be considered in the House of Representatives this session.

And the attitude of the Oval Office is only likely to get worse as President Barack Obama seeks new ways to appease his radical homosexual allies ahead of his re-election.

There is no chance of Presidential opposition.  We need to stop the Gay Bill of Special Rights ourselves, now!

There is no chance of equality legislation passing the House while John Boehner is Speaker.  This is a set up for more begging for money (I've removed the link again).

Please Click Here to chip in.

The letter goes on and one.  Rather than quote every line.  Let's jump ahead to the next outrageous claim.

These people admit that they want to molest our children.  They admit that they want special rights that no American has.  They admit that they want to infiltrate and weaken our military's moral fiber.  They admit that they want complete control over the national law enforcement apparatus.  They admit that they're deviants.

No, no, no, no, and no.  Five significant lies in just one paragraph.

I've never met a homosexual who wants to molest children.  Those people are called pedophiles and every homosexual I know objects to them as much as every heterosexual I know.  There was a magazine article last year where some idiot wrote, "Yes, we want to molest your children." as satire.  Equally stupid people like Mr. Delgaudio picked that up as if it were gospel truth.  It is not.  I work with teenagers and know that however cute their bodies might be, they are immature brats who need to grow up before they become interesting as potential partners.  For the record, I'm not interested in potential partners, preferring to stay with the same man who I have been with since 2005. 

Homosexuals want equal rights, not special rights.  Right now heterosexuals enjoy special rights that homosexuals do not have.  The caste system should end.

I served in the United States Navy before Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).  Gays and lesbians have served in the military for a long time.  We serve to protect and strengthen our country.  Now we can serve without keeping secrets that might hamper unit effectiveness.

I have no idea where the "complete control over the national law enforcement apparatus" comes from.  Is this a reference to hate crimes laws?  Is this a decade-late complaint about the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas?  Perhaps Mr. Delgaudio is being a bit more delusional than usual.

Homosexuality is on the normal and natural spectrum of animal and human behavior.  It is not a deviancy other from Mr. Delgaudio's narrow definitions.

And just as Jesus showed us by example and could not have stood back and done nothing at the Temple, I couldn't stand back and do nothing in the face of the growing power of the radical Homosexual Agenda.

Following Mr. Delgaudio's analogy, he is much closer to running the Temple than to Jesus.  Perhaps he should study his Bible a little more carefully.  Jesus was the radical according to the Christian gospels.

I absolutely must raise $132,945.23 in the next 25 days to pay past bills and keep programs going.

Still less than halfway through the e-mail.  It is repetitious and annoying.  There are some darker references further along that I won't dignify with printing here.  Too ugly.  Too many lies.  Mr. Delgaudio appears to always choose the wrong answer to the popular question, "What would Jesus do?"

19 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

11 January 2012, FollowUp 1.
14 January 2012, FollowUp 2.
16 February 2012, FollowUp 3.

13 June 2012, FollowUp 5.
12 July 2012, FollowUp 6.