Photo of Kagan playing softball strikes out with gays

Softball, that friendly, fun game many Americans grow up playing, suddenly finds itself entangled in a hardball debate about sexual orientation, editorial judgment and the future of the Supreme Court.

It all stems from speculation in the media that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is a lesbian.

Sparking the interest was a nearly two-decades-old picture of Kagan playing softball on the front page of Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. That quickly morphed into an online debate about whether the paper used the photo to make a point – essentially, that if she plays softball, she must be gay.

The newspaper denies the photo was used for any such purpose.

[1]

Nevertheless, the president of the International Softball Federation, Don Porter, felt the need to weigh in.

Porter insists softball is for everyone, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

“The media has chosen to try to put a label on athletes who play this sport,” he said. “I’ve heard more about softball that way in one week than I did about our sport, period, in one year during” the campaign to get softball back in the Olympics.

“While it’s good to hear our sport mentioned in the major media during the past few days, it has been more in a negative sense than positive. …” he said.

Those who play and coach the game were equally dismayed.

“We’ve come so far,” said Jessica Mendoza, a two-time Olympian and president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, “and to have even one person think that showing a photo would correlate with someone’s orientation, I want to yell out and say, ‘Where have you been? Look around.’”

But stereotypes run deep. Those about female athletes go back at least to the days when a girl with some athletic promise immediately got the label “tomboy,” because, for instance, she could throw a baseball far. Or, in other words, because she didn’t “throw like a girl.”

The landmark Title IX legislation, passed in 1972, brought about more opportunities and gradually, girls and women playing sports in college, high schools and recreational leagues became more accepted.

“It is shocking, that here we are in the 21st century and something like this is being brought up,” two-time Olympian Jennie Finch said.

Her former teammate, Stacey Nuveman, agrees.

“In the sporting community, having gay and lesbian players on teams is more accepted and a known entity than it once was,” she said. “But it’s still something that, in the general landscape of things, we have a long way to go.”

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-elena-kagan-softball-top.jpg

Thursday’s Watercooler: Cynthia Nixon is dating a man with boobs and Laura Bush comes out for gays

The fact that a star of Sex and the City is a lesbian is really quite amazing. The fact that she is finally opening up about her home life is truly a monumental moment. So, today, we should all take a moment and read the Advocate article where Cynthia Nixon describes her girlfriend [1] as a little man with boobs. At the same time, she makes it clear that she is gay and she loves her partner’s sexuality.

[2]

Onward with the gay news. Elena Kagan’s sexuality is becoming a central focus of the Supreme Court [3]process. Andrew Sullivan went so far as to call for Kagan’s sexuality to become a topic in the nomination hearing. It’s incredible and a serious turn for the worse if a candidate’s sexual preference can become an issue with respect to their job performance.

[4]

While we might all be depressed about the Kagan press, there is good news on the horizon. Mad Men star Bryan Brett [5] is the newest in a long line of celebrities who have come out in favor of gay actors after a Newsweek article slammed their ability to act in straight roles. Check out the video below.

And let’s not stop there! Laura Bush – the woman who actually voluntarily joined the Bush family – has come out in favor of gay marriage [6]. Sure, the woman has A LOT to atone for, supporting the Bush years, but we’ll take the support where we can get it. Not to mention the fact that she supports access to abortions as well. I’m starting to wonder if Mrs. Bush has had some sort of head injury recently.

[7]

Finally, in weird news for the day, an Australian reality show is auctioning off virgins [8]. I don’t really know what else to say about this except that it’s disgusting and unbelievable. I never really liked the time I spent in Australia, but this is taking things a little too far.

[9]

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/cynthia-nixon-describes-h_n_570645.html
[2] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-cynthia-insert.jpg
[3] http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-11/andrew-sullivans-kagan-crusade/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
[4] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/2009_0514_wiki_elena_kagan.jpg
[5] http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mad-men-star-bryan-batt-stands-gay-actors/story?id=10627736
[6] http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/05/13/laura-bush-supports-gay-marriage-abortion-607074405/
[7] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-laura-bush-top.jpg
[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/australian-virgins-to-be_n_574696.html
[9] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-australia-insert.jpg

Kagan heads back to the Hill for whirlwind visits

(Washington) Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with senators who are key to her confirmation.

The solicitor general, preparing for meetings with Republicans and Democrats, including one who has opposed her in the past, said she’s beginning to get accustomed to the delicate ritual of closely watched courtesy calls she must make in the run-up to her summer confirmation hearings.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, her first visit of the day, asked Kagan whether she’s “getting used to this little routine.”

“Just barely,” Kagan responded with a smile.

Kagan, 50, called on eight senators Wednesday and plans meetings with another seven today. That includes one former foe, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who as a Republican voted last year against confirming her to her current post.

Kerry said he was “very proud” of Kagan, adding that she has “quite a road yet to travel.”

In closed-door meetings, Kagan has assured senators that she’s up to the job of being a justice, seeking to counter GOP criticism of her lack of experience as a judge or courtroom litigator. President Barack Obama tapped Kagan this week to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Kagan has gotten off to a fast start on Capitol Hill. Shuttling from office to office Wednesday, she stayed quiet in public but fielded questions in private about her resume, opinions and legal philosophy.

Kagan, a former Harvard Law School dean, defended herself against Republican doubts about her fitness to be a fair justice. She said she’d be “faithful to the law,” according to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who said he asked her whether she could be impartial given that she’s identified with “liberal” positions and has clerked for two judges he called “activist.”

Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel that will hold Kagan’s confirmation hearings, said he’d do his best to give her a “fair” hearing, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee chairman, said he’d guarantee a process where senators could ask “all relevant questions.”

Republicans are questioning whether Kagan can be impartial in light of her political views and current position on Obama’s team. And they have harshly criticized her decision while at Harvard to bar military recruiters from campus because she disagreed with the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay soldiers.

GOP senators say they want to see documents from her time serving in Bill Clinton’s White House to get a better understanding of her fitness for the Supreme Court.

“I think all the documents that are producible should be produced,” Sessions said. “The American people are entitled to know what kind of positions she took, and what kind of issues she was involved with during her past public service.”

Democrats praise Kagan as a highly qualified, sharp legal mind who will bring an important perspective from outside the federal bench to the job of justice.

“She brings to this court that kind of intellect and those values that can make a positive difference for the future of the court,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Monday Watercooler: Kagan gets a new job offer and White saves SNL

It’s Kagan. I’m sure the Republican opposition is in full research mode this morning. President Obama picked U.S. solicitor general Elena Kagan [1] to be an associate Justice of the Supreme Court. As the dean of Harvard Law, Kagan challenged the Solomon Amendment [2], an attempt by Congress to deny federal funds from colleges and universities that barred military recruiters from their campuses.

[3]

RIP Lena Horne [4]. The legendary singer died last night. Her career covered it all, from musicals [5], Gap ads, and Sesame Street [6]. In everything, she had no peer. Goodnight sweet princess.

[7]

Lacrosse player comes out. No one on the team cares. Andrew McIntosh [8] is a co-captain of the Oneonta men’s lacrosse team. He came out and there was no backlash. A sign to gay athletes that the tide is changing.

[9]

Rekers’ book cover explains a whole lot. I’m stealing this from the Unzipped [10] boys. Everyone has been having good chuckles over the George Rekers [11]‘ bought boy drama. Side note: looks like Rekers [12] is a stingy john, which is low class. Being good to your rent boy is a sign your mom raised you right. Anyway old man Rekers is an author of note. His book is called “Shaping Your Child’s Sexual Identity.” Here is the cover. I’m saying nothing. Nothing.

[13]

Betty White on Saturday Night Live [14]. I know people go crazy over White’s work in The Golden Girls [15]—morning Angel [16]— but she earned my love in The Mary Tyler Moore Show [17]. Her character Sue Ann Nivens was pitch perfect. Did you watch SNL? What did you think? From all accounts it was a good show, but it is SNL. The bar is low.

[18]

Sometimes the law disappoints. Like most of you I’m ticked at the jury in the Hakim Scott [19] trial, one of the men involved in the murder of Jose Sucuzhanay. Maybe I need to remove these rose colored glasses, but I’m going to give the jurors the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully he will see a full 25 years for his dreadful crime.

[20]

Gay sex is nasty, but be nice to those who practice it. Hope College’s Board of Trustees [21] is a firm believer in the “love sinner, hate the sin” ideology when the matters are the gay. Of course it’s rare to see much love whenever this line is thrown out.

[22]

A victim of history and time? Look at this article on Clay M. Greene [23], the Sonoma County [24] man whose relationship has gone national. He insists he and Harold Scull were just roommates and not married. This makes sense. For the 78 year old, to be gay is to be silent. Sonoma County officials maintain everything they did was because of physical abuse against Scull. Of course they filed no criminal charges.

[25]

[1] http://www.365gay.com/news/ap-source-elena-kagan-picked-for-supreme-court/
[2] http://www.law.georgetown.edu/Solomon/solomon.html
[3] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Kagan-top.jpg
[4] http://www.365gay.com/news/barrier-breaking-jazz-star-lena-horne-dies-at-92/
[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMf0Z7EPdLo
[6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0TyUOJfpQo&feature=related
[7] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Lena-Horne-top.jpg
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/sports/09oneonta.html?scp=1&sq=%20McIntosh&st=cse
[9] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/McIntosh-top.jpg
[10] http://blog.unzipped.net/2010/05/presented-without-comment.html
[11] http://www.365gay.com/opinion/corvino-rekers-rentboy/
[12] http://www.queerty.com/the-worst-thing-about-prostitute-loving-george-alan-rekers-hes-cheap-20100506/
[13] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Rekers-book-cover-top.jpg
[14] http://www.afterelton.com/blog/michaheljensen/snl-betty-white-funny-prison-rape+not
[15] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088526/
[16] http://angel-benton.livejournal.com/
[17] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065314/fullcredits
[18] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Betty-White-top.jpg
[19] http://www.365gay.com/news/1-convicted-of-manslaughter-in-nyc-beating-death/
[20] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/jose-sucuzhanay-top.jpg
[21] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/hope-college-gay-policy-c_n_569729.html
[22] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Hope-College-top.jpg
[23] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/us/07sfmetro.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
[24] http://www.365gay.com/news/abuse-allegations-make-case-of-elderly-gay-couple-murky/
[25] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/question-mark-2-top.jpg

Gay activists applaud Kagan – tepidly

Gay legal activists are applauding President Obama’s second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court [1]: Solicitor General Elena Kagan. But it could hardly be described as a standing ovation.

Former Clinton White House aide Richard Socarides called Kagan a “brilliant, pragmatic progressive interested in listening to all sides and building coalitions.”

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Executive Director Kevin Cathcart called Kagan “a strong position” in opposing the military’s ban on gays but noted that Obama administration has also “taken legal positions on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ with which we strongly disagree.”

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese applauded her selection as fulfilling Obama’s promise to promote “diversity” on the court.
If confirmed, Kagan would become only the fourth woman ever named to the court –out of 104 justices in the history of the court.

Kagan is of particular interest to the LGBT community. While serving as dean of Harvard Law School, she took sides with gays against military recruiters because the military would not abide by the school’s non-discrimination policy. That policy prohibited recruiters who discriminated based on sexual orientation.

Kagan clerked for one of the Supreme Court’s staunchest liberals, Thurgood Marshall, and was a research assistant for one of the greatest legal defenders of gay civil rights, Laurence Tribe.

Single and 50, she was also the subject of a CBS News website blog report last month which claimed that, if named to the court, Kagan would be the “first openly gay justice.” But Kagan has not publicly identified with any sexual orientation, and the White House moved quickly to say the report was “inaccurate.”

The president announced his selection at a 10 o’clock press conference this morning.

Socarides called Kagan “one of the smartest people I know” and “someone the country will come to like and respect.”

“Her thinking is well within the mainstream,” said Socarides, and “very much in keeping with Obama’s overall philosophy…. Pretty much a home-run appointment.”

Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights called Kagan “well-qualified” and said members of his organization “strongly support increasing the number of women on the court.”

Lambda’s Cathcart said he did not expect Kagan “to answer questions about how she would rule on specific issues such as these that will come before her.” But he said Lambda does “expect that she will respond to questions about her judicial philosophy and her understanding of core constitutional principals of equal protection and privacy that are so crucial to the civil rights of people who face discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and/or HIV status.”

Long-time gay legal activist Paula Ettelbrick, an adjunct professor of law at New York University Law School, said Kagan’s nomination is “most historic” and that “it moves women’s representation on the Court to a more meaningful plurality.”

Mainstream news organizations immediately set about assessing her odds for confirmation. MSNBC speculates both conservatives and liberals could criticize her. Commentator-reporter Chuck Todd said conservatives would fault Kagan over her opposition to military recruiters at Harvard. He said liberals could fault her for defending some policies put in place by the administration of President George W. Bush.

In introducing Kagan to the press conference Monday morning, Obama praised Kagan for having sought conservative views to balance liberal views at Harvard. During her confirmation process for Solicitor General last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee received letters in support of Kagan from such well-known conservatives as former Solicitor Generals Charles Fried and Kenneth Starr, and such well-known liberals as Eleanor D. Acheson.

Her confirmation as Solicitor General was opposed, as expected, by some ultra-conservative groups, including Concerned Women for America, who faulted her for opposing military recruiters, as well as Focus on Family and more than a dozen other groups who said she could not be counted on to defend “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

Kagan, an attorney, has never served as a judge but is widely respected as a legal scholar.

NCLR’s Minter said, “Because she has not served previously as a judge, it will be important to hear more about her judicial philosophy and whether she has a strong commitment to enforcing constitutionally protected rights and liberties. “

Given that she filled out the Senate Judiciary Committee’s lengthy questionnaire just last year, the vetting of her by various senators should go fairly rapidly.

In response to questions from the Judiciary Committee last year, Kagan said she views as “unjust the exclusion of individuals from basic economic, civic, and political opportunities of our society on the basis of race, nationality, sex, religion, and sexual orientation.” But she also said she was “fully convinced” she could defend U.S. laws even when they do not reflect her personal views, including the federal law which penalizes universities which ban military recruiters.

Kagan’s questionnaire also indicated that she delivered a welcoming address to introduce panel members at a Harvard University Gay and Lesbian Alumni event in September 2008. And in April 2006, she moderated a panel of the LAMBDA Student Organization concerning the “Relationship between Law Schools and the Military.” Such participation is fairly typical of law school deans and her list includes an even greater number of appearances before groups promoting civil rights for black law students.

Senators Orrin Hatch and Jon Kyl, two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted for Kagan as Solicitor General, issued statements

Monday morning saying their vote is not guaranteed for the Supreme Court appointment.

If confirmed, Kagan will become the third woman on the U.S. Supreme Court today and the second unmarried justice. Justice Sonia Sotomayor,

Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, was married briefly but divorced in 1983.

A press release from HRC applauded Kagan’s “commitment to fairness and equality.”

“Specifically, we applaud Elena Kagan’s vocal opposition to the Solomon Amendment and the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law.

HRC said it would continue examining Kagan’s record on issues that affect the LGBT community.

Kagan’s nomination is being made to fill the seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement last month.

The composition of the Supreme Court is increasing critical to the LGBT civil rights movement. Three important cases seeking equality in marriage rights are winding their ways to the high court and it seems nearly inevitable that the high court will choose to weigh in on at least one, if not all three. The court will also hear a case this fall that will determine whether a virulently anti-gay protest group has a First Amendment right to stage their demonstrations in ways that disrupt private funeral services.

While many nominees introduce close members of their family at the press conference, Kagan noted that her parents had already passed away and said she was “thankful for my brothers and other family and friends” for being there with her.

[1] http://www.365gay.com/news/ap-source-elena-kagan-picked-for-supreme-court/

Tuesday Watercooler: Supreme Court divided on discrimination

[1]

This morning’s discussion in the Supreme Court kinda scares me … a lot. The case, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, is a fight over the right to discriminate, and, of course, money.

“Hastings College of Law, which is part of the University of California, has a general policy barring student groups that receive official recognition and university funding from discriminating,” the American Civil Liberties Union [2] explains. “The Christian Legal Society is a student club that requires its members to sign a Statement of Faith that, among other things, rejects homosexuality as inconsistent with Christian values. CLS is ineligible for official recognition and university funding at Hastings because of its membership requirement, although it is otherwise free to meet on campus.”

Essentially, no gays equals no money. That math seems simple, right?

Now, here’s the scary, though somewhat ironic, part: The right-leaning justices seem to think this is discrimination.

“It is so weird to require the campus Republican club to admit Democrats,” Justice Antonin Scalia said, The Republic reported [3]. “To require the Christian society to allow atheists not just to join, but to conduct Bible classes, that’s crazy.”

Let’s break this down: Essentially, it’s discrimination not to allow a group to discriminate. Um, WTF?

Thankfully Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor inserted some logic into the discussion citing what would happen if women and minorities were banned.

“What is wrong with the purpose of a school to say, ‘We don’t wish (to recognize) any group that discriminates?’ ” Sotomayor asked.
***
[4]
While the current justices battle it out over discrimination, a separate battle looms for potential Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
The big question seems to be about her sexuality. Is she gay? Well, around the Harvard campus, that appears to be an open secret. It’s not hard to find sites calling her a lesbian [5].
But whether she is gay or straight should not be the issue. If she is gay, she is making a huge effort to keep it quiet – an Internet finds her personal life is strictly under wraps. What is at issue is her stance. Her lack of actual judicial experience leaves little written record of her opinions.
If she is in fact nominated, as can be inferred from the over-the-top “She’s not gay” denials emanating from the White House, much will be made of her anti-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell stance. Shortly after taking over as dean at Harvard, Kagan shot an e-mail to students over having military recruiters on campus.
“This action causes me deep distress. I abhor the military’s discriminatory recruitment policy,” Kagan wrote. She called DADT “a profound wrong — a moral injustice of the first order.”
She is standing up for the LGBT community and has done so in the past. If she wants to hide in the closet, fine by me. But if that closet starts impeding a potential justice’s judgment, I’ll be the first in line to out her.
***
[6]
Speaking of standing up for rights, New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center refuses to be intimidated after staff discovered a torched rainbow flag last wee [7]k.
“The act of hate demonstrated outside the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in the Village is unacceptable,” Christin Quinn said in a statement. “I was angered and deeply disturbed when I heard someone would go to such great lengths to burn a rainbow flag and pin it to the outside of the building.”
In response, the Center plans to unfurl a new 20-foot flag on Wednesday that will drape the building.

“We invite our straight allies to stand with us to demonstrate that LGBT safety and rights are not just an issue for LGBT people. Our city is strong and we need to come together to show that we cannot be intimidated,” the Center said in a message posted on their website.
***
[8]
And in another example of standing up for rainbow rights, the Tennessee teen who was reprimanded [9] for wearing an “I (heart) Lady Gay Gay” T-shirt, with the help of the ACLU, convinced school officials the T-shirt was acceptable.
The ACLU told The Chattanoogan [10] they have assurances from the school it will not censor gay fashion.
“Students not only have a First Amendment right to be out at school, but the right to an education free from discrimination and harassment,” Tricia Herzfeld, ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney, told the newspaper. “We applaud the school for recognizing this and taking steps to ensure that they are providing a safe and equal learning environment for all students.”
I (heart) teens who stand up for fashion.

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-supreme-court-top.jpg
[2] http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights-religion-belief/christian-legal-society-v-martinez
[3] http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/RELIG-SCOTUS-STUDENTGROUP_2173652/RELIG-SCOTUS-STUDENTGROUP_2173652/
[4] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-kagan-gay-top.jpg
[5] http://www.epinions.com/review/educ-Law_Schools-All-Harvard_University_Law/content_219010666116
[6] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-torched-flag-top.jpg
[7] http://www.gaycenter.org/torchedflag
[8] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-gaga-tshirt-top.jpg
[9] http://www.wsmv.com/video/23072689/
[10] http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_173769.asp

Vanasco: Who’s next on the Supreme Court?

The Daily Beast has the top contenders (though of course, no one actually knows). The Beast names Eric Holder, Diane Wood, Elena Kagan, Cass Sunstein,

I’d love the next choice to be Cass Sunstein (a well-regarded Constitutional law scholar and creative thinker who can explain law to the masses – as …

Dismay Over Obama’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Turnabout

When Barack Obama sought the presidency, he pledged to reverse the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy preventing gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military. Yet on Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a gay Ohio soldier’s challenge to the law — with the legal backing of none other than the Obama Administration.
James Pietrangelo II, the former Army infantryman and lawyer whose case the high court declined to review, reserved most of his ire for President Obama instead of the court. “He’s a coward, a bigot and a pathological liar,” Pietrangelo said in an interview with TIME shortly after the high court declined to hear his appeal. “This is a guy who spent more time picking out his dog, Bo, and playing with him on the White House lawn than he has working for equality for gay people,” he added. “If there were millions of black people as second-class citizens, or millions of Jews or Irish, he would have acted immediately” upon taking office to begin working to lift “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Pietrangelo fought in Iraq in 1991 as an infantryman, and returned as a JAG officer for the second Iraq War, before being booted out in 2004 for declaring he was gay as he was readying for a third combat tour. He was representing himself before the high court. (See pictures of the gay rights movement.)
The Obama Administration, in its brief in the case last month, said a lower court acted properly in upholding the gay ban. “Applying the strong deference traditionally afforded to the Legislative and Executive Branches in the area of military affairs, the court of appeals properly upheld the statute,” argued Elena Kagan, who as Solicitor General represents the Administration before the Supreme Court. The bar on gays serving openly is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion,” her 12-page filing added.
The endorsement of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” by the Administration marks the latest rightward tack by Obama. The President denounced many of George W. Bush’s national-security policies during the campaign, but in office has adopted more conservative positions, including endorsing military commissions to try purported terrorists, and declining to release a second batch of photographs depicting alleged U.S. maltreatment of Iraqi detainees. His stance on “Don’t ask, don’t tell” may be more surprising, because Obama aides have made clear the President wants the ban lifted eventually. (Watch a gay marriage wedding video.)
Pietrangelo doesn’t buy the line from Obama aides — and the Pentagon — that they’re too busy grappling with a faltering economy and two wars to handle the gay ban right away. “It’s a complete lie that he has too much stuff on his plate — this is the guy who criticized Bush for not being able to multitask,” Pietrangelo says. “We have an old saying in the military — the maximum effective range of an excuse is zero meters.” See Dismay Over Obama’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Turnabout TIME

* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/dismay-over-o…

Fury Over Obama’s Gay-Affirming Justice Picks

Social conservatives are calling on Congress to reject several of President Obama’s picks to the Department of Justice, including the No. 2 position of deputy attorney general, because they support gay and lesbian equality and the right of a woman to have an abortion.

Republicans on Capital Hill grilled David Ogden, nominated to be the deputy attorney general, at length about those issues at his Thursday confirmation hearing, reports The Associated Press.

Ogden filed a brief in support of the gay defendants at the center of the 2004 Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas which declared sodomy laws unconstitutional. Ogden has also defended organizations that support the right of a woman to seek an abortion.

“You’ve taken some very extraordinary positions, some left-leaning and unorthodox positions,” Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, told Ogden.

Evangelical groups, including the ardently anti-gay Focus on the Family and the American Family Association, have objected to Ogden’s nomination.

Similar concerns are being expressed over the nomination of Elena Kagan to Solicitor General. Kagan, who is openly gay, is being denounced for her support of open service for gay military personnel.

See Fury Over Obama’s Gay-Affirming Justice Picks
On Top Magazine, OH