The Beginning of the End for DADT

[Soon]

TN Congressional candidates: Gays were 'taken care of' when they were in military

Physicians Ron Kirkland of Jackson and George Flinn of Memphis were among the candidates Thursday night who talked largely about how they're against the Obama administration and its policies, according to The Jackson Sun.

The candidates criticized the administration for wanting to overturn the gay policy, which prevents gays from serving openly in the military. President Barack Obama has called on Congress to lift the ban, and military officials are examining how to do that.

.....

Kirkland, a Vietnam veteran, said of his time in the military: "I can tell you if there were any homosexuals in that group, they were taken care of in ways I can't describe to you."

Smith, who served in the first Iraqi war, added: "I definitely wouldn't want to share a shower with a homosexual. We took care of that kind of stuff, just like (Kirkland) said."

The Tennessee Republican Party had no comment about the candidates statements when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday.

[Jess]

Hopefully some good news on this front:

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_129/news/46002-1.html

[Toughy]

Please read the message below about efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this year. Please call the Speaker (and your representative) to push the vote now. If you are willing to take one more step, please send this out to supporters, friends and families and flood their offices with calls.

Next week, game-changing votes in the U.S. House and Senate could make or break the fate of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal efforts in 2010.

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) is expected to offer an amendment to the House version of the Defense Authorization bill that would overturn DADT. Similar action is also expected in the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 27.

For Rep. Murphy's amendment to be offered, however, the Speaker of the House must first schedule a vote.

And that's where we need your help - right now.

Urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to schedule a vote on Rep. Murphy's repeal amendment to the Defense Authorization bill next week.

Call Speaker Pelosi today.

(202) 225-0100

The fight for repeal in 2010 hangs in the balance. A few votes could make the difference between victory and defeat. Each representative's vote will count.

You can find your Representative at http://www.congress.org/

Call your representative today to say that waiting another year for repeal is not an option. Ask your Member of Congress for the repeal vote.

(202) 225-3121

We are on the brink of victory, but we aren't there yet.

We can make next week's House vote a historic win if we pull out all the stops and push even harder now. We are closer to achieving repeal than ever before.

Help us get to the finish line.

Thank you.

Aubrey Sarvis
SLDN Executive Director

P.S. On Saturday, May 22, we will celebrate Harvey Milk's 80th birthday. His life reminds us that discrimination against LGBT people is still alive today, and that if we want full equality we have to fight for it. Stand up (http://www.sldn.org/action) for our gay and lesbian service members who continue to suffer from the discrimination that Harvey dedicated his life to ending.

[Soon]

[Toughy]

as my grandmother used to say:

'bless their poor little pea picking hearts.....they just don't know no better.......'