After DADT, Schools May Welcome ROTC. Some of the nation’s most elite colleges may welcome the ROTC program to their campuses following the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Fox News reports that Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and Yale are among the schools that may be ready to end their “decades-old standoff” with the Pentagon over the discriminatory policy. On some campuses, the policy exacerbated friction that began in the Vietnam War era. Drew Faust, president of Harvard University and the daughter of a World War II veteran, posted an encouraging statement on the university’s website, for example. "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard's full and formal recognition of ROTC," she said.
"I am very pleased that more students will now have the opportunity to serve their country. " Columbia and Yale also said they would be considering the issue in 2011, while Stanford indicated that academic concerns also enter their calculations.
«Don't ask, Don't tell»: le Sénat américain remet une claque à Obama. Des militants gays s'enchaînent aux USA. Des militants pour la levée du tabou gay dans l'armée américaine se sont brièvement enchaînés aujourd'hui aux grilles de la Maison-Blanche, avant d'être interpellés par la police.
Ces militants ont utilisé des menottes pour s'attacher en début d'après-midi aux grilles de la demeure présidentielle américaine, criant des slogans comme "fiers de servir" dans l'armée, et "nous ne disparaîtrons pas". La police est rapidement intervenue et a procédé à des arrestations. Selon le groupe GetEQUAL, défenseur des droits des homosexuels, lesbiennes et transexuels, 13 personnes au total ont été arrêtées. Le groupe, a-t-il expliqué dans un communiqué, voulait interpeller les parlementaires qui ont recommencé lundi à siéger pour la dernière session du Congrès sortant dominé par les démocrates. Top WH Aide: DADT Repeal This Year. White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina spoke with a political science class in Montana about “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal and told the group, “We’re going to get that done this year.”
According to the Montana Kaimin, Messina, a 1993 graduate of the University of Montana, returned to his alma mater Wednesday to speak with a class taught by Missoula mayor John Engen, his personal friend and one-time employer. A GetEqual board member asked him about the previous day’s failure to advance “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal in the Senate. “Political science major John Blake asked Messina about the failure to repeal 'don't ask don't tell,' the military policy that prevents gays from being open about their sexuality while serving in the military,” reported the Kaimin. “The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday against repealing DADT ‘for largely partisan reasons,’ Messina said, but he's confident DADT will be struck down. “‘We're going to get that done this year,’” he said. McCain Pressed on Military Outing.
Immediately after this afternoon’s Senate vote preventing debate of the National Defense Authorization Act, Sen.
John McCain met with a group of journalists including The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld and Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner and insisted that the military does not “go out and seek to find out if someone’s sexual orientation.” DADT Held Hostage? Sen.
Joseph Lieberman summed it up best Thursday, suggesting that breaking next week’s potential GOP filibuster on the National Defense Authorization Act, which houses "don't ask, don't tell" repeal, depended almost entirely on a procedural showdown between Democrats and Republicans. “The question is whether the Senate leadership can negotiate an agreement with the Republicans that will allow the bill to come up and get them to feel that they can introduce amendments that they want to introduce as well,” Lieberman told The Advocate.
Bill Clinton: I Regret DADT. Former president Bill Clinton told CBS News anchor Katie Couric that he regrets the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy created in 1993 under his administration but that Colin Powell, his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, misrepresented how the policy would work.
President Clinton spoke with Couric hours after an attempt to repeal the policy in the Senate failed to overcome a Republican filibuster. "Do you ever regret it as a policy? " asked Couric. "Oh, yeah," Clinton responded. A DADT Video Message From Gaga. Lady Gaga released a video early Friday that directs viewers to call their senators in advance of next week's vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which houses “don't ask, don't tell” repeal.
Gaga addressed the message to her fellow Americans, youths, and Republican senators, including John McCain, who has threatened to filibuster “don't ask, don't tell” repeal. “I am here to be a voice for my generation, not the generation of the senators who are voting, but for the youth of this country, the generation that is affected by this law, and whose children will be affected,” said Gaga. “We are not asking you to agree with or approve the moral implications of homosexuality.
We're asking you to do your job, to protect the Constitution,” she said. Watch the video, which includes special instructions on how to call your senator. Gender, Race Still Influence DADT Discharges. Though advocates for the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" are already aware that racial minorities and women tend to be discharged under the law at a higher rate than white males, a new study shows the numbers for these groups are on the increase.
Women represented a quarter of discharges in the 1990s but now make up 39% of discharges under the law banning service by openly gay military personnel, according to the Williams Institute at University of California, Los Angeles, which released the study's findings Friday.
Gaga's Maine Event. Jessica Barajas heard the news Sunday night that Lady Gaga would be holding a rally in Portland, Maine, on Monday urging the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
So Barajas and friend Tim Burns hit the road from Bangor around 8 a.m. and by 12:30 p.m. were two of about 50 Gaga fans staking out front-row turf for the event. “I think it’s awesome that she’s holding a rally in Maine — ’cause it’s Maine,” she laughed, acknowledging how unlikely it is for a star of her stature to swing through the Pine Tree State on a whim. “And it shows how much passion she has for what she believes in.”