News for the Week Ended May 11, 2011
BY ANN ROSTOW
Don’t Ask Repeal Gets Sticky
Something happened this week involving same-sex marriages in the military, but it seems strange in several respects.
First, the head of the Navy Chaplains wrote a memo that said same-sex marriages could be conducted by military chaplains in states where same-sex marriage is legal.
That seems logical.
True, the ban on open gay military service is not yet officially dead. We are still going through some vague training period, although it’s not clear why people have to be trained to refrain from discharging a gay soldier. After this training, we have to wait for President Obama and Secretary Gates to certify that national security will not be compromised by the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And finally, we have to wait two months after the certification, again for no particular reason. More training?
At any rate, the point is that once the gay ban is officially ended, gay servicemembers based in Massachusetts or Connecticut or DC should be able to marry on base, right?
Wrong. Conservatives flipped out over the chaplain’s memo, and several dozen House Republicans wrote an outraged letter to the Secretary of the Navy, or “SecNav” as they call him on NCIS. The policy was promptly suspended “pending additional legal and policy review.”
Republicans claimed that the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits military marriages regardless of the status of gay soldiers. But no one was attacking the Defense of Marriage Act in this context. Gay soldiers living in one of the marriage equality states surely have the right to marry. And whether or not they marry at the local church or at the base chapel has nothing to do with federal law.
Meanwhile, House Republicans continue to hold pointless hearings on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in an effort to further stall repeal. Since nothing they do will pass muster in the Senate, we don’t have anything to worry about. But then again, we thought this battle was won by the lame ducks last Christmas. When are we going to tie up the loose ends?
According to the administration, the process should be complete before the end of this year. At that rate, however, it’s possible that the federal courts will have yet another say in the matter. The challenge to Don’t Ask that made headlines last fall is continuing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where Obama has asked the panel to suspend the litigation during the repeal transition. But the court has thus far declined to toss the case, which is called Log Cabin Republicans v U.S..
This whole mess obscures a key issue in the debate over gays in the military. When we repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, we simply removed the rule that banned openly gay soldiers. What we did not do was to insist that gay and lesbians soldiers be treated equally. That’s right. There is no specific language that bans sexual orientation discrimination in the military, so in theory, you could have all kinds of double standards, ranging from unequal marriage laws to, I don’t know, extra KP duty for lesbians.
That said, I think most Americans who favored an end to Don’t Ask assumed that discrimination would be banished along with the antigay law. So, like many of our communal problems, the solution is a matter of time.
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Meow!
I don’t mean to be catty, but Newt Gingrich’s latest wife looks like something out of a horror movie. Tight stretched skin. Razor sharp makeup. Weird crazy look in her eyes. I don’t know.
I’ve been reluctant to ridicule the GOP presidential lineup, simply because I am assuming that a bunch of mainstream-ish conservative politicians are about to toss their hats into the ring. After all, it’s only, um, May. But this is getting serious. Of all the announced candidates, the pudgy hypocrite appears to have the best credentials of the bunch even though he hasn’t done anything of note for over a decade.
Oh, I suppose I forgot about Tim Pawlenty. But that’s the problem with Tim Pawlenty, isn’t it?
Anyway, the man is nicknamed after a small, legless, salamander, so I’m thinking his uphill climb to the White House might be a bit of a stretch.
I’m also wondering whether some of the possible GOP candidates will rethink their timing given that Obama looks far less beatable this week than he did ten days ago.
Will Christie and Daniels let someone else sacrifice themselves on the altar of 2012 while they sit back and wait for 2016? It definitely looks as if the two Mormons are going to enter the race, but I have no idea what Huckabee plans to do. As for Palin, I think she’s too thin-skinned to put herself through the crucible of another national campaign.
All in all, I’m still betting on some fresh face popping out of the woodwork at the end of the summer.
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Porn! The New White Meat
I have MSNBC on in the background as is my wont these days. I’m not paying much attention, but I’m paying enough to inform you that the station has delivered the same six pieces of news over and over again for the last five hours.
Oh. Here’s a new one coming up after the next break: “Porn, kids and the Internet. Just a typo away.”
While we wait for typo instructions, you should know that the Presbyterian USA church has finally approved ordination for gay men and lesbians in committed relationships. Yay! I’ve been covering gay ordination for the last fifteen years, so it’s a pleasure to be able to report this breakthrough. That said, I basically got bored with the subject a couple years back so I have ignored the topic completely.
As for porn, MSNBC just showed an anti-porn commercial featuring a couple of eight year old boys who try to look up “pork” and hit the “n” instead of the “k.” At once the doorbell rings, and the kids find several beautiful women at their doorstep. I suppose it’s meant to be a warning to parents, because it certainly wouldn’t discourage your average eight-year-old boy. Quite the contrary.
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‘Til The Board of Immigration Us Do Part
So here’s a big story. Last Thursday, the Justice Department formally stepped in to block a deportation hearing for a civil union partner from Ireland, who lives in New Jersey with his quasi-spouse. Attorney General Eric Holder said the case should be referred back to the Board of Immigration to see whether or not a civil union partner might be treated as a spouse or qualifying relative under immigration law.
On the following day, an immigration judge in Newark seemed to take the hint, postponing deportation for a Venezuelan man who married his American husband in Connecticut. The judge indicated that the men should be given time, at least until December, to see how the immigration status of married gays is addressed by the courts and the Justice Department.
These cases came a month or so after a government lawyer agreed to shelve proceedings against a New York-based bi-national couple, again to give the women time to pursue a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.
Under the circumstances, it seems likely that other binational couples will have a reprieve as well, as the government tries to balance its stated opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act with the fact that DOMA remains federal law for the moment.
As you know, Attorney General Holder announced in February that sexual orientation should be considered a constitutionally protected class. As such, the Justice Department decided it could no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court. Nonetheless, Holder made clear that the Obama administration would uphold the law until a court could weigh in on its constitutional status.
This appears to be easier said than done in the case of binational couples. And although the Justice Department can’t come right out and tell immigration judges to ignore DOMA when it comes to foreign gay spouses, they seem to be finding a middle ground—a six to twelve month stalling tactic that could keep couples together while the courts sort out the future of the federal ban on same-sex marriage.
Good. This seems to be working, although I’m sure that one of these days we’ll come face to face with a mean immigration judge who will tell the Justice Department to jump in a lake. Until then, it’s good news for the international couples in our midst.
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Don’t Kill Me Bro
And speaking of international couples, the European Court of Justice has ruled in favor of a retired German couple who got hitched under Germany’s version of a civil union. After they tied the knot, one of the men applied for an increase in his pension from the city of Hamburg. But even though such an increase is routine for a single person who subsequently gets married, his request was denied. The man petitioned the local labor court, which referred the matter to the ECJ. In its ruling, the European Court of Justice said that registered partners are entitled to equal pay under principles of European law, and that pensions are considered part of one’s pay.
Before you start lamenting about the backward state of gay rights law in the United States, you can compare us to Uganda, where lawmakers are still intent on passing the so-called “kill the gays” bill that carries a life sentence for active homosexuals, and a death sentence for having gay sex with a minor.
The bill, proposed a couple of years ago, was back on schedule for a vote this week, but was pulled off the table at the last minute. I don’t pretend to understand Ugandan politics. But it seems as if someone with a modicum of power wants to avoid the international backlash that would accompany passage of this barbaric legislation.
Much like the ordination of gay priests, the “kill the gays” bill is another news story that I have stopped following in recent months. I assumed the bill had sort of died, so I was most astonished when a raft of “Ugandans want to kill us!” headlines hit my email this week, followed by another onslaught of “Maybe not yet.”
Regardless, I’m not going to Uganda anytime soon.
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F is For Apple
Back in the USA, the Minnesota senate has voted to put an antigay marriage amendment on the 2012 ballot. I’d give you more details but something is happening to my aging Mac laptop and simple operations, like searching for “Minnesota gay,” are taking whole minutes.
While it “waits” to respond to these basic requests, the computer makes an annoying little buzzing sound, like background radiation from the Big Bang.
The whole frustrating process makes me want to take the machine outside onto the porch and smash its little machine guts all over the slate floor. Nor am I in the least bit mollified by the fact that the little “I’m thinking!” revolving ball has a gay rainbow theme.
There’s nothing inherently gay about a lackadaisical piece of junk that would rather sit around complacently buzzing and flashing rainbow colors for seconds on end while my racing mind screams in silent anguish. Gay, to me, means fun and competent! A gay computer is fast and eager to work with you. Quick off the mark. Back to you in less time than it takes to click a mouse!
No, this is something quite different. Homophobic even. Oh, I’m sure it would deny it if you asked it. It has plenty of gay friends, it would insist. For heaven’s sake, its owner is a lesbian! Well, considering its recent performance I believe that makes my case.
And for the record, we still have to wait for the Minnesota House to pass the marriage amendment, but there’s no reason to suppose it won’t do just that. As for the Badger or Gopher State electorate, it will be interesting. I think they’re gophers, and I think Wisconsin people are badgers. But who knows for sure? I’m not going to waste five minutes or so trying to research mascot animals in the Midwest.
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arostow@aol.com
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