Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
in 1992 DTDA was a moderate compromise for Bill Clinton.
He paid a huge price for bungling it.
that's a bit more accurate.
as of 2010, DADT was a stupid and senseless policy.
in 1992 DTDA was a moderate compromise for Bill Clinton.
He paid a huge price for bungling it.
The bill moved through Congress on a legislative fast track and met with overwhelming approval in both houses of the Republican-controlled Congress, passing by a vote of 85–14 in the Senate[27] and a vote of 342–67 in the House of Representatives.[28] It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that he should not have stayed silent after the audience at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq.
The Georgia businessman told ABC's "This Week" that it would have been "appropriate" for him to have defended the soldier. None of the candidates on stage at the Sept. 22 forum responded to the boos.
"In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that probably -- that would have been appropriate," Cain said, when asked if he should have asked the audience to respect the soldier.
Read more: Cain: I Should've Defended Gay Soldier From Boos At Debate | Fox News
Separately, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that the GOP candidates at the debate should have defended the soldier. "The fact is we should honor every man and woman who is serving in the military and should in no way treat them with anything but the highest regard," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."
McCain added that the GOP candidates may have been thinking about how to respond to the soldier's question rather than paying attention to the booing. "I would bet that every Republican on that stage did not agree with that kind of behavior," he said.
Read more: Cain: I Should've Defended Gay Soldier From Boos At Debate | Fox News
"In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that probably -- that would have been appropriate," Cain said, when asked if he should have asked the audience to respect the soldier.
The 3,000 attendees at the dinner, which took place at the Washington Convention Center, gave the president multiple standing ovations when he touted the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples and spoke out against the bullying of LGBT youth.
The most electric reaction, however, came when Obama sharply criticized the GOP presidential candidates for staying silent when audience members at a debate booed a gay soldier who asked a question about DADT.
"We don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders -- one of whom could end up being the president of the United States -- being silent when an American soldier is booed. We don't believe in that," said Obama to loud cheers and a standing ovation.
"We don't believe in standing silent when that happens. We don't believe in them being silent since. You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient. We don't believe in a small America. We believe in a big America -- a tolerant America, a just America, an equal America -- that values the service of every patriot.We believe in an America where we’re all in it together, and we see the good in one another, and we live up to a creed that is as old as our founding: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. And that includes everybody. That’s what we believe. That’s what we’re going to be fighting for. "
Obama HRC Speech 2011: President Talks Gay Rights At Human Rights Campaign Dinner
FEDERAL LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW
1. Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability -- the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation's history
2. Repealed Don't Ask/Don't Tell
3. Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act
POLICIES CHANGED
1. Reversed US refusal to sign the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
2. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees in 2009 and, further, in 2010
3. Lifted the HIV Entry Ban
4. Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees
5. Committed to ensuring that federal housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity
6. Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders -- the nation's first ever -- funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAG
7.
Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government (the nation's largest employer)
8. Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept our relationships from being counted, encouraging couples who consider themselves married to file that way, even if their state of residence does not yet permit legal marriage
9. Instructed HHS to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (virtually all hospitals) to allow LGBT visitation rights
10. Required all grant applicants seeking HUD funding to comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT individuals
11. Adopted transgender recommendations on the issuance of gender-appropriate passports that will ease barriers to safe travel and that will provide government-issued ID that avoids involuntary "outing" in situations requiring ID, like hiring, where a gender-appropriate driver's license or birth certificate is not available
12. Extended domestic violence protections to LGBT victims
13. Extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover employees taking unpaid leave to care for the children of same-sex partners
14. Issued guidance specifically to assist LGBT tenants denied housing on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
15. Issued a National HIV/AIDS Strategy praised as "long-overdue" by the Task Force, Lambda and others
16. Issued guidance to 15,000 local departments of education and 5,000 colleges to support educators in combating bullying
17. Cut back authority to discharge under Don't Ask/Don't Tell from hundreds of generals to just 6 civilian appointees, effectively ending discharges while working toward a permanent end to the policy.
18. Led the fight that reversed a 2010 UN vote removing sexual orientation from the list of things people should not be killed for
19. Launched the first-ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing
20. Determined that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional
21. Determined that LGBT discrimination should be subject to a standard of "heightened scrutiny"
22. Stopped defending DOMA, leading to "dramatic changes across the country and the federal government in the way that lawyers and judges see legal challenges brought by LGBT people - and, slowly but surely, in the way that LGBT people are able to live their lives"
23. Filed an unprecedented brief detailing the history of discrimination faced by gay, lesbian and bisexual people in America, including by the federal government itself -- the single most persuasive legal argument ever advanced by the United States government in support of equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people
24. Vacated a court order that would have deported a gay American's Venezuelan partner
25. Begun recognizing joint bankruptcy petitions filed by same-sex married couples
26. Endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act
27. Reduced the deportation threat faced by binational LGBT couples
28. Authorized military chaplains to perform same-sex weddings on or off military bases
eQualityGiving - Accomplishments by the Administration and Congress on LGBT Equality
"Together, we also have to keep sending a message to every young person in this country who might feel alone or afraid because they're transgender," he said. "They may be getting picked on or pushed around because they're different. We've got to make sure they know there are adults they can talk to, that they are never alone, that there is a whole world waiting for them, filled with possibility. ... And I want all those kids to know the president and the first lady is standing right by them every inch of the way. I want them to know we love them and care about them, and they're not by themselves."
As a straight man, it was at first, difficult to masturbate to. But I came through in the end