Gays’ New “Friends”: Joe Lieberman, Iraq’s Top Gen, Michelle Malkin’s Ex-Blog, Homophobes?

TRAITORS!:
Lovely news organization Renew America has some concerns about the future of the Conservative movement in America, which seemed to be accomplishing its goals just fine to us.

Wow. Just as soon as the “Hot Air” blog was purchased by the Christian conglomerate Salem Communications from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, it has suddenly become an advocate for all things gay [GOPROUD]. What in the world is up with that?

…. In other words, for David Keene and the others who run CPAC, natural marriage is not, in their judgment, a fundamental conservative value. This conference, for the sake of truth in advertising, should be relabeled “The Libertarian Political Action Conference.” It has forfeited any legitimate claim to the “Conservative” moniker.

Wonkette summarizes thusly: “So, this week the wingtards are furious about a) Scott Brown voting for some tax breaks for companies that hire American workers, b) Glenn Beck being too liberal, and c) a wingnut blog not calling for a homosexual holocaust. Carry on, freedom fighters!” (@wonkette)

That’s not all:

What CNN’s results do illustrate, in a nice side-by-side comparison, is that letting gays serve openly in the military is popular with some people who think homosexuality itself is wrong.

CNN asked respondents whether they “personally think that homosexual relationships between consenting adults is morally wrong, or not a moral issue”; 48% said it’s wrong, and 50% said it’s not a moral issue. (@theatlantic)

DADT:
+ Senator Joe Lieberman has tossed his hat into the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ring and has offered to sponsor Senate legislation overturning the anti-gay policy. The House already has several vocal supporters of such a measure. Lieberman would be the first real champion of the cause in the Senate. (@sunsentinel)

+ A new study, “Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer,” released yesterday analyzes the integration of gay service members in militaries around the world. In most cases, the switch was done quickly with little to no problems or escalation of harassment. In fact, the “report cited a 1993 RAND study on the effects of allowing openly gay members to serve in the American military, which concluded that ‘phased-in implementation might allow enemies of the new policy to intentionally create problems to prove the policy unworkable.’ On personnel policy decisions of this nature, the RAND study said, ‘Any waiting period permits restraining forces to consolidate.'” (@nytimes) Basically, it makes a good case for shortening the timetable on the repeal of DADT.

+ And even Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top general in Iraq, thinks everyone should be able to serve, regardless of sexual orientation. That’s the first such declaration from a top military official since the Pentagon announced the study on DADT last month. (@washingtonpost)

+ It’s not all good news, though, sorry. The Army is arguing against a proposed moratorium on discharges related to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey told a Senate panel Tuesday that an immediate moratorium on firings, as some lawmakers and gay rights’ groups want, would “complicate the whole process.” He said he has “serious concerns” about the impact of overturning the law and wants to ensure a repeal won’t affect the force’s ability to fight. (@washingtonpost)

LISA MILLER:
At last, A Vermont judge has ordered the arrest of Lisa Miller who has refused to turn over her 7-year-old daughter to her former lesbian partner. (@sfexaminer)

WEIR:
A Canadian gay rights group has filed a complaint against two French-language broadcasters because of their comments about Johnny Weir. One broadcaster said he was bad for the image of figure skating. Another said Weir should have to take a gender test, causing us to have some unwanted flashbacks to the Caster Semenya controversy. (@canadianpress)

Weir refused to respond to the comments except to say, “Every little boy should be so lucky as to turn into me,” in an interview he did with Dorothy Hamill. You can conveniently watch that video in our other Daily Fix today. (@advocate)

OLYMPICS:
In other winter games news, out lesbian speed skater Ireen Wust of the Netherlands took gold in the women’s 1,500 meter race yesterday. (@edgeboston)

Wust’s win and the women’s hockey final matches (two of the teams had out lesbian players) prompted AfterEllen to declare Monday the gayest 24 hours of the Olympics so far. Catch the women’s hockey gold medal and bronze medal matches on Thursday. (@afterellen)

RAPE:
“She Knew What Would Happen If She Started Drinking:” Blaming The Victim, Princeton Edition: This week in victim-blaming, a Princeton student explains why it’s a drunk girl’s fault if she gets raped. Luckily, students and non-students alike are on hand to rebut her. (@jezebel)

TRAVEL:
Travel company Expedia has named Sydney, Australia, the top gay-friendly travel destination. The city is known for its many gay bars and vibrant homo-fabulous scene. As if you needed another reason to go down under? (@dailytelegraph)

UNIONS:
A Minnesota House committee heard testimony on three bills relating to gay marriage yesterday. One bill would allow civil unions, one would recognize same-sex marriages from other states, and one would remove gender from the state’s current marriage laws. (@politicsinminnesota)

HEALTH:
Obama proposed a new plan for health care reform yesterday, attempting to strike a compromise after Scott Brown’s election to the Senate. Not surprisingly, he left out pro-gay measures in this vanilla version of the bill. Queerty thinks it’s too early to judge things and points out that Obama made a few gains for the LGBT community in the federal budget. (@metroweekly) (@queerty)

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Sarah

Sarah lives in Chicago with her partner and her big white Great Dane. She is a lawyer by day and a beer brewer/bread baker/knitter by night. She & her partner are currently learning how to grow their own food, and eventually they hope to move to a small farm outside the city. In 2009-2010, before jetting off to law school, Sarah was Autostraddle's Managing Editor.

Sarah has written 127 articles for us.

9 Comments

  1. Do you mean “down under” as a double entendre? i know you’re smarter than me so either way, no, I didn’t need another reason. I just need to have more money. LOVEIT.

  2. I’m so proud of Sydney for topping that list. I hope the article convinces lots of cute girls with cute foreign accents to visit us.

  3. I’m sad about the french broadcasting story. I heard they referenced Brokeback Mountain too but I might also be getting my stories mixed up.

Comments are closed.