The Ban on Gay Leaders in the Boy Scouts is Done

The Boy Scouts of America has dropped their ban on gay leaders yesterday.

Buzzfeed reports

Monday’s vote of the executive board followed a unanimous executive committee vote earlier in July recommending the end to the ban. The unanimity was possible due to the fact that the policy change also allowed individually chartered troops — many of which are backed by churches — to continue the ban. Additionally, the recommended policy noted that the national Boy Scouts organization would back any legal challenges faced by any such troop. The committee vote itself followed a speech in May by the president of the Boy Scouts — former Defense Secretary Robert Gates — that the blanket ban “cannot be sustained.” A month earlier, the Greater New York Councils had hired an out gay man, Pascal Tessier, to serve as a leader at its scout camps this summer — a fact noted by Gates in his speech.

Tessier has been a part of the changing face of the Boy Scouts, having been one of the first known out gay teens to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout — the organization’s highest rank — after the Boy Scouts ended its ban on gay youth members in 2013.
One of the groups Tessier has worked with is Scouts for Equality, a group aimed at ending the ban. 

“This vote marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Boy Scouts of America. Tens of thousands of people came together because they wanted to build a better future for the Boy Scouts of America, and that future starts now. I couldn’t be more proud of the tireless work of our members, volunteers, and staff over these last three years,” Zach Wahls, the executive director of Scouts for Equality, said in a statement. “As of this vote, the Boy Scouts of America is an organization that is looking forward, not back.”

Watch Robert Gates' response

VIDEO: Defense Secretary Robert Gates talks to Troops about the DADT Repeal

Gates wants a DADT Repeal Plan by Next Week

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he needs the repeal plan developed and rett to go by February the 4th.

Washington Blade reports:

In a five-page memorandum dated Jan. 28 and obtained by the Blade, Gates tasks Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness Clifford Stanley with devising a strategy to “facilitate the timely and orderly realization” of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal by next Friday.


Gates emphasizes that open service will be implemented throughout the services at the same time, squelching concerns about whether repeal would happen in the military in a graduated process.


“This is not, however, a change that should be done incrementally,” Gates writes. “The steps leading to certification and the actual repeal must be accomplished across the entire Department at the same time, and consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces.”


President Obama on Dec. 22 signed legislation allowing for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but open service won’t take effect until he, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the U.S. military is ready. After certification takes place, a 60-day waiting period must pass before gays can serve openly without fear of discharge.

Please read the memo below
Implementation of Repeal from DADT

Robert Gates: Get DADT Done!

Robert wants the DADT process to hurry up and move on

The DADT Survey Results will be discussed with Congress Today

The DADT survey results will be the topic of discussion in Congress today. Adm Mullen and Robert Gates will bring the findings to Capitol Hill, hoping to move the repeal of DADT forward.

Here's more:

Officials familiar with the 10-month study's results have said a clear majority of respondents don't care if gays serve openly, with 70 percent predicting that lifting the ban would have positive, mixed or no results. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings hadn't been released.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, who have both said they support repealing the law, were scheduled to discuss the findings with Congress Tuesday morning and with reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Republicans, led by Sen. John McCain of Arizona, have mostly opposed repealing the law because they say efforts to do so are politically driven and dangerous at a time of two wars.
"This was a political promise made by an inexperienced president or candidate for presidency of the United States," McCain told CNN's "State of the Union" last weekend.

"The military is at its highest point in recruitment and retention and professionalism and capability, so to somehow allege that this policy has been damaging the military is simply false," McCain said.
Democrats and gay rights groups counter that the study finally proves what they've known anecdotally for years: Most troops would accept an openly gay person in their units.

"It's what we expected. The atmosphere in the active-duty has changed," said a gay Air Force officer and co-founder of the advocacy group OutServe. The officer uses the pseudonym "JD Smith" to protect his identity.

The survey is based on responses by some 115,000 troops and 44,200 military spouses to more than a half million questionnaires distributed last summer. The study group, led by Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Army Gen. Carter Ham, also visited various military bases and held town hall-style meetings with service members.

I will have more as the day unfolds

READ John McCain's Letter, urging Robert Gates to Modify the DADT Study

In September, John McCain sent Robert Gates a letter, trying change the format of the DADT study
Index
Well Gates responded saying:

I instructed the working group to obtain the input of Servicemembers so that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and I, as well as the Service Chiefs, can more fully understand how a change in the DADT policy may impact unit cohesion, military readiness and effectiveness, recruiting and retention and family readiness. [...] 

The Chairman and I fully support the approach and the efforts of the working group, as do the Service Chiefs. We are confident that the working group’s report will provide us with the information we need to appropriately advise the President, and, if requested to do so, to provide our fully informed views to Congress as it considers legislative action.

Good for Gates for holding it down, but John still wasn't hearing it. However, I find this very interesting how far McCain is willing to go on this. He was against DADT before, what made him change?

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Robert Gates moves up release of the DADT Report by One Day

Interesting DADT news! Robert Gates will move up the DADT results a day early

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has agreed to move up by one day the release of a Pentagon report on implementing a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has governed the military for 17 years, a spokesman said Sunday night.

"Secretary Gates is pushing all involved in the Comprehensive Review Working Group's report to have it ready for public release on November 30th in order to accommodate the desire of the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings as soon as possible," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

The November 30th date amounts to a one day acceleration of the report, which had initially been planned for release in early December. Last week, the Pentagon committed to a December 1 release. However, gay rights groups and several senators who support repeal of the congressionally-mandated ban on openly gay servicemembers had asked Gates to get the report out as quickly as possible. Until Sunday, the Pentagon had rebuffed those requests.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates Says Congress should act Quickly on DADT

Robert Gates said Congress should move forward with DADT, before the new Congressmen take their seats.
 Here's more:

He, however, did not sound optimistic that the current Congress would use a brief postelection session to get rid of the law known as "don't ask, don't tell."

"I would like to see the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" but I'm not sure what the prospects for that are," Gates said Saturday, as he traveled to defense and diplomatic meetings in Australia.
Unless the lame-duck Congress acts, the repeal effort is considered dead for now.

The current, Democratic-controlled Congress has not acted to lift the ban, which President Barack Obama promised to eliminate. In his postelection news conference Wednesday, Obama said there would be time to repeal the ban in December or early January, after the military completes a study of the effects of repeal on the front lines and at home.

With Republicans taking control of the House in January, and with larger margins in the Senate, supporters of lifting the ban predict it will be much more difficult.
Gates also urged the Senate to ratify a stalled arms control treaty with Russia before the end of the current legislative session in January.

The defense chief said the huge midterm gains for Republicans will not set back Obama's strategy for the war in Afghanistan. Obama wants to begin pulling U.S. forces home next summer, so long as security conditions allow it.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates Says Courts shouldn't set policy on Gays

This is heating up! Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that abruptly ending DADT could have big consequences.

"I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training," said Gates. "It has enormous consequences for our troops."

The defense secretary said that besides the changes in training, regulations will need revisions and changes may be necessary to benefits and Defense Department buildings.

The battle in the courts over gays in the military may be far from over. The Justice Department is considering whether to appeal the court ruling and its first response may well be another trip to the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside, Calif., to seek a stay, or temporary freeze, of her ruling. If Phillips turns down the request, the Justice Department would likely turn to the federal appeals court in California.

It was unclear whether Phillips' injunction against the 17-year-old policy on gays in the military would affect any ongoing cases.

I see what he's saying, but are they working on processes to protect gay and lesbian soldiers? We need to hear about the processes and details to assist our fam in the military. 

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Interesting Quote: Robert Gates

"I think that it would be a mistake to wait until January 2012. It might be hard to find a good person to take the job so late, with just one year to go in the president's current term. This is not the kind of job you want to fill in the spring of an election year."

Bobby talking about retiring next year. But what does this mean for DADT?


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Defense Secretary Robert Gates Says Fill Out DADT Survey

Gates: Obama could Veto the Military Spending Bill that includes DADT

Listen to Gates explain the possible veto. This isn't completely about DADT, this is more about the items involved with the spending bill.

But still watch the clip:

Sec. Robert Gates' message to the Troops... P.S. DADT language is included

He could be a little 'cheerful' about this.

Sec. Robert Gates endorses the deal for a DADT repeal

Although, he still wants the his study, Gates will not stand in the way of a DADT repeal:

"Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell law," Gates' spokesman Geoff Morrell emailed journalists this morning.

"With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the Secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment," he said.

Good, let's keep it movin'


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Is a DADT Repeal coming Soon? Like real Soon?

New movement in the DADT repeal!

Advocate reports:

LGBT groups met with officials at the White House while legislative affairs representatives from the White House and the Department of Defense met with the House and Senate leadership offices on Capitol Hill along with those of Rep. Patrick Murphy and Sens. Carl Levin and Joseph Lieberman.

A White House aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the White House meeting. "Our understanding is that Congress is determined to act this week and we are learning more about their proposal now," said the aide.

A Democratic leadership aide called the development "promising" but said discussions were ongoing. The House Democratic leadership is expected to meet about the proposal later this afternoon. According to one person familiar with the White House meeting, the proposal that is being considered would legislatively repeal the statute this year, but the current policy would remain in place and implementation of repeal would not occur until after the Pentagon’s working group study is finished in December.

Further, completion of repeal would require certification from President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chair Admiral Mike Mullen that the new law will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention and other key factors that affect the military. The language would not include a nondiscrimination policy but rather will return authority for open service by gays and lesbians back to the Pentagon.

More info is coming today and this week, but I want to know who they met with today?

Gates is Sticking to his Plan for DADT

Please watch


I know some folks are mad at him, but I understand his point. This will only make the repeal effort stronger. I have always said this needs to be done right and done smart.

Also, Gates took the time to address some concerns that has fueled many activists' fire about DADT. He said this study is not a tactic to deny the repeal, he also said he is dedicated to make this work. Gates supports this change and he wants to DADT to end. We have no reason not to trust him, so why are we so scared?

Nancy Pelosi says Obama should freeze on Gay military firings

Nancy quickly comes out to in support of Gay soldiers yesterday. After Gates posted his letter about DADT and the White House followed suit, Nancy hit the scene.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Obama administration should suspend enforcement of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Pelosi says the suspension should remain in effect until the Pentagon completes its review of the potential impact of changing the law. Senior Pentagon leaders have warned lawmakers not to tamper with the ban until the review is complete.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen offered the caution in a letter to the House Armed Services Committee. They said forcing policy changes on the military before it's ready would be a mistake.

Hopefully, Obama will listen to Nancy and get this done.

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Gates wants to create a Plan before DADT is repealed UPDATED

Today, Robert Gates told congress not to repeal DADT until a clear plan is made.

Defense secretary Robert Gates is directing Congress not to change the "don't ask, don't tell" policy until a clear repeal plan is devised.

In a letter obtained by the Associated Press, Gates told members of a House committee that forcing policy changes on the military "would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence their views, concerns, and perspectives do not matter."

Gates has expressed his support for repealing the ban as long as a plan is created to invite and employ openly gay and lesbian service members.

I agree that a clear plan must be implemented to insure the safety and progress of our gay and lesbian soldiers. I hope folks will understand that, because at the end of the day, it's really about our soldiers and their safety.

UPDATE: The White House supports Gates' statement. Wants to repeal, but also wants to complete the study.

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Gates have New Rules for DADT

Defense Secretary Robert Gates just approved new rules that will make it harder to discharge gays from the military.

The new guidelines go into effect immediately and will apply to cases already open. They are considered a stopgap measure until Congress decides whether to go along with President Barak Obama's call for a repeal of the ''don't ask, don't tell'' law.

''I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency for handling what are complex and difficult issues for all involved,'' Gates told a Pentagon news conference.

The changes raise the level of officer authorized to initiate a fact-finding inquiry into a case, the level of officer who can conduct an inquiry and of the one that can authorize a dismissal.

To discourage the use of overheard statements or hearsay, from now on any evidence given in third-party outings must be given under oath, Gates said. Cases of third-party outings also have included instances in which male troops have turned in women who rejected their romantic advances or jilted partners in relationship have turned in a former lover.

Some kinds of confidential information also will no longer be allowed, including statements gays make to their lawyers, clergy, psychotherapists or medical professionals in the pursuit of health care.

The individual service branches will have 30 days to change their regulations to conform to the new rules.

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In case you missed it... here's the DADT Hearing