During last night's GOP debate, it was difficult to watch the Google logo stand next to evil, so unintentionally in contrast with its corporate logo. Case in point: Rick Santorum expressing his opinion on the defeated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. More disturbing than Santorum's inaccurate screed ("What we're doing is playing social experimentation with—with our military right now. And that's tragic.") was the fact that the audience loudly booed an active, and homosexual, serviceman for asking about it. more ›

Well, that was quick. Even after Lady Gaga held some sort of quirky rally in Maine, Republicans successfully blocked the senate bill that would've ended the bizarre military policy that won't allow gays to serve openly in the military. "With the 56-43 vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation," AP (via SFGate) reports. "It also would have authorized $726 billion in defense spending including a pay raise for troops." more ›

Buried in last night's news beneath the blazing inferno in San Bruno was an important development in the gay rights movement: Central California federal district Virginia Phillips filed an 86-page ruling declaring the military's 17-year-old 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy unconstitutional under the First Amendment and the substantive due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. The case was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans (gay Republicans, for those unaware), and featured testimony from six military officers who had been discharged because of the policy, including one whose tour in Iraq ended when someone using his computer snooped and found a message to a man discussing gay sex. more ›

President Obama, who is in town this week (watch your editor's terrible footage of his grand arrival here), was at the Fairmont Hotel last night stumping for Sen. Barbara Boxer. While Obama was speaking to the rabid crowd of fans, Kip Williams, co-founder of queer rights group GetEqual, showed up to "heckled" the president over his failure to swiftly repeal the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. more ›

Without giving any specifics,,President Barack Obama pledged to end the U.S. military's dated and bizarre ban on openly queer homosexuals serving in the military. During a speech at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner on Saturday, Obama said, "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell." more ›

SFist reported yesterday that Gay Pride Grand Marshall National Guard Lt. Dan Choi faced being discharged from the service, and a military review panel later confirmed this recommendation. The recommendation must be approved by the First Army commander and the chief of the National Guard Bureau, which could take weeks or up to a year. Choi, who is an Arabic translator, will continue to drill with the National Guard until then. more ›

San Francisco Gay Pride Grand Marshal Lt. Dan Choi, the Army National Guard officer translator and West Point alum who came out as queer "to protest the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," could become the first New York National Guard member discharged for breaking the military's inane and bizarre policy on homosexuals. Or, as the military defines it, ousted "for 'moral and professional dereliction.'" A hearing today in Syracuse, NY at the headquarters of the 27th Brigade Combat Teamwill decide whether or not to rid the service of his esteemed and education, albeit gay, presence. According to AP, "Choi served as one of the grand marshals of last Sunday's LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco, marching with a group called Knights Out, which supports gay military members." more ›

Oh joy. President Obama plans on repealing that childish "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has prevented lesbians and straight-acting/-appearing queer men from serving openly in the U.S. military. "Don't ask don't tell"s genius, enacted by the Clinton administration, lies within the idea that military folk should censor answers or declarations of their sexuality. And who's to blame for this jarring acceptance of homosexuality within the military? Will & Grace, claimed sociologist Melissa Embser-Herbert, author of The U.S. Military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy: A Reference Handbook. "It's the Will and Grace generation," she told the Chronicle. "They've grown up seeing gay people on TV and having friends in 10th-grade come out." more ›