Speaking of sanity-estranged, plummeting GOP candidate Rick Perry released an anti-gay television ad today, one that lambastes our country's military while claiming that our children cannot celebrate Christmas in school (which is a lie, a balls out fib) or pray in the classroom (which is true, thank god). Perry spews: more ›

Fleet Week kicked off in our eyes and ears yesterday as the Blue Angels took to the skies to practice for the weekend air show. (They will rehearse again today from noon until 4 p.m.) Here are some shots from Thursday's practice sessions. more ›

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 ›

Your lesbian cousin in the Marines and that hot gay daddy you've been corresponding with in secret from his base in Afghanistan will no longer have to keep their loves undercover as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday! The Pentagon is officially lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the military as of one minute past minute tonight, and though they're trying to keep it all "low-key," it's a rather historic day for the LGBT civil rights movement. Tonight will mark the end to a weird forced-closet status for thousands of people in the armed forces that extends back to a dark deal Bill Clinton made with Republicans and the military 18 years ago. more ›

As a friend succulently pointed out just now, "Obama just ended 'don't ask don't tell.' So much for staying in tonight." Indeed. President Barack Obama today signed a certification of Congress' repeal of the United States' antiquated ban on gay men and women from serving openly in the military. The 18-year-old Clinton-era law will officially be squashed on September 20 more ›

Speaking of gay things, the breaking news this afternoon is that defense department officials are planning to certify, on Friday, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The WSJ reports that they'll be making the announcement tomorrow, ending over a year of hemming and hawing from the Pentagon, and following on Congress's repeal of the law last December. more ›

Nope - not an early performance by the Blue Angels, but two similar, less blue F-18's will be pulling "practice military maneuvers between the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges from 2:30 to 3" this afternoon, according to the Appeal. Good to know our armed forces are working out their gameplan for when the North Koreans actually come for us and it's not just some PR stunt. Anyway, your tower is gonna get buzzed any moment now. more ›

Despite President Obama repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' the U.S. military's ban on gays serving in the military, "Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a memo to troops warning them that it remains in effect until 60 days after the government certifies that the military is ready for implementation." What's more, according to CNN, "There will be no special bathroom or housing facilities to accommodate homosexuals, except in special cases." Just what exactly those extenuating circumstances are remains a titillating mystery. [CNN] more ›

The Senate today "voted to advance legislation that would overturn the military ban on openly gay troops known as 'don't ask, don't tell.' " That is to say, the ban on openly gays serving in the military will, most likely, be lifted. Later on Saturday afternoon, the Senate will make the final vote. more ›

The House voted today to repeal the U.S. military's ban on LGBT service. Wednesday's vote, 250-175,"propels the issue to the Senate for what could be the last chance for now to end the 1993 law that forbids recruiters from asking about sexual orientation while prohibiting soldiers from acknowledging that they are gay." more ›

Three veterans who were all discharged under the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy have filed a new lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claiming that the policy violated their rights under the constitution. more ›

Anyone with a working brain and modicum of commonsense knows by now that there's 0.0 wrong with LGBT ilk serving in the military. AP reports: "An internal Pentagon study has found that most U.S. troops and their families don't care whether gays are allowed to serve openly and think the policy of 'don't ask, don't tell' could be done away with, according to officials familiar with its findings." Read all about it at KTVU. more ›

According to reports, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips said she is "learning toward denying a government request to delay her order halting the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay troops." The Wall Street Journal notes that on Monday she "seemed skeptical of the government’s arguments" in that the government completely "failed to produce any evidence during the two-week trial that showed allowing gays in the military would harm military readiness or troop cohesion." She should make her official announcement sometime today. [AP/CBS 5, WSJ] more ›

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips of Riverside ordered the U.S. military to "immediately halt all discharges of openly gay personnel under 'don't ask, don't tell,' a policy she declared unconstitutional last month." Phillips, according to reports, said that "expert testimony and studies from other nations with different policies found no evidence that allowing gays to serve reduced military effectiveness." Which: duh. [Chron] more ›

Today's the day that Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are standing before the Supreme Court in a First Amendment case relating to their military funeral protests. The justices appeared to be struggling with some of the complexities of the case, which include complaints from Albert Snyder, whose son died in Iraq in 2006, that the church posted an insulting poem on their website attacking Snyder and his wife. "To what extent can [a church] put that on the Internet?" Justice Stephen Breyer asked. "I don't know what the rules ought to be." more ›

by Andrew Dalton Right on schedule with some crisp October sunshine, Telstar Logistics (the only logistics company worth following on twitter) lets us know that the Navy's Blue Angels will be screaming in to SFO around 1:30 PM today in anticipation of their annual Fleet Week... 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 ›

An Army ROTC color guard holds a U.S. flag before the Colorado-California NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 11, in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) 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 ›

According to The Daily Californian, UC Berkeley has been feted as one of the top "military friendly" schools in California due in large part "to its efforts in offering both financial and non-financial support services to veterans on campus." The poll, conducted by G.I. Jobs, who released their annual Military Friendly Schools List this week, is in sharp contrast to the school's (in?)famously anti-war and anti-military sentiment. [Daily Californian] more ›

After Gen. Stanley McChrystal made inflammatory remarks about Obama and other administration officials -- during the Bush years, this is what the FOX News viewing sect might have called 'treason' -- President Obama canned the Afghanistan commanding general. He will be replaced by Gen. David Petraeus. [via CBS 5] more ›

The USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) and the Japanese and Russian navies are in town for the week. Jim Herd at SF Citizen snapped this shot of the Bunker Hill wading in the Bay. (Be sure to visit his site to see more.) The Chronicle reports, "San Francisco will host sailors from three different navies this weekend, including a port call by a U.S. cruiser, a Japanese training squadron and a rare visit by a Russian guided missile cruiser." 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 ›

Dispatches from TJICistan points out a delightful fact about General Frederick N. Funston--the apparently sensitivity-free Medal of Honor recipient known for his manliness in both the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War, and the current namesake for Fort Funston--who once boasted the following. Ahem: more ›

Just what's up with our least favorite oil spill dilemma, you ask? Let's find out: -- After 29 years of military service, Coast Guard Captain William Uberti will retire after the oil-spill SNAFU is over and done with. According to the Examiner, "Uberti was the region's sector commander when a container ship sideswiped the Bay Bridge in dense fog, dumping 58,000 gallons of thick bunker fuel into the bay." Uberti was soon replaced after... more ›

Photo of our Governor's briefing on Treasure Island yeasterday more ›

-- Gay Geeks Saturday Night Social: "Fucking faggots," you scream? Ah, correction: "fucking nerd faggots," is more like it. Queers (not just Marys) who like to "geek out on the arts or science, study old plane crashes,... the myth of the American cowboy or how to make graphs more efficient for displaying data," this is the night for you. Come! Starts at 8 p.m. at Muddy's Coffeehouse, 1304 Valencia; free. more ›