Gay News You Can Use: Military edition, yes, SIR!

Congress holds hearings on controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy

The gay blog and media outlets are abuzz with Wednesday’s hearings about repealing the ban on gays in the military. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) even went so far as to liveblog from the event.

The interesting thing about all this is, while there were many speakers saying it was time to allow soldiers who are gay or lesbian to serve openly, there was a marked absence of military men and women there testifying against the ban.

This issue is heating up, and has even become a point of contention with Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain and his Democratic rival. McCain opposes lifting the ban, while Barack Obama has promised to work to remove it.

If you would like to hear what proponents of lifting the ban were saying, C-Span has a lovely video piece up now.

Continued – Iraqi gays claim harassment

CNN has an interesting story up about gays, lesbians and transgendered in the newly “liberated” Iraq who say they are the targets of significant violence.

Some charming images from the story:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Kamal was just 16 when gunmen snatched him off the streets of Baghdad, stuffed him in the trunk of a car and whisked him away to a house. But the real terror was about to begin. The men realized he was gay, Kamal said, when he took his shirt off and they saw his chest was shaved.

“They told me to take off my clothes to rape me or they would kill me immediately. This moment was the worst moment in my life,” he told CNN, weeping as he spoke of the 2005 ordeal. “I was watching them taking off their clothes, preparing to rape me. I did not know what to do, so I started shouting loudly, ‘Please do not do that! I will ask my family to give you whatever you want.’”

That whole liberation really seems to be working out over there in Iraq, so long as you aren’t queer. Of course the U.S. is allies with Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is a death penalty offense, and other countries, like Russia, where being gay and out is likely to result in violence against you that the government is very likely to look the other way about.

South Carolina’s advertising campaign to the gay community continues to be a story in the Palmetto Story

Last week in Gay News You Can Use, we mentioned the controversy around South Carolina’s decision to end an advertising outreach to the gay community — a world wide outreach it might be added. The folks down at Q-Notes, the gay newspaper for the Carolinas, have been working this story hard and have revealed that the advertising campaign was approved at the highest levels of government and not just by the mid-level employee who “resigned” over the mess. In addition, Q-Notes has discovered that administration officials to the governor there have sent out directives to assure this doesn’t happen again and authorizing personnel changes in the state department of parks and tourism.

And from those whacky anti-gay folks file…

Remember the Oklahoma state senator who was caught on YouTube attacking the LGBT community and accusing them of pursuing an “agenda”? Apparently the good senator is a somewhat forgetful person, and has twice been caught bringing a loaded weapon to the Oklahoma Capitol building.

A state lawmaker who gained national notoriety with an anti-homosexual rant was stopped from entering the state Capitol Wednesday when she was found to have a loaded handgun in her purse, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. Patrol spokeswoman Chris West said Republican Rep. Sally Kern was not charged because there did not appear to be any “malicious intent” behind her actions.

This will remind anyone with a familiarity with Michigan politics of former State Senator David Jaye who was ousted from the Senate. He too brought a gun to session, and it accidentally fell on the floor during a debate.

But you see Kern got through security the first time with the weapon, and, she tells the Associated Press, she promptly reported that she had the weapon. On the other hand, this time she was caught with the weapon at the security check-in at the Capitol. She claims, once again, to have forgotten to take the .380 caliber semiautomatic out of her handbag. Weapons are not allowed in the Capitol grounds.

Um, really, can you forget you are packing heat in a purse? Seriously? And if so, does that really indicate an understanding of the weapon and its potential danger to others?

Kern said in response:

“It was an honest mistake from being out of my routine, you know,” she said. Kern said she had a permit for the gun and had carried it long before the YouTube controversy.

Holy Caped Crusader, Batman, you mean you were gay once?

The folks over at Bilerico Project have published an interesting analysis of whether or not the caped crusader Batman, who is currently burning up the box office, may actually have started his crusade as a gay character. In all fairness now, does anyone really find this one a surprise? The caped crusader had disposable income, hung out with a cute guy named Robin and loved to dress in tights.