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Biodun@bbcnews.com

Thursday, 23 December 2010

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Obama Still Wrestling With Gay MarriageQuestion
Topic: gay-lesbian issues, emily strato

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he is still wrestling with whether gay couples should have the right to marry, now that a new law will allow them to serve openly in combat.

The question came just hours after he signed landmark legislation repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the military. The law ends the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forced gays to hide their sexual orientation or face dismissal.

Obama says his feelings on the gay marriage issue continue to evolve but he still believes in allowing strong civil unions that provide certain protections and legal rights that married couples have.

Posted by biginla at 5:41 PM GMT

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Wednesday, 22 December 2010

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Barack Obama signs gay military law
Topic: gay-lesbian issues, emily strato
22 December 2010 Last updated at 09:37 ET

Demonstration calling for lifting of ban - photo 10 December

Activists are planning big celebrations after the signing

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News

US President Barack Obama has signed a landmark law allowing gay people serving in the military to be open about their sexuality.

Mr Obama said the law meant that tens of thousands of Americans would no longer be asked to live a lie.

He had campaigned to change the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law, overturned by Congress last week.

More than 13,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, enacted in 1993 as a compromise.

Opponents argue that the change will damage troop morale at a time of war.

But earlier this month, a Pentagon report said that allowing openly gay troops would have little impact on the cohesion of US forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The outgoing Senate and House of Representatives approved the new law last week, with moderate Republicans joining the Democratic majority.

Guidelines

So many activists were expected at the signing ceremony that the White House booked a larger room for the event.

"This is a very good day," Mr Obama said as he introduced the law.

"This morning I'm proud to sign a law that will bring an end to 'don't ask, don't tell'.

"No longer will tens of thousands of Americans be asked to live a lie."

But correspondents say that the planned celebration parties by gay rights campaigners and members of the military may be premature.

Guidelines need to be finalised on practical questions ranging from how to educate troops to how sexual preference should be handled when army staff are organising sleeping arrangements in military barracks.

Those guidelines need to be signed off by President Obama, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And even once that is complete, the new law will not officially take effect for another 60 days. Until then, the current ban remains in place.

However, Mr Obama said there would be no foot-dragging to implement the law.

What effect will this have in the US military? Do you believe that it is right to lift the ban on gay people in the military revealing their sexuality? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.

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Posted by biginla at 2:45 PM GMT

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Sunday, 19 December 2010

Gays see repeal as a civil rights issue
Topic: gay-lesbian issues, emily strato

by Rochelle van Amber for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

NEW YORK – Allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as gay marriage still lies ahead.

The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on openly gay troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "don't ask, don't tell."

"It's one step in a very long process of becoming an equal rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in the Army for seven years, including three combat tours, before being kicked out two years ago under the policy. He said he planned to re-enlist once the policy is abolished.

"Even though this is really huge, I look at it as a chink in a very, very long chain," he added.

The ruling drew quick rebuke from foes of lifting the ban who argued that the military shouldn't be used to expand the rights of gays and that allowing them to serve openly would hurt troop morale and a unit's ability fight.

Supporters declared the vote a civil rights milestone.

Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center — a think tank on the issue — said the vote "ushers in a new era in which the largest employer in the United States treats gays and lesbians like human beings."

For thousands of years, he said, one of the key markers for first-class citizenship in any nation is the right to serve in the military, and Saturday's vote "is a historic step toward that."

Repeal means that for the first time in U.S. history, gays will be openly accepted by the military and can acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being discharged. More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law. Before that, they had been explicitly barred from military service since World War I.

The change won't take immediate effect, however. The legislation says the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won't hurt troops' fighting ability. After that, there's a 60-day waiting period for the military.

Some supporters of the repeal traveled to Washington to witness the vote, including Sue Fulton, a former Army captain and company commander who is spokeswoman for Knights Out, a group of 92 gay and lesbian West Point graduates who are out and no longer serving.

Driving home to North Plainfield, N.J., the 51-year-old Fortune 500 executive said she thinks the repeal will have an effect on the civil rights of gays in America.

"As more people realize that gay and lesbian citizens are risking their lives to defend this country, perhaps they'll be more willing to acknowledge gays and lesbians as full citizens in other ways," she said.

Conservative organizations said the vote didn't reflect the sentiments of rank-and-file military members and should not have taken place so close to the end of the current session of Congress.

"The issue that really disturbs me more than anything else is that legislation that's controversial tends to be done in lame-duck sessions when a number of the elected representatives are no longer accountable to the people," said Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council.

The Massachusetts Family Institute blasted Senate Republicans, including Sen. Scott Brown, who broke rank with their party on the vote.

"(They) made a vow not to vote on 'don't ask, don't tell' until the budget was resolved and they broke trust with the people," said the group's president, Kris Mineau. "In doing so, they not only have put special interests above fiscal interests but also have put our troops at risk during wartime."

In New York, home to one of the nation's largest gay communities and a gay pride parade whose grand marshal this year was an openly gay, discharged serviceman, 28-year-old Cassandra Melnikow glanced at a news ticker in Times Square announcing the repeal and said: "Excellent! It's about time."

"I don't see what difference (sexual orientation) makes in the fighting military," said Melnikow, a public health researcher. "What's the big deal?"

___

Posted by biginla at 7:36 PM GMT

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Jimmy Carter: US Ready to Elect Gay President
Topic: gay-lesbian issues, emily strato

By David A. Patten for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Former President Jimmy Carter says U.S. voters have reached the point where they would be willing to elect a gay president “in the near future.”

Carter made his remarks on the Big Think website, which bills itself as an “online knowledge forum.” The site offers over 1,500 interviews with prominent experts in a variety of fields.

Posted by biginla at 4:03 PM GMT

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Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Prosecutor: Teenagers killed gay man
Topic: gay-lesbian issues, emily strato

by Emily Straton, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Published: April 20, 2010 at 9:54 AM

LONDON, April 20 -- Three drunk teenagers fatally beat and stomped a gay man after knocking him to the ground last year in London's Trafalgar Square, prosecutors allege.

Ian Baynham, 62, allegedly was attacked last September by Ruby Thomas and Rachel Burke, both 18, and Joel Alexander, 19.

Thomas and Burke, charged with manslaughter, and Alexander, charged with bodily harm, are on trial in Central Criminal Court in London.

Monday, prosecutors told a jury Alexander knocked Baynham to the ground while Burke and Thomas stomped on Baynham's chest and repeatedly kicked him in the head, The Times of London reported Tuesday.

Baynham was beaten after one of the girls allegedly called him a "faggot" and he grabbed and slapped her, prosecutor Brian Altman told jurors.

"Fueled by copious amounts of alcohol, all three jointly participated in a violent attack on a defenseless man in public," Altman said.

The three teenagers have pleaded innocent to the crimes.

Posted by biginla at 5:08 PM BST

Updated: Tuesday, 20 April 2010 5:18 PM BST

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by Emily Straton, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla