Comments on: DOD faces renewed calls to extend benefits to gay troops

By: Pentagon to extend partner benefits to gay troops | Washington Blade - America's Leading Gay News Source

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:54:13 +0000

[...] issue has received more attention in the wake of a controversy over a spousal club at an Army base in Ft. Bragg, N.C., refusing to [...]

By: brian

brian — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:13:09 +0000

The White House continues to shoot itself in the foot by failing to remedy federally financed, anti-gay discrimination– to which it is tacitly complicit– and which can easily be ended with the president’s Executive Orders.

The soaring rhetoric of the inauguration has been, repeatedly– within just a few days– rendered as little more than cheap, hypocritical PR by the intentional backpedaling of the WH and more stalling by its DoD.

Even as a purely cynical, political matter– what amateurs at the WH think it is wise to see Panetta’s stature– and by extension, his commander-in-chief’s– besmirched at retirement by this increasingly sour note of indefensible, blatant discrimination?

The president needs to end this hypocrisy now– with EO’s to fully end discrimination against LGB service members and their families. And, likewise, the president needs to end anti-LGBT discrimination by federal contractors aided and abetted with federal contracting dollars.

By: Michael Bedwell

Michael Bedwell — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:21:26 +0000

BRAVO for Rep. Schiff but it’s just more BLAH BLAH BLAH from HRC and SLDN who have done NOTHING over the last two years to put pressure on the President or Panetta [and Gates before him] for failing to EVEN RESPOND to their EARLIER “calls” for action going back to January 2011. HOW MANY TIMES have they called on Panetta IN PERSON or BY TELEPHONE? They are paper tigers still begging for the Community to send them money while they continue to do nothing but issue press releases while this President—despite all his pretty words—has demonstrated again and again that his feet have to be dragged to the proverbial fire. Why hasn’t SLDN and HRC called a major press conference with our allies in Congress and gay and lesbian vets and denounced Pentagon paid shill Eileen Lainez for the FRAUD in her continuously regurgitated claims—read LIES—that they STILL need to “study” benefits issues, and DEMANDED that the President ORDER the extension of all couple benefits NOW not EXPLICITLY banned by DOMA as well as the inclusion of individual LGB service members in the protections against harassment and discrimination in such things as duty assignments and promotions of the Military Equal Opportunity Program? No one needs wait to see if Harvey Milk really did appear to Chuck Hagel in a burning bush. TODAY, HRC and SLDN!! Your gay brothers and sisters defending Freedom around the world denied to them don’t have the luxury of just sitting in DC offices taking bows for doing nothing more than churning out press releases that accomplish NOTHING. Have you no shame?

By: Marco Luxe

Marco Luxe — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:12:10 +0000

Using the military argument of unit cohesion and retention, the current half-a$$ed policy fails that test.

By: Lauren Ann Avancena

Lauren Ann Avancena — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:22:51 +0000

Second class treatment is S.O.P. for suspected gays, bisexuals or transgender soldiers and in the Infantry and it's accepted as being just fine. Even if you have a Army Achievement Medal and been selected as the Soldier of the Month and Soldier of Quarter. Even after they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to train you.

By: Brian Ferri

Brian Ferri — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:25:08 +0000

Hopefully I can then get my husband a military ID card since I am retired Army.