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BREAKING NEWS: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ vote fails

Stand-alone repeal bill may be next but time running out for Clinton-era policy

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Supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal endured a devastating loss on Thursday when the Senate failed to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to proceed with legislation that would end the military’s gay ban.

Still, repeal advocates are pursuing an end to the military’s gay ban through new standalone legislation and other administrative means.

By a 57-40 vote, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed on the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill, which contains a measure to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, called the vote a “major failure” of the Senate toĀ “simply do its job and pass an annual defense authorization bill.”

“Politics prevailed over responsibility today, and now more than one million American service members, including tens of thousands of gay and lesbian troops, are worse off as a result,” Nicholson said.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), a leading advocate for repeal in the Senate, said during a later news conference that he’s “very disappointed” in the result of the vote as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) decision to hold the vote on Thursday.

Lieberman noted that all 42 members of the Republican caucus said they wouldn’t vote in favor of moving forward with other legislation until tax issues and continuing funding for the U.S. government are addressed.

“You can say that was wrong, but the reality is that that was the request, and, nonetheless, Sen. Reid went ahead and called this vote,” he said.

With exception of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted in favor of cloture, all Republican senators who were present cast a “no” vote on the motion to proceed. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) didn’t vote.

Following the vote at a news conference, Collins blamed the failure of the bill on Reid andĀ said she’s “extremely disappointed”Ā about his decision to hold the vote on the defense authorization bill at this time.

“There is no reason why we could not have proceeded to consider that bill after completing action on the tax relief bill and using a process that would be fair to both sides,” Collins said.

Collins had been engaged in negotiations with Reid and Lieberman about finding a path forward to bring on needed Republican support for the defense authorization bill. The Maine senator accused Reid of having “walked away” from the negotiations by bringing the legislation to a vote.

“The majority leader decided to prematurely hold a cloture vote that he knew would not succeed,” Collins said. “I just don’t understand that decision. I don’t understand that given the importance of this bill and the policies in it.”

Sen.Ā Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who recently came out in favor of repeal, later told reporters she voted “no” because she felt the amendment process set up for the defense authorization bill was unfair.

She also recalled the letter that all 42 members of the Republican caucus signed saying that wanted to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and pass a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government before taking on other issues.

“We’re going to that tax bill right now,” she said. “Why the majority leader couldĀ not have allowed for a timing that would help to facilitate greater support for this, allow forĀ a reasonable amendment process — that is not too much to ask.”

Jim Manley, a Reid spokesperson, said the majority leader was offering 10 Republican amendments and 5 Democratic amendmentsĀ as part of consideration of the legislation.

“We’ve bent over backwards to try and offer them a reasonable number of amendments,” Manley said. “Just because they say it, doesn’t mean it’s true.”

On the Democratic side, the sole vote against the motion to proceed was the newly seated Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.). He had earlier expressed concerns about chaplains leaving the military should “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” be repealed.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) didn’t vote on the motion to proceed.Ā Lieberman later told reporters Lincoln wanted to vote in the affirmative, but was detained and unable to make the vote on time.

In the wake of the loss, Lieberman and Collins announced their intent on Thursday to introduce new standaloneĀ legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” with language that’s identical to the repeal provision in the defense authorization bill.

Unveiling his plans for the new legislation, Lieberman said he thinks the bill hasĀ a chance for success in lame duck because at least 60 senators have expressed support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.

“We’re going to keep fighting until the last possible moment in this session because we got the votes to change this unjust policy and we owe it ourselves and to our country to continue to fight until fighting isĀ no longer possible,” Lieberman said.

The Connecticut senatorĀ said he received assurances from Reid that he would use “Rule 14” to bypass the committee vote and bring the standalone legislation to the floor during the lame duck session of Congress. Further,Ā Lieberman said Reid wanted to be a co-sponsor of the legislation.

As repeal advocates push forward with this new bill, the Human Rights Campaign has renewed its call for President Obama toĀ prevent furtherĀ discharges under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by issuing a stop-loss order — a power afforded to him during times of war.

Joe Solmonese, HRC’s president, had earlier endorsed the idea of Obama issuing such an orderĀ in an October letter to the president.

ā€œThe Senateā€™s apparent refusal to act on ā€˜Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€™ repeal makes presidential action imperative in order for him to fulfill his state of the union promise,ā€ Solmonese said.Ā ā€œThe only measure of success is an end to the discharges and anything less is unacceptable.ā€

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National

Trump refers to Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allisonā€™

Crude insults continue in effort to attract male voters

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Donald Trump is referring to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allison.ā€™

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump referred repeatedly over the weekend to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€œAllison Cooper.ā€

Cooper, one of the nationā€™s most prominent openly gay television anchors, moderated a town hall last week with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump last Friday called Anderson ā€œAllisonā€ in a social media post, then used the moniker again at a Michigan rally.

ā€œIf you watched her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, heā€™s a nice person. You know Allison Cooper? CNN fake news,ā€ Trump said, before adding, ā€œOh, she said no, his name is Anderson. Oh, no.ā€

Trump repeated the name during another Michigan rally on Saturday, according to the Associated Pres, then followed it up during a reference in Pennsylvania. ā€œThey had a town hall,ā€ Trump said in Michigan. ā€œEven Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed by it.ā€

Describing Anderson Cooper as female plays into offensive and stereotypical depictions of gay men as effeminate as Trump continues to pursue the so-called ā€œbro vote,ā€ amping up crude and vulgar displays in an effort to appeal to male voters.

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Pennsylvania

Transgender Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.

Monserrath Aleman is CASA in Action volunteer

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Monserrath Aleman, a transgender woman in Honduras, has canvassed in Pennsylvania for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates. (Photo by Phil Laubner/CASA in Action)

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action. 

They door-knocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.

Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.

“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”

Aleman cited Project 2025 ā€” which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized ā€” when she spoke with the Blade.

“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”

She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”

Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.

Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.

Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad JuƔrez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad JuĆ”rez.Ā Aleman now lives in Baltimore.

“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.

Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.

“There is no other option,” said Aleman.

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National

HRC rallies LGBTQ voters in 12 states ahead of Election Day

10 Days of Action campaign targets pro-equality candidate

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Human Rights Campaign headquarters (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Human Rights Campaign said it filled 1,426 new volunteer shifts and held 174 events across key swing states between Oct. 10-20 as part of its 10 Days of Action campaign.Ā 

The LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group is working to mobilize and turn out voters in support of pro-equality and LGBTQ candidates, including the Harris-Walz ticket, on Election Day.

HRC reported exceeding its recruitment goals, noting the strong response across the 12 states as a ā€œclear and resounding messageā€ that LGBTQ and allied voters are energized to back the Harris-Walz ticket. 

To kick off the 10 Days of Action, Gwen Walz, the spouse of Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, spoke at a Philadelphia event that HRC and the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted on Oct. 10.

Walz highlighted her husbandā€™s long-standing support for LGBTQ issues, such as his role in fighting to repeal “Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell” in Congress and banning so-called conversion therapy as governor, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.Ā 

Other events launched canvassing efforts for Senate candidates, such as U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with House candidates, such as Will Rollins and Mondaire Jones in California and New York respectively. 

A virtual organizing call on Oct. 11 that the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted featured prominent figures, including actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Andy Cohen, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who is running for Congress.

To close out the 10 Days of Action, HRC President Kelley Robinson canvassed with LGBTQ organizers in Phoenix on Oct. 20. 

In a statement, Robinson said the campaignā€™s work is ā€œfar from over.ā€

ā€œWe plan to spend every day until the election making sure everyone we know is registered to vote and has a plan to vote because no one is going to give us the future we deserve ā€” we have to fight for it and show America that when we show up, equality wins,ā€ she said. ā€œTogether, we will elect pro-equality leaders like Vice President Harris and Governor Walz who value our communities and are ready to lead us forward with more freedom and opportunity.ā€

A September HRC poll found that LGBTQ voters favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the presidential race by a nearly 67-point margin.

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