Republican ex senator Simpsom: We have Homophobes in our Party

Former Wyoming Republican Senator Alan Simpson blasted socially conservative members of the Republican Party on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews on Monday.

"We have homophobes in our party," Simpson, who served as a senator from 1979 to 1997, admitted. "That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings. We’re all God’s children."

"Santorum has said some cruel things—cruel, cruel things—about homosexuals," he added. "Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul."

Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum, a potential GOP 2012 presidential candidate, likened homosexuality to "incest" and "adultery" in April 2003. He told The Associated Press that acceptance of gay sex could "undermine the fabric of our society" and lead to "man on child, man on dog" relations.

"Now if that’s the kind of guys that are going to be on my ticket, you know, it makes you sort out hard what Reagan said, you know, 'Stick with your folks,'" Simpson continued. "But, I’m not sticking with people who are homophobic, anti-women, moral values—while you’re diddling your secretary while you’re giving a speech on moral values? Come on, get off of it."

Simpson has been a longtime supporter of gay and lesbian rights and access to abortion. During his appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews he also said that male legislators should not vote on abortion-related bills.

"Who the hell is for abortion? I don’t know anybody running around with a sign that says, 'Have an abortion! They’re wonderful!' They’re hideous, but they’re a deeply intimate and personal decision, and I don’t think men legislators should even vote on the issue."

By Eric W. Dolan

http://www.rawstory.com/rs

The Now and Tomorrow Doctors Not Sure How to Deal with GLBT Health Issues

A new Stanford University study shows that although tomorrow’s physicians are not prejudiced about treating gays and lesbians, they are not entirely sure how to go about doing so, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported on April 7.

A new report, Medical Students’ Preparedness and Comfort Levels in Caring for LGBT Patients, was presented in New Orleans over the weekend at this year’s American Educational Research Association conference. The study found that there are health disparities that affect sexual minorities, and analyzed the responses of over 5,000 students in medical schools across the United States and Canada.

Among other things, the report said, studies have demonstrated that sexual minorities seeking health care are often denied treatment or under-served by medical health professionals. They are also more prone to be treated with hostility by health providers than are heterosexuals.

Summarizing the findings of the survey, the Chronicle found that although medical professionals in training no longer fear dealing with HIV/AIDS patients, they are uneasy about topics like transgender patients’ sex-change procedures. Another point of uncertainty was mental health for GLBT patients.

The article reported that a new report from Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy estimates that there are eight million gay., lesbian, and bisexual people in America, along with 700,000 transsexuals.

The Associated Press reported on April 7 that Williams Institute demographer Gary Gates has examined five studies and determined that there are around 4 million gays and lesbians in America. Another 4 million are bisexual.

"One of the major questions, when you think about how many LGBT people are there, is what do you mean by LGBT?" Gates told the AP. "This shows there are pretty big differences between people who use the terms to label themselves versus sexual behavior or attraction."

Gates’ estimates do not include as gay people who may occasionally have same-sex encounters, but who identify as heterosexual. But his results do account for that demographic--and suggest that 19 million heterosexual Americans have same-sex encounters, a number that includes gays and bisexuals as well as heterosexuals who identify as straight despite having gay sex.

Gates cautioned that his figures may or may not coincide with reality.

"Yes, this is a credible estimate, but I’m fine to have a debate with someone about whether I’m right or wrong," Gates told the AP. "The academic side of me says everything comes with caveats. But there is a level of power associated with having a number that can move dialogues along and hopefully move things forward."

One trend in today’s health care world is that older GLBTs--even those who stood on the vanguard of the sexual minorities’ civil rights movement--are retreating back into the closet to avoid being denied medical treatment or even being abused by health care workers.

Anti-gay attitudes by health providers can mirror discriminatory attitudes in other facets of life and serve to further isolate elder GLBTs, noted an April 7 Sharon Patch blog posting.

"An older adult population isn’t finding social activities--or, often, proper health care, Sharon Adult Center and Council on Aging Executive Director Norma Simons Fitzgerald says," the blog posting read. "That some consider being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered socially unacceptable is the reason."

The blog posting announced that in an attempt to counteract such attitudes and the negative effect they can have on the health and quality of life of GLBT elders, the Sharon Adult Center and Hessco Elder Services were joining forces with each other and with the Boston-based LGBT Aging Project to create a new program that would help meet the needs of gay elders.

"It’s very hard," said Hessco’s Jayne Davis, the blog reported. "Because a lot of older LGBT folks are afraid. They’re afraid to come out. They’ve had to be hidden, or they feel as though they’ve had to be hidden." Added Davis, "That’s one of the reasons why we want to organize some type of a forum where they feel welcome."

Davis also said that identifying GLBT elders was even m ore difficult because the federal government refuses to recognize or extend protections to same-sex families.

"When you fill out the census, they ask you if you’re married or single," Davis pointed out. "So really, the only way to target it or even get a sense is if there are two older same sex in a household, and even then, it could be two sisters or two brothers."

Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.

http://www.edgenewyork.com

A gay vision of Christ’s Passion will run on line

A gay vision of Christ’s Passion will run in daily installments from April 8-29 at the Jesus in Love Blog (jesusinlove.blogspot.com).

Each daily post features art by gay New York painter Douglas Blanchard, text by lesbian author Kittredge Cherry of Los Angeles and a short Bible passage. The three-week blog series includes all 24 paintings in Blanchard’s epic masterpiece “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.”

The images show Jesus as a contemporary gay man jeered by fundamentalists, tortured by Marine look-alikes and rising again to enjoy homoerotic moments with God and friends. He faces forms of rejection that feel familiar to contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. He stands up to priests, businessmen, lawyers and soldiers — all of whom look eerily similar to the people holding those jobs today.

“We are posting the gay Passion series to make Christ more accessible to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and our allies,” said Cherry, founder of JesusInLove.org. The website promotes artistic and religious freedom by supporting LGBT spirituality and the arts. “Christ’s story is for everyone, but queer people often feel left out because conservatives use Christian rhetoric to justify hate and discrimination,” she said.

Cherry wrote the reflections and prayers specifically to accompany Blanchard’s paintings. Blanchard’s gay Passion series has built a reputation since its completion in 2005, but Cherry’s text will make its first public appearance with this series.

The posts are timed so that Christ dies on Good Friday (April 22) and rises again on Easter itself (April 24). The series covers the dramatic events of Palm Sunday, the Last Supper,and Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. It will run through Lent, Holy Week, Easter and beyond.

Blanchard, an active Episcopalian who teaches college art history, spent four years painting the gay Passion. He started in summer 2001, but it took on new meaning on Sept. 11 when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center near his studio on New York’s Lower East Side. “I understand that a lot of people rediscovered religious faith after September 11th. I had the opposite reaction,” he said. “I was horrified by the religious motivation of those attacks.” He used the paintings to address this conflict, concluding that Christ’s resurrection reverses the “grim arithmetic of power.”

The gay Jesus himself appears surprisingly accessible in Blanchard’s art. “I didn’t want him to seem in any way remote and unapproachably sacred,” he explained. Each of the Passion pictures is oil on wood panel, 18 inches by 14 inches.

Cherry is the author of six books, including “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More,” a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. “Art That Dares” is filled with color images by 11 contemporary artists from the U.S. and Europe, including selections from Blanchard’s gay Passion series.

The New York Times Book Review praised Cherry’s “very graceful, erudite” writing style. Her other books include “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations” and “Jesus in Love: A Novel.” Her books have been translated into German, Polish, Chinese and Japanese. Cherry was ordained by Metropolitan Community Churches and served as its national ecumenical officer.

Cherry founded JesusInLove.org in 2005 to support LGBT spirituality and the arts and show God’s love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. With a focus on gay Jesus and queer saints, Jesus in Love grew quickly into an online community with a popular blog, videos, e-newsletter and image archive.

For more info, visit the Jesus in Love Blog at jesusinlove.blogspot.com or visit JesusInLove.org.

QNotes...

http://www.actup.org

We Hope The First lady Will Include Silent Gay Partners In Her Military Fams Campaing

by KAREN OCAMB  

First Lady Michelle Obama listens as Dr. Jill Biden delivers remarks to a bipartisan group of governors attending the National Governors Association’s meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House, Feb. 28, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

  The White House announced on Saturday, April 9 that First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Bidenwill kick off their national call to action tour to help military families at the White House and then go to Camp Lejeune for their first stop.  On hand will be 3,000 Marines, soldiers, sailors, and military family members – surely among them will be some still serving and suffering in silence under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

According to a White House press release: “The initiative aims to educate, challenge, and spark action from all sectors of our society — citizens, communities, businesses, non-profits, faith based institutions, philanthropic organizations, and government — to ensure military families have the support they have earned.”

In this post, a Silent Partner of a serving gay servicemember asks the First Lady and Dr. Biden not to forget them.  – PLEASE NOTE: There is a new Facebook page – Military Partners and Families Coalition. UPDATE: Also please note this link to Servicemembers United’s Campaign for Military Partners and see below statement from Servicemembers Legal Defense Network- Karen Ocamb)

An Admiral Mullen Moment

By an LGBT Silent Partner

On Feb. 2, 2010, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, looked hostile Republican Senators in the eye and told them unwelcome news: He thinks gays should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces.  I was a witness to history in that Senate hearing and felt the wave of raw emotion that swept the room. Quiet, spontaneous weeping rippled through an audience peppered with gay and lesbian veterans. The highest ranking uniformed member of the military had just stated emphatically that currently serving gay and lesbian Servicemembers are worthy of our national respect.

It was a defining moment. “Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” the nation’s top military officer told the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

On Tuesday, April 12, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will launch the Military Families Initiative to support and honor America’s service members and their families. The initiative aims to educate, challenge, and spark action from all sectors of our society — citizens, communities, businesses, non-profits, faith based institutions, philanthropic organizations, and government — to ensure military families have the support they have earned.

But this initiative will have a glaring omission. Our gay and lesbian families, serving in silence, will be overlooked. Our military families have invisibly navigated their daily lives through the unique challenge of serving this country under the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy and our families will continue to be invisible to the Military Families Initiative.

Our children will be in the classrooms that Mrs. Obama visits – though she just won’t know it because our children are conditioned not to tell.  Our Soldiers will be on the bases she visits, but she won’t seek them out. Our families will be outside the front gate, but no one will invite us in.

We have shared the same sacrifices of our straight peers, without a Family Readiness Group to guide us. Our families are waiting to tell the First Lady our powerful stories of multiple deployments, changing jobs and school districts, missed graduations, and Skyped birthdays. We want the First Lady to understand that we also have struggled through family reintegration following grueling combat tours.

Mrs. Obama, how will you hear our stories? Do you and Dr. Biden even know that we exist?

The First Lady and Dr. Biden have an opportunity to educate American society with their own “Admiral Mullen Moment.”   On April 12, their voices can speak for the invisible families, stating emphatically that the service and sacrifice of all military families deserve the support they have earned.

Statement from Servicemembers Legal Defense Network:

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis today released the following statement regarding the scheduled launch tomorrow of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Joining Forces” initiative in support of military families:

“I have no doubt the First Lady shares the President’s goal of seeing open military service a reality this year.  Mrs. Obama, the President, and the service chiefs all recognize that gay and lesbian service members are serving today, and that they have families who should be recognized.  In fact, the Comprehensive Review Working Group created an opportunity for their voices to be heard in a confidential manner.

“Unfortunately, because ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is still the law, our LGB service members and their families will probably not be an official part of this week’s public activities.  However, the First Lady’s welcomed visits to our military bases underscore why we need certification and repeal sooner rather than later, hopefully before the end of this quarter.  Servicemembers Legal Defense Network looks forward to Mrs. Obama having the opportunity to sit down with LGB service members and their families later this year when Don’t Ask is no longer the law.  We believe the First Lady also looks forward to that opportunity once repeal is in place. In the interim, I remain confident that Mrs. Obama and the President value the unselfish contributions and sacrifices our LGB military families are making today and will find appropriate ways to acknowledge them this week.”

##

STILL AT RISK: Despite the President signing the bill authorizing repeal of DADT, it is still unsafe for service members to come out until 60 days after certification by President Obama, Secretary Gates, and Admiral Mullen. Warning to service members: www.SLDN.org/StillAtRisk

SLDN FREE HOTLINE: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service members with questions are urged to contact the SLDN hotline to speak with a staff attorney: 202-328-3244 x100.

ABOUT SLDN: Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) was established in 1993 when “Don’t Ask” originally passed. In addition to working on repeal, SLDN offers free, confidential legal services to those impacted by the discriminatory law. Last year the organization received its 10,000th call for assistance to its legal hotline.

http://ukgaynews.org.uk/latest.htm 

Nepal's gay MP says Gandhi's legacy is what matters, not his sexuality.

A book claiming Gandhi (pictured above) has been banned in some Indian states

There has been a cloud of controversy over a new biography of the Indian leader Great Soul, which claims he was bisexual and left his wife for a male bodybuilder.

Some Indian states have banned the book, which was written by former New York Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld.

IANS reports that Nepalese MP and gay rights leader Sunil Babu Pant, who was a feature speaker at the AsiaPacific Outgames Human Rights Conference in Wellington in March, says he agrees with a statement made by Gandhi's grandson.

Tushar Gandhi said: “How does it matter if the Mahatma was straight, gay or bisexual? Every time he would still be the man who led India to freedom.”

Pant says: “No matter who Gandhi was, straight or gay, he remains a great source of inspirations to countless people in the world, throughout history. His principle of non-violent struggle and non-violent practices in life inspires me every day.”

He says India should not ban the book. “I hope India will continue to remain the symbol of democracy and uphold the freedom of expression and press."

http://www.gaynz.com

Posted in: International News 

This could be the year for us, for gay rights

By Denise Jewell Gee

NEWS COLUMNist

Kitty Lambert never thought it would take this long. Maybe she was naive. Maybe she was too ambitious. Perhaps she simply underestimated New York’s capacity for inertia.

It was seven years ago that Lambert, fed up with the state’s refusal to allow her to marry her long-term partner, started OUTspoken for Equality. She marched on City Hall and organized rallies.

The 56-year-old mother thought it was inevitable. She thought she’d see gay marriage in New York State within a few years.

“It just seemed like it was such a reasonable thing to do,” Lambert said.

Lambert doesn’t think that what she and thousands of others are asking for should be that difficult. As she puts it, she doesn’t want to get married in your church; she wants to get married in hers. Or at City Hall. Or perhaps outside on a fall afternoon.

The point is, she wants equality under the law. She wants the same rights and protections that any straight couple can get with a$40 marriage license and a promise to have and to hold.

This may finally be her year.

It wasn’t a fluke that Lady Gaga uttered the name of a newly elected state senator during her stop last month in Buffalo. It wasn’t by chance that gay rights activists flooded cash into former State Sen. William T. Stachowski’s district last year after he voted against gay marriage. It’s no accident that Mario Batali, Julianne Moore and Barbara Bush have appeared in videos calling for same-sex marriage in New York.

There’s a movement under way, and those working behind the scenes may be more politically organized than ever before.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has made it clear he wants to bring gay marriage to a vote again in the Legislature by June. Activists are counting up the votes needed to pass the State Senate, where a December 2009 vote defeated a previous bill to extend marriage rights.

There is no doubt that the 38-24 State Senate vote in 2009 was a defeat for gay-rights activists. But it put legislators on record. With the vote, advocates knew exactly who was on their side — and who to target in the 2010 elections.

Stachowski’s district was one of three across the state in which marriage equality activists focused resources. Fight Back New York, a political action committee working to elect pro-gay-marriage state senators, reported pouring $388,868 into the district to oppose Stachowski and, later, candidate Jack F. Quinn III.

A 28-year veteran in a fiercely anti-incumbent year, Stachowski already had a lot working against him. He was opposed by gay-rights groups and environmentalists.

But Fight Back New York wasted no time in claiming credit for his ouster. Its website features a picture of Stachowski with the word “defeated” across his face. “Hey Albany: Are you listening?”a head-line reads. “There are consequences for standing in the way of equality.”

This is not the work of a group that plans to go away quietly.

Lambert sees last year as a turning point for those working in Western New York to advance rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. “We’re getting politically savvy,” Lambert said.

There is still a fight ahead, and again this year, it’s going to be waged in the State Senate.

The longer state lawmakers wait, the more time and public opinion seem to be on the side of civil rights. A January poll by Quinnipiac University found that 56 percent of New York voters support legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Some day, we’ll look back and wonder what took so long.

http://www.buffalonews.com

The Donald's Big Gay Problem

Donald Van Tine/Zuma

Will the real estate magnate's past support for civil unions and domestic partner benefits derail his presidential bid?

— By Andy Kroll

•  

Donald Trump, the billionaire New York real estate magnate and presidential aspirant, is on a quest to court the hard-line social conservatives of the Republican Party. Recently, he has repeatedly questioned President Barack Obama's citizenship, and has demanded to see Obama's birth certificate. Interviewed by the Today show last week, he said he considershimself a tea partier. And after decades of supporting abortion rights, he has pronouncedhimself pro-life.

But Trump's political makeover doesn't end there. He has also changed his once-moderate stance on gay rights—a reversal that could spell trouble with the conservative base. Last month, Trump told the Des Moines Register that he opposes giving gay couples the same benefits as married ones, a position that's in stark contrast to his past support for gay rights on everything from domestic partner benefits and civil unions to gays serving openly in the military. Asked about his position legalizing on gay marriage and giving "civil benefits" to gay couples, he replied, "No and no." (A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.)

That's a dramatic change to his past position on gay rights. In February 2000, Trump gave a long interview to The Advocate, a leading magazine covering the gay community. At the time, Trump was mulling a presidential run on the Reform Party ticket, the party founded bybillionaire Ross Perot that counted former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura among its members. In his response to The Advocate's questions, Trump laid out a decidedly progressive stance on gay rights issues for a Republican.

Trump told The Advocate he opposed legalizing gay marriage, but said he supported "a very strong domestic-partnership law" giving gay couples the same legal protections provided to heterosexual married couples. "I think it's important for gay couples who are committed to each other to not be hassled when it comes to inheritance, insurance benefits, and other simple everyday rights."

Trump said he cared more about a person's capabilities than their sexuality, and insisted that "sexual orientation would be meaningless" if he were president, opening the door for gay employees in a hypothetical Trump administration. He told The Advocate he supported the idea of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and believed legislation to prevent hate-crimes was also necessary. "Amending the Civil Rights Act would grant the same protection to gay people that we give to other Americans—it's only fair," he said. Trump also said that he fully backed gays serving openly in the armed forces. "Don't ask, don't tell," he added, "has clearly failed."

Trump is expected to announce whether he's running in June, coinciding with his headline speech at the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner. If he does officially enter the race, could Trump's past support for gay rights sink his presidential run?

Dave Peterson, a political science professor at Iowa State University, says Trump's past position will seriously damage his campaign in the eyes of Iowa's social conservatives, whose support can make or break the outcome of that state's curtain-raising caucus. "Those kinds of social positions in the past are going to do him in," says Peterson, who calls Trump's presidential aspirations a publicity stunt.

Chris Barron, founder of the gay conservative group GOProud and a supporter of Trump's would-be candidacy, says it's too early to judge Trump on the issue of gay rights. He downplays the importance of Trump's interview with the Des Moines Register.* Barron, who believes Trump is "dead serious" about running, pointed to the "gay people who work for him and gay people in his life" as evidence of Trump's ties to the gay community. "I don't think there is a bigoted bone in his body," Barron says.

Barron says Trump's climbing support in polls shows that his message is resonating with voters. As for how Iowa voters take to Trump's past, Barron adds, "We're going to have to watch and see how it plays out."

Steffen Schmidt, an Iowa State political science professor who's studied the caucuses for 40 years, says the fate of Trump's candidacy is a no-brainer once Iowans learn of his past positions on issues including gay rights. "The moment at which Donald Trump's campaign collapses is the moment the 18 or 20 other candidates bring up these views and chop him off at the knees," Schmidt says. "I have no idea why he thinks he could launch his campaign in Iowa, but he'd probably be successful launching it in Las Vegas."

*An earlier version of this story said GOProud supported Trump's candidacy. The group doesn't currently support any candidates.

Andy Kroll is a reporter at Mother Jones.

http://motherjones.com

Academic who blamed fall of Roman Empire on gays to might resign

A leading but controversial Italian academic is facing calls for him to resign as vice president of the country’s Centre for National Research after he claimed that homosexuality caused the fall of the Roman Empire.

Professor Roberto De Mattei, vice-president of Italy’s Centre for National Research, a devout Catholic who previously claimed that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami was “divine punishment”, made his claims in an interview for a religious radio station.

During his interview with Radio Maria, Professor De Mattei said:”The collapse of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the Barbarians was due to the spread of homosexuality.

“The Roman colony of Carthage was a paradise for homosexuals … the abnormal presence of a few deviants infected many others.”

He says that his claims originate from he writings of fifth-century Christian author Salviano di Marsiglia. Professor De Mattei added: “The invasion of the Barbarians (of Rome] was seen as punishment for this moral transgression. It is well known that effeminate men and homosexuals have no place in the Kingdom of God. Homosexuality was not rife among the Barbarians, and this shows that God’s justice comes throughout history, not at the end of time.”

A left wing MP, Paola Concia, has written to the country’s education minister, Maria Stella Gelmini, to step in and intervene.”

Emilio Gabba, an expert on ancient Roman history said: “It is highly improbable that homosexuality led to the fall of the Roman Empire.”

by James Park

http://www.pinknews.co.uk

A US man acquitted of battery charges after spit juicing on Phelps daughter

A US man has been acquitted of battery charges after spitting tobacco juice at the 53 year-old daughter of gay-hating pastor Fred Phelps.
Billy Spade, from West Virginia, admits to spitting on a sign carried by Shirley Phelps-Roper during an emotionally-charged picket of dead miners in Charleston – but denied spitting on her person.
The demonstration, organised by the Westboro Baptist Church, followed the death of twenty-nine miners during a catastrophic explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Coal Mine in April 2010.
There, Phelps-Roper held a sign which read: 'Thank God for Dead Miners'.
According to her, the deaths were God's punishment for the world's increasingly-relaxed views on homosexuality.
The jury, ruling in less than an hour, said Spade committed no crime, considering the highly-charged events of the day.

Peter Lloyd

http://news.pinkpaper.com/

When Man On Man Rape Is Acceptable in The Military

 by L. S. Carbonell

The Pentagon

In a prison setting, men raping men is not a gay thing. It is a violent display of power by a stronger male over a weaker male. An article in the April 3 edition of Newsweek, “The Military’s Secret Shame” has disclosed that the same display of power happened over 50,000 times last year in our military.

It has been known for some time now that female soldiers and sailors are the victims of rape at an alarming rate, and that the military is not aggressive in arresting and prosecuting the rapists. This new study demonstrates an aspect of military sexual abuse that no one ever talked about outside of the LGBT community. One of the arguments for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was that allowing gays to serve openly would protect them from being blackmailed with threat of exposure of being gay if they reported being raped by another man. According to the article, even straight soldiers and sailors were threatened with being “outed” to keep them silent.

Just as lesbian service members are targeted for brutal sexual attacks, servicemen who are gay or are suspected of being gay are targeted, sometimes in an effort to force them out of the service. While the right wing is promulgating the fear that our “innocent” young male soldiers will be forced to endure unwanted sexual advances by gays, some servicemen were gang raping and viciously assaulting the true innocents – teenagers who just didn’t look butch enough for the military. Repealing DADT will not end these kinds of assaults, but it will remove the ability of rapists to coerce their victims’ silence. As other government agencies learned a long time ago, when being gay is no longer illegal or unacceptable, exposure ceases to be a weapon of intimidation.

http://lezgetreal.com