GLBT DIGEST - January 1, 2007

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/opinion/02shalikashvili.html


January 2, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Second Thoughts on Gays in the Military
By JOHN M. SHALIKASHVILI
Steilacoom, Wash.

TWO weeks ago, President Bush called for a long-term plan to increase the size of the armed forces. As our leaders consider various options for carrying out Mr. Bush’s vision, one issue likely to generate fierce debate is “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the policy that bars openly gay service members from the military. Indeed, leaders in the new Congress are planning to re-introduce a bill to repeal the policy next year.

As was the case in 1993 — the last time the American people thoroughly debated the question of whether openly gay men and lesbians should serve in the military — the issue will give rise to passionate feelings on both sides. The debate must be conducted with sensitivity, but it must also consider the evidence that has emerged over the last 14 years.

When I was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I supported the current policy because I believed that implementing a change in the rules at that time would have been too burdensome for our troops and commanders. I still believe that to have been true. The concern among many in the military was that given the longstanding view that homosexuality was incompatible with service, letting people who were openly gay serve would lower morale, harm recruitment and undermine unit cohesion.


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The Washington Post


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000160.html

Caught in Fate's Trajectory, Along With Gerald Ford

By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 31, 2006; D01

The accidental hero lived in torment. He didn't ask for fame, didn't evenwant it. Oliver "Billy" Sipple just happened to be standing in the path ofhistory, right next to Sara Jane Moore, the would-be assassin, as she raiseda .38 and aimed it at President Gerald R. Ford outside San Francisco's St.Francis Hotel.

Sipple, a former Marine and Vietnam vet, saw the gun. He grabbed Moore's armas she fired and saved a president's life. Afterward, he told people anybodywould have done the same.

Only later, after he was outed in the media as a gay man, after his parentsback in Detroit were hounded and teased about their gay son -- only thenwould he realize the personal price to be paid.

"There were a lot of times he wished he had never saved the president'slife, for all the anguish it caused him," says his older brother, GeorgeFranklin Sipple, 66, of New Boston, Mich. "He only said it when he wasdrinking. He said life would have been so much simpler if he hadn't havedone it."



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The New York Times

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/sports/hockey/31roberts.html?pagewanted=print


December 31, 2006
Sports of The Times
Hard-Nosed League Sends a Message of Acceptance
By SELENA ROBERTS

Has the N.H.L.'s neutral zone become code for bi-curious?

Is its blue line simply a subtle hue in a larger rainbow?

No, but what you'll find amid the N.H.L.'s macho lore of goons and bruisersis an enlightened league comfortable with its manhood.

In a decision small, but not insignificant, the N.H.L. and the Toronto MapleLeafs have delivered a fissure to a homophobic culture of sports, becomingthe first major pro league and team known to lend its logos to a movie witha homosexual theme.

"Unbelievable," said David Kopay, who, after retiring from the N.F.L. in1972, wrote a best-selling book describing his life as a gay player. "Iguess progressive is the new buzzword, but I'd say this is a breakthroughagainst the stigma that still exists in sports."



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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

Kolbe: Gay marriage is coming

Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., says the GOP's opposition togay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research is "a terriblemistake."
Kolbe, who is stepping down after 22 years in Congress, told theTucson Citizen his party has given too much power over its direction tosocial conservatives.
"It's a terrible mistake," Kolbe said. "It takes the party in thewrong direction. It takes us away from our core element and our core values:fiscal discipline and a strong defense."
Kolbe -- the only openly gay Republican in Congress -- told thenewspaper same-sex marriage will eventually be legal in the United States. "As much as the social conservatives might not like to hear it," hesaid, "there will be a time when your grandchildren say: 'What was theargument with gay marriage? Who cares?'"



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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

The Standard-Times, MA, December 31, 2006

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-06/12-31-06/01opinion.htm
Editorial--Vote against the amendment

State legislators face a difficult decision on Tuesday when the sessionconvenes in Boston. Do they vote to adjourn the constitutional convention,as they did before, in an effort to safeguard the constitutional right tocivil marriage for gay people?

This would help prevent a statewide vote on an amendment to ban the right tocivil marriage.

Or do they follow the ruling of the state's highest court and fulfill theirconstitutional obligation to vote on a citizen petition for a ballot item toban gay marriage?

It is ironic that it is the same Supreme Judicial Court which said theconstitution requires gays to be entitled to marry that now is instructingthe Legislature to take steps that may lead to the removal of that right.Here we have a case where the constitution gives and it may take away.



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