House passes Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal: How TN delegation voted

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy by a vote of 250 to 175.

Voting for repeal were Congressmen Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, and Bart Gordon.

Voting against repeal were Congressmen Marsha Blackburn, Lincoln Davis, John Duncan, Phil Roe, and John Tanner. Congressman Zach Wamp is listed as not voting.*

Note: Marsha Blackburn prefers "Congressman" so we're honoring her general request to the media that she be noted as such.

Tennessee in the Crosshairs: Competing voices on bullying and acceptance

It hasn't been a great month for Tennessee's image in the news.

Converting lesbians in the military?: A story that broke last week and is making it around the planet but has yet to be covered by any Tennessee media outlet revealed that part-time Hamilton County magistrate Joe Rehyanksy was advocating excluding gay men from the military because he thought they would spread disease but that it would be all right to allow lesbians because straight male service members could change them. Raw Story has the key quotations:

"Lesbians should be allowed to serve, gay men should not," declared Joe Rehyansky in an article published Monday. Rehyansky, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is a part-time magistrate in Hamilton County, Tennessee, and a former assistant district attorney.

In the original article, Rehyansky concluded that his lesbians-only policy "would get the distaff part of our homosexual population off our collective ‘Broke Back,’ thus giving straight male GIs a fair shot at converting lesbians and bringing them into the mainstream."

I'm not aware of any reconsideration or apology by Rehyansky, although his original piece at The Daily Caller has apparently been edited. Perhaps it's time for him to consider shifting from part-time to no-time status. Unfortunately the damage has been done. These views hurt real people trying to serve honorably in our armed forces and, once again, the remarks of another public official have made Tennessee a joke.

Pop music takes aim at Williamson County: Paramore front woman Hayley Williams and Ke$ha recently shared less than fond memories of their time in Tennessee schools. Here's how Williams characterized her experience:

“I went to one school [in Franklin] for six weeks and I was miserable,” she told Sugar.

“Even the teachers didn’t like me. The girls were such bitches. They would invite me to parties and I wouldn’t go because I didn’t want to be around them, then the next day at school, there would be all these rumours about me, like, ‘Hayley’s gay’.”

“I went home crying, saying, ‘Mum, I’m such a loser, I’m never going back’,” she added. “She saw how upset I was and she was like, ‘Okay’.”

And here's what Ke$ha said of her time in Brentwood when Spin asked her whether she was bullied:

"Yeah. I was a fucking weirdo. I grew up in the Bible Belt and I made my own clothes and dyed my hair purple. Nobody ever knew what to do with me. I still think America's trying to figure out what to do with me. I deal with haters on a daily basis."

Perhaps the bitterness of that experience has led Ke$ha to take up the cause of speaking out about bullying. The same Spin piece notes:

Ke$ha may be a pop star, but during her performance on Sunday's American Music Awards, she lifted a move straight out of the classic rock playbook. "Smashing my guitar felt fucking amazing," says the 23-year-old, who bashed her white axe into the stage after busting out a Spring Break-appropriate version of "We R Who We R," the chart-topping first single off her new album, Cannibal.

But Ke$ha says there was a message behind the destructive act: Scrawled across the back of her guitar, in bold letters, were the words "Don't Hate." "Young people need a role model to tell them they're beautiful exactly the way they are and that they don't have to be apologetic about themselves," says Ke$ha, who wrote the song in response to the recent spate of gay teenagers committing suicide. "So I wanted to write a super-positive anthem. Plus, in rock 'n' roll, destroying shit is awesome."

Dolly swoops in to save the day: Thank God for Tennessee's own Dolly Parton who in a recent interview with CNN's Larry King embraced her GLBT fans and spoke out against the bullying that threatens our community. The video follows:

Which voice will prevail?: Which voice will define what people around the world think about Tennessee? Will it be Rehyanksy's voice of ignorance and hate? Will it be the voice of people like Ke$ha and Hayley Williams who refuse to sugar-coat the oppressive aspects of our state's culture that they painfully experienced? Will it be a message of love and understanding coming from Dolly Parton and Tim McGraw who have spoken out about bullying?

It's up in the air at this point. All three voices will continue to be part of the conversation. Let's hope the balance will shift toward option number 3.

-Chris Sanders

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "repeal" compromise advances in Senate committee, full House

On Thursday the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House of Representatives advanced the compromise measure toward the eventual repeal of the military's 17-year-old Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy that bars gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from serving openly in the military.

Tennessee's congressional delegation doesn't appear to have played a significant role in the proceedings in either body. Neither senator from Tennessee is on the Armed Services Committee. Congressman Zach Wamp rose briefly for a parliamentary question about adding time for debate. His smirk betrayed the move as an effort at delay. The House roll call is not available yet. UPDATE: Now the votes are available. AYE = Cohen, Cooper, and Gordon. NO = Blackburn, Davis, Duncan, Roe, Tanner, and Wamp.

The amendment is not what the GLBT community had hoped for or called for. It does not stop discharges of servicemembers. It provides no comprehensive non-discrimination policy. It doesn't even guarantee a repeal at the end of the Pentagon study. But it is the path to repeal that was available in this Congress. It is also a path that GLBT servicemembers' groups got behind. So, as with much legislation, most of the community held their noses, supported it, and worked for passage.

There are still a few steps left in passage of the bill carrying the amendment, but there is reason for optimism that it will pass and the process of real repeal can begin. Tonight is not a victory, but it is another chance.

-Chris Sanders

Ron Kirkland the prophet: National liberals are NOW coming after him

In yesterday's Jackson Sun, Dr. Ron Kirkland, candidate for TN's 8th district congressional seat, said that "liberal forces from all over the country" were attacking him. Presumably that letter was written on Saturday. At that point, the story wasn't national. Now it is. National gay blog Good As You called out Dr. Kirkland today:

Oh no, please, Mr. Kirkland -- do go ahead and describe it to us. We'd love to hear it. Really. It'd be somewhat refreshing in this world where brute injustices are often covered up with the constant claims that "gays are seeking special rights."

Think Progress has also picked up the story.

Dr. Kirkland may not be good at compassion, or good at interpreting the Constitution, but he does have the gift of prophecy. We've only been alerting our fellow Tennesseans to the story and asking them to contact him. But he has succeeded in getting the national attention he had predicted. Congratulations, Dr. Kirkland.

If any of you--whether you're part of the "liberal forces all over the country" or just a Tennessean who advocates equality--would like to contact the Kirkland campaign and register your opinion, you can do so at this link.

Update: Huffington Post , Memphian Evan Hurst at Truth Wins Out, and Bianca Phillips of the Memphis Flyer pick up the story.

Time to change Don't Ask-Don't Tell

Here's my piece in today's Tennessean.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell's Knoxville connection

Sociologist of military servicemembers' attitudes Charles Moskos has died. Well known for his advice that contributed to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military (if they remain closeted!), Moskos's brother is Harry Moskos, retired editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Moskos himself conceded that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a highly flawed policy, though perhaps the best available option at the time of passage. However, he continued to defend the policy, arguing that gays and lesbians serving openly would "hurt the morale of the military rank-and-file and make many recruits uncomfortable." I'd say at this point, several other items are higher on the discomfort scale for our troops.

What always struck me about such arguments is that they are supposed to be irrelevant in a military context of command and control. Discipline means following the chain of command. As Moskos himself said in rejoinder to those who were urging the Pentagon to loosen up its restrictions:

"Any change in the status of homosexuals in the military requires congressional action," he wrote in a letter to the editor of The New York Times in 2005. "Your editorial implies that the military should disobey the law. Who is hiding from reality?"

Well said, Professor Moskos. It is up to Congress. And I hope they will remove the restriction on open service altogether. Otherwise, we will continue either to lose talened young men and women who want to serve our country like this former military translator or we will put them in the untenable situation of lying to everyone around them about who they are.