AfterElton Briefs: "Glee" Will Experience The Big "O", Kathy Griffin's DADT Rally Ends Unexpectedly, Gandalf Returns, and More!

i was going to say something about the uniform thing, but wasn't 100% sure of the rule. 

and thanks for your service. 

I believe Dan is a national hero; as such, I want him to make decisions which will benefit him and show him in the best light until this stupid policy is overturned.  Though I think he has the heart of a lion, I'm not 100% certain that his process with this is going to result in maximum payoff.  Same thing with the folks pushing the ENDA bill in Pelosi's office and whatnot; D.C. is focused ONLY on the health care vote till Sunday, so though this is still an admirable gesture, I don't know if it's a really productive one.

Flashback: when Matthew Shepard died, I was talking with a bunch of people online about doing something to honor him that would have concrete political payoffs.  I thought we should organize a series of rallies at every state capitol on the same day at the same time, so that even if we didn't have a national hate-crimes bill we could at least engender some local, state-by-state protections.  A bunch of people told me I was misguided, etc. (along with some less-nice phrases), and that going to D.C. was "the ONLY" way to honor Matthew and get results.  Well, a bunch of them did in fact go to D.C....and Clinton was right in the middle of the Lewinsky scandal, and no one cared about them.  Media play was minimal, and the Dems were all focused on trying to avoid a political bloodbath in November.  (Note: when given a choice between doing The Right Thing and re-election, it's darn hard to find a politician who'll opt for Plan A.)

Note: I'm definitely NOT saying that Dan should sit in jail till Monday after the Health Care vote hopefully happens; I'm just saying that trying to get the media and the public's attention is often a battle, and though this caused a teeny splash, I'm not sure it's going to result in the tidal wave that we REALLY need for "DADT" to be swept away.  I also definitely don't want people to spin it as counter-productive.

I was USN trained Air Traffic Controller. I was outed during my 2nd year, was already trained and ready to do my job. FAA would not hire me because of my Administrative under Honorable discharge. I have been fired many times for suspicion of being gay(butch rode a hog, worked construction, but did not act like a dog about women on jobs sites, but did my job very well)

I was outed by 2 different people, neither of whom really knew me. One had gotten into legal trouble,murder and another just a jealous queen. 

I had no recourse whatever either go quietly or go to the brig.

Capt Pietangelo is already out so the uniform thing is not unlawful for him. Lt Choi is on his way out so the uniform is kind of in limbo.

He is trying to keep his honor wtf is wrong with that?

I lost all my earned benefits etc as he will too and he is in longer than I was. He has served in combat. 

This lawful order by a cop is bs period.

I have had face downs with cops and kreestians who tried to burn my house down with a cross made from my own lumber and several other Evilgelicals not least D James  Kennedy and Anita Brayant(sic) who was trying to drum up a lynch mob in Selma Al many years ago. The only way we will find our equal rights is to be as much the A--holes as needed, but be better at it and keep the language clean and NEVER back down.

Do you think we would have ever gotten as far as we have being polite little sissies?

Remember ActUP? I am long term HIV survivor and I still have to advocate for myself sometimes it takes me being a first rate hard a$$ Biatch to get the treatment I need. I intend to stick around til there is a cure. 

I have been pos since just just I left the Navy in 82(no one had an inkling then what hiv was let alone in places like Alabama).

I have buried all of my friends except for about 4. In Apr/Mar 95 i went to 15 funerals with the Phelps kkklan protesting at a number of them. 

I have watched over and over as long term couples lost everything they had worked for and when one died, even with deeds and wills the survivor be tossed to the curb by the blood family of the dead one. 

We have to stand up on all fronts. Things are better now, but by no means equal. My partner of 14 yrs and I now live in rural NC, I have to travel 50 miles each way for medical care. There is no local dr that will treat me and we cannot afford to live in the city because of costs because I am on SSD. We have had trouble at hosp when I was sick and they kept him out , even with living will and health care surrogate/power of attorney. He had to step over the line in order to be there since I was nearly unconcious and not able to answer questions about allergies and conditions and one hospital even threw me out 'because we don't treat AIDS here'.

If I were not disabled and broke with no transport I would have been up there with Choi and Pietrangelo. 

i'm not going to get in a ratings-war with you, as you hand out 1-stars. but i don't think you read the posts above. (also 5 stars =/= agree, and 0 =/= disagree.)

it's fine for you to have another opinion, but i don't think anyone above was offensive, mean, or even illogical. and contrary to your admonition, we didn't "forget" anything.

1) no one is questioning Choi's service.

2) absolutely NO ONE is questioning that DADT is WRONG.

3) no one is saying what he did isn't civil disobedience.

what we are questioning is its effectiveness and timing:

1) crashing a rally isn't the same as holding your own.

2) when DADT is being supported by those who argue that it derails "good order and discipline," having active service-members chain themselves to the WH is dubiously persuasive.

3) as civil disobedience, it's not really in the "American Tradition," of the Montgomery boycott or the Birmingham Campaign. why?

     a) because it wasn't of sufficient scale,

     b) nothing was impeded or disturbed,

     c) it didn't directly address the cause being advanced.

this site is known for its positive, mature communication, so please don't start a flame war here. 

One of the things members of the military forgo when they join the military is a bit of the freedom that they defend. They have a different set of rules called the Uniform Code of Military Justice that they must abide by. These rules limit some of the freedoms (like freedom of speech... soldiers cannot disobey any order from a superior it can land them in jail and out of the military... whereas you as a civilian can certainly disobey an superior but unless it's something illegal you won't be going to jail or having a black mark for the rest of your life). 

And as far as the trust issue, again I say HIS OBAMA"S TERM OVER YET?. If it isn't fast enough for you, you need to CHILL OUT. Yes some unfortunate souls are going to be forced out, but change is never all at once, its always a bit at a time. Learn from history.