Support for the LGBT Community

What a difference one day can make. As of noon today the official White House website was updated with details of President Barack Obama's administration. Under the Agenda section 1,225 words describe policy priorities for Civil Rights in which 756 of those words are dedicated to a section “Support for the LGBT Community”…

• Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
• Fight Workplace Discrimination
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
• Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell
• Expand Adoption Rights
• Promote AIDS Prevention
• Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS

Legionnaires on Smallville!

Last night three Legionnaires made their debut appearance on the CW's Smallville adding their decades of Superboy comic book history to the series mythos. My favorite Legionnaire has varied over the years, due to who was writing their story and how I related to the characters at the time. Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen), an alpha class/10th level telepath, has always been among my top three favorites. I enjoyed seeing Imra portrayed by Alexz Johnson and the reactions she stirred in the often introverted angst driven characters of Clark and Lana who are unaccustomed to sharing their innermost secrets in a single episode. Typically their secrets are kept under the guise of protecting those closest to them, but usually results in emotional collateral casualties, for multiple episodes if not seasons.

I also enjoyed seeing Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn) and Lightning Lad (Garth Ranzz) synch up their magnetic and electrical generation powers to create an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) powerful enough to take Brainiac offline. The EMP combo feat was something that was never featured in any of the 50 years of Legion History. Kudos to Geoff Johns for coming up with the idea! Maybe Johns will consider writing an Elseworld where Rokk and Garth use their EMP combo to defeat Computo and spare Triplicate Girl from her Duo Damsel fate.

The Legion flight ring was shown to have new time traveling powers in the opening and closing scenes. After the founding trio defeats Persuader he is transported back to the future upon removing the ring he had stolen. At the conclusion of the episode, Kal-El is given a modified ring that does not grant flight, but gives him the ability to travel to the future by concentrating on the year 3009. The highlight for me had to be when the Legionnaires raise their fists in unison battle cry, “Long live the Legion!” as space and time distorts to carry them home.

As a long time fan of the Legion of Super-heroes, eight seasons was too long of a wait for Kal-El (Clark Kent) to meet his super-pals from the future. It also occurs to me that during this time Smallville has had little to no openly gay presence. This lack of inclusiveness stands out for me because the first openly gay character in mainstream comics was Maggie Sawyer (captain in the Metropolis SCU) in the Superman comic book series. Maggie was protrayed by Jill Teed in four earlier episodes in seasons 2, 3, 5 and 7, but no mention of Maggie being a lesbian was ever made.

They want you as a new recruit

In 1979, the concept disco group Village People released a music video for their #2 hit "In the Navy". The video was shot aboard the USS Reasoner. The US Navy used the song in promotional advertising. Almost 30 years later, one of the recurring lines in the lyrics "They want you as a new recruit" has new meaning...



The Washington Times is reporting Bill White, president of Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, is being backed by some congressional and former military leaders as secretary of the Navy in the Obama administration. He would be the first openly gay chief of a branch of the military.

The Secretary of the Navy is a civilian position not covered by the don't ask, don't tell policy which prohibits anyone who "demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States.

In March 2007, during an interview with the Pentagon channel, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated,

"I think personal opinion really doesn't have a place here. What's important is that we have a law, a statute that governs 'don't ask, don't tell.' That's the policy of this department. And it's my responsibility to execute that policy as effectively as we can. As long as the law is what it is, that's what we'll do."

Also in March 2007, at a forum in New York, Senator John McCain was asked about the military’s policy toward gays. McCain replied,

“I recently had a conversation with some other military leaders on this issue and their point to me was ‘It’s working, so leave it alone. Generally, overall, it’s working.’ I don’t think there’s any doubt that there are evolving attitudes in America about many issues, including this one, but every military leader that I talk to, I say ‘Should we change it?’ They say, ‘It’s working.’ And right now we’ve got the best military we’ve ever had - the most professional, best trained, equipped and the bravest. And so I think it’s logical to leave this issue alone. I really do.”

In November 2007, the Human Rights Campaign asked the leading democratic candidates “If you are elected President, what concrete steps would you take to overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?". Senator Barack Obama (now President-elect) responded in part,

"I will task the Defense Department and the senior command structure in every branch of the armed forces with developing an action plan for the implementation of a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

The appointment of White would be a strong signal that President-elect Obama intends to keep this campaign promise.

Senator John McCain was a former naval aviator who flew from the USS Intrepid in the early 1960s. He wrote the foreword for "Intrepid: The Epic Story of America's Most Legendary Warship" by Bill White and Robert L. Gandt, 2008, in which he wrote,

"Intrepid's history is our history; her story tells us not about a ship but also about a country. Long may she serve as a symbol of our country's greatness."

McCain may be given an opportunity to continue Intrepid's legacy as a symbol of our country's greatness should White come up for senate confirmation and the Military Readiness Enhancement Act passes the House and comes up for vote in the senate making nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military.

The non-partisan, non-profit organization Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is asking the public to encourage Gates to support President-elect Obama's position on don't ask, don't tell by signing their letter to Defense Secretary Gates. Gates could be instrumental in making "they want you as a new recruit" a reality for openly gay men and women and not just for those serving in silence.