DADT:
OHMIGOD THAT HAPPENED. THE SENATE PASSED A REPEAL OF DON’T ASK DON’T TELL. I’ll be honest, I was basically 100% pessimistic about this and fully expected it not to happen. BUT IT DID. I vote that we allow ourselves at least one more day of basking and celebration before acknowledging the ways in which this is not perfect. Sound good?
Six Republicans crossed party lines to vote in favor of the repeal – Mark Kirk, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, George Voinovich, and Scott Brown, the quality of whose character has risen incrementally in my esteem as a Massachusetts voter. John McCain said a lot of dumb things, which in retrospect I wish we could have liveblogged.
Other funny bigoted things: the response of the American Family Association! I know it’s ‘hate speech’ and thus kind of a downer but also it’s kinda funny no? Please enjoy it in the spirit of Sunday Funday.
We are now stuck with sexual deviants serving openly in the U.S. military because of turncoat Republican senators … Had the cloture vote failed, we would still have sane moral and sexual standards governing military personnel policy. But sadly those days are gone, perhaps forever… They knew they could count on the strength, might, power, and cohesion of the U.S. military to intervene whenever and wherever necessary to pull their fannies out of the fire and squash the forces of tyranny wherever they raised their ugly heads around the world.
Those days are now gone. We will no longer be able to bail out these other emasculated armies because ours will now be feminized and neutered beyond repair, and there is no one left to bail us out. We have been permanently weakened as a military and as a nation by these misguided and treasonous Republican senators, and the world is now a more dangerous place for us all.
Obama is reported to have “worked the phones” right up until the vote. Here’s his official statement:
“It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed,” he said. “It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly.”
Also, a lot of people tweeted about it. Duh.
Also, if you haven’t seen them yet, the happy gifs on the Jezebel DADT post are particularly magnificent/inspiring/lifechanging, I recommend checking that out. Has anyone started fuckyeahdadtrepeal dot tumblr dot com yet? THEN GET ON IT.
Also special? This by Dan Choi:
I denounce the fear-mongering of John McCain and others who do our country a grave disservice by their bigotry and calcified retardation. His outlandish remarks that justice will result in amputations demonstrates the ridiculousness of his entire argument. His silliness proves the fight for justice has no real logical debate; you are on one side or the other. John McCain, you are on the wrong side of history. Your feet wade in the toxic septic waste of rabid hate-mongers who perpetuate America’s injustice. It is your argument that has been amputated today; your claims have no legs to stand.
TEGAN AND SARA TOP TEN:
Hey hey hey it is the season of Top Ten lists, but let’s be real, whose feelings and opinions do you really care about? Pretty much only Tegan and Sara’s. And probably Kate Moennig’s or something, I dunno. Anyways. Who picked The Twilight Saga? And who picked The Kids Are All Right? Only one way to find out!
EA GETS BETTER:
If you’re totally over It Gets Better videos, feel free to keep scrolling. But this one is kind of cool because it comes from EA, a gaming company, part of an industry that is pretty solidly misogynistic and homophobic (just ask any queer girl who plays WOW!) and it is kind of awesome that they are taking a stand like this. Way to be, EA. Chest bump.
SKINS LESBIAN:
Oh look a new interview with the cast of US Skins, by which I basically just mean Oh look new stuff about Sofia Black D’elia, who plays The Lesbian. ” I think I’ve experienced a wide range of sex scenes, and they were all challenging, But now that we’ve wrapped, I can honestly say that they were nowhere near my toughest days on set… Or even the more emotional scenes. If you’ve seen the UK show, you know how much actually happens. By month two, it’s kind of nothing. There’s so much that we experience on the show, good and bad, and [the sex] is such a small part of it, that I think once you get over the awkwardness of it the first time it’s like any other scene, which is really cool. It’s also because we’re so incredibly close. I don’t think we could be any closer than we are.” SEXY SEXY SEX SKINS
SUBWAY SAFETY:
I didn’t hear about this at the time, but apparently Nicola Briggs’ reaction to being sexually assaulted on the subway happened to be filmed and went viral. “Briggs began shouting, and she didn’t stop. Her righteous confrontation, which ended up going viral, would inspire hundreds of thousands, many of whom were women who wished they’d said what she said.” Now Briggs is back on video, and it’s to share more tips and strategies on how to shout down pervs and harassing men on the street. I am kind of in love. Unfortunately I can’t embed it, so I will have to trust that you will click this link. CLICK IT. And enjoy!
EA also made the Sims. Just sayin’ (but maybe it’s only my sims who are all super gay…)
The very first Sims I ever made were gay! Also nudists, thanks to a glitch. But the gayness was all me.
Well, it was Maxis, who was then bought out by EA. I’m sure that 95% of the people in that video came from Maxis, though… ;)
I once made a neighbourhood of gay Sims entirely by accident.
You have the power of the clam radiating through your fingers.
goddamn, i guess someone put the mccain zombie-robot in ass-mode.
nicola briggs is such a badass. for realsies.
EA is usually the Evil Empire, but I’m going to let them slide for this one.
what a wonderful day to be gay in the USA http://onefaceinamillion.com/dont-ask-dont-tell-the-conundrum-in-the-us-army/2125/
i never thought i would be in the military when this day came…no words can describe the relief i feel.
this rocks! i loved this! there is a bit of hope today!
I nearly shed a tear or a million when this happened. I was discharged from the military under this policy almost exactly seven years ago, and now I can go back in without fear to serve my country, just like I’ve always wanted to. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I honestly never thought this day would come.
Will John McCain ever stop talking? Does he even hear the things coming out of his own mouth?
Nicola Briggs is my new hero. She is amazing.
The American Family Association needs to calm the fuck down and get over themselves. We know that they don’t like the gays or women or humanity in general really (feminized and neutered beyond repair?). No one cares. I personally would be hell of a lot more terrified of a womens-only military. Do you know how vindictive women can be?
Also, when I read this: Obama is reported to have ‘worked the phones’ right up until the vote – I pictured a cartoon image of Obama texting Republican senators.
“Ur voting 4 repeal, right? Party @ my place later if u do.”
FEMINIZED ARMY
Yeah, obvs straight women ‘feminize’ the military *so* much less than lesbians will…
Hahahahaha
Rifle?
Bullets?
Eye shadow?
Let’s go to war!
You’re right; I was totally thinking, “Oh. There’s going to be some kind of BS developments over night, they’re just going to rip our gay hearts out after giving us false hope.” But it’s real! It’s really real! I was so happy that I made a meme. I hope I can force it enough that the AFA sees it. :)
[URL=http://img255.imageshack.us/i/gagazc.jpg/][IMG]http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8109/gagazc.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
“We have been permanently weakened as a military and as a nation and the world is now a more dangerous place for us all.”
OMG ROFLMAO thanks for this, this is really funny
mr mcCain ought to have a quiet word in a locked room with a few british service personnel. we have had openly serving gays for years and i doubt he would get away lightly with calling any of them `feminised’ or anything less than a fighting force to be reconned with. i hope this is a step in the right direction for equality and openness in america for all LGBT people
DADT repeal= fuck yeah
Tegan and Sara’s love of Twilight= what is this world I live in????
Lol American Family Association/John McCain, they’re actually a parody of themselves.
Anyway IMPORTANTLY, I’m certain those Republican Senators are taking endless flack right now for being big damn heroes, so you should probably contact them and tell them how happy/proud you are, especially if you live in one of their constituencies (ALASKA ffs, don’t tell me that wasn’t courageous).
All their contact forms are here. Make a difference, make your voice heard, remind them why they did it so they might do it again.