LGBT POV

In 2007, Out magazine ranked top New York Times political reporter Adam Nagourney – along with The Times ‘Gay Mafia’ – Richard Berke, Ben Brantley, Frank Bruni, Stuart Elliott, Stefano Tonchi, and Eric Wilson – as No. 7 on their Top 50 Gays of that year. They were bested by: 1. David Geffen; 2. Anderson Cooper; 3. Ellen DeGeneres; 4. Tim Gill; 5. Barney Frank; and 6. Rosie O’Donnell.

So the news on Huffington Post Thursday that Nagourney is coming to LA to head up that paper’s bureau is welcome – especially if the Los Angeles Times thinks they need to be competitive about coverage of the LGBT community as a result. A friend of mine recently told a story of having lunch with an LA Times city editor and after discussing the profound LGBT history coming out of Los Angeles, asked the editor: Why don’t you cover us? “We don’t need to,” the editor replied.

However, as LGBTs know, being openly gay does not necessarily mean more or favorable coverage of LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. So who is Adam Nagourney, gay-wise? Please click inside to read more about him.

This just in from Log Cabin Republicans. Their lawsuit is the only federal challenge to DADT with an actual court date, June 2010. Here’s LCR’s release:

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ASSERTS THAT RECENT STATEMENTS BY PRESIDENT IN SUPPORT OF REPEALING ‘DADT’ POLICY HAS HAD ZERO IMPACT ON ACTUAL POSITION OF U.S. GOVERNMENT

(Los Angeles, CA) – In a ruling delivered on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, U.S. Federal Court Judge Virginia Phillips handed Log Cabin Republicans a major legal victory by denying the Obama Administration Justice Department’s last-minute appeal, which sought to stay proceedings and block discovery in the leading federal case challenging the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.

Barring any kind of extraordinary tactics the Obama Justice Department may try to use to derail this case, the trial is scheduled to begin in June 2010.”

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Don't ask, don't tell, Log Cabin Republicans

After Prop 8 passed and several straight Republicans came out in favor of marriage equality, some LGBT activists asked – where were they when it mattered – when the No on Prop 8 campaign needed mainstream Republican support to pull those independents and libertarians? In fact there were a number of Republicans who worked to stop Prop 8 – spearheaded by a Log Cabin Republican-conceived group called Republicans Against 8. They produced some pretty good, targeted ads, too. Click inside to read more about them and see some more videos.

The Palm Center reports that Army Secretary John McHugh thinks the military is ready to lift the gay ban. But there is an interesting twist to this important announcement. There is a HUGE battle within the Republican Party over who will replace MCHugh in a special election in the conservative 23rd District Congressional seat from upstate New York. Could the timing indicate who McHugh wants to be the GOP candidate? Click inside to see the Palm Center’s press release and possible context for the statement.