'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal to Be on Fiscal 2011 Defense Bill?

So says Barney Frank, reports the Washington Blade:

"Frank said in an interview with the Blade that repealing the 1993 law barring gays from serving openly in the military would happen as part of the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill. 'The House will take up and the Senate will take up ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal,' he said. 'That will again, like hate crimes, even more so, will have to be done, I believe, in the context of the defense authorization. You can’t do the standalone bill. It belongs in the defense authorization.' Frank said lawmakers would seek to amend the defense measure to include a provision repealing 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' Such a move would mimic the way Congress recently enacted the hate crimes measure."

Frank also criticized Dick Durbin, who recently suggested that Congress was too busy to take up DADT in 2010: "Frank said it was a 'terrible mistake' for Durbin to suggest that overturning 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' wouldn’t happen next year. Frank is among the supporters who have asserted Congress would take up repeal in 2010. 'I think that’s a terrible mistake for him to say that and I believe that it will be a great injustice to wait any longer,' Frank said. 'I don’t think he has that option.'"

In related news, the American Medical Association has voted to oppose "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and also said that bans on same-sex marriage "contribute to health disparities," the AP reports:

"The nation's largest doctors' group stopped short of saying it would seek to overturn marriage bans, but its new stance angered conservative activists and provides a fresh boost to lobbying efforts by gay-rights advocates."

Barney Frank on Marches, Effecting Change, and Running for Office

As part of a larger interview for the site Reddit, Barney Frank answers a question about the National Equality March and whether marches can effect change. Frank believes the March becomes "a substitute for what we can really get done" by lobbying members of Congress.

Frank also talks about other gay issues that are in the pipeline and how miserable it is to run for office.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Barney Frank Explains His Criticism of the National Equality March

Joy Behar asked Barney Frank last night about health care reform and  about his remarks regarding last weekend's National Equality March. Frank told Michelangelo Signorile before the March: "Barack Obama doesn't need any pressure on these things. Secondly, if you do want to pressure Congress, I don't know what standing on the Mall on a weekend when no member of Congress is in town is going to do. All that's going to pressure is the grass."

Says Frank to Behar: "I am afraid that some people will come to Washington and they will march and think they've done it. That's why I said what I did. Marching isn't a negative thing but to the extent that people think that having marched they've done something effective they wouldn't do something that is effective."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Barney Frank on the National Equality March: Everybody Stay Home, Obama Doesn't Need the Pressure

Barney Frank was a guest on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show yesterday and spoke about the hate crimes bill (which is still attached to a DoD appropriations bill despite a challenge this week) which should get a vote next week and be along to Obama's desk for signature, ENDA, the DOMA repeal, and the National Equality March.

Of the March, Frank said: "I literally don't understand how this will do anything. People are kidding themselves. I don't want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless. Barack Obama does not need pressure."

According to Signorile, "He says we should model ourselves as lobbyists on 'the National Rifle Association.' He says people should not come to Washington and should stay home and lobby their members of Congress. 'Nobody in Congress even knows they're there, he says, and he is not attending the March: He is going to California to raise money for himself and other Democrats.'"

We won't be taking his advice, and we'll see some of you in D.C.

On that note, Emma Ruby-Sachs in the Huffington Post has written a speech for Obama to give at the HRC dinner, and Jose Antonio Vargas has a wish list in the Huff Post as well.

Also, Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson offers his $.02.

Listen to Signorile's interview with Barney Frank here.

Rep. Gohmert (R-TX): Hate Crimes Bill Holding Soldiers Hostage

Last night on the House floor, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) attacked the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill, which is attached to a defense appropriations bill. Gohmert says the hate crimes bill is holding soldiers hostage, preventing hate preachers from stating their opinions, and attacking the moral fabric of America.

Reps. Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, and Jerrold Nadler rebutted Gohmert's sickening diatribe.

Watch them all, AFTER THE JUMP... 

(via inlookout)

UPDATE: The House later defeated a motion to strip the hate crimes bill from the DoD appropriations bill.

News: Mormons, Liz Taylor, Football, Jane Lynch, Nero, Frat Boys

Where Did 'We' Go? Thomas Friedman pens a frightening op-ed about assassination and the current political climate in the U.S. "The American political system was, as the saying goes, 'designed by geniuses so it could be run by idiots.' But a cocktail of political and technological trends have converged in the last decade that are making it possible for the idiots of all political stripes to overwhelm and paralyze the genius of our system."

NYT on Hair's decision to go dark and perform at the National Equality March: "That unusual — and expensive — decision to skip a popular weekend performance at the beginning of the theater season originated with the show’s star, Gavin Creel. 'I said, ‘My God, we have to go, we have to go,’' Mr. Creel recalled when he first heard about the rally late last spring."

For Elizabeth Taylor, too much Kathy Ireland is never enough.

NFL players Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita speak out for gay rights. Ayanbadejo: "I think we will look back in 10, 20, 30 years and be amazed that gays and lesbians did not have the same rights as every one else. How did this ever happen in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Are we really free?"

VIDEO: Adam Lambert thanks fans for raising $229,000 for public school art programs.

University of Alaska allows "ex-gay" speaker Edward Delgado: "Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Council, said Chancellor Brian Rogers refused to bar Delgado from the campus, adding he wants a 'welcoming and inclusive university.'"

First look: T.R. Knight in Parade.

A sneak peek at Kylie Minogue's tour.

Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City installs sign to prevent future instances of man-on-man kissing on LDS property.

New Barney Frank bio ignores his personal life: "Those of you seeking an in-depth study of a fascinating and very, very funny political creature midcareer should buy it. Cokie Roberts and Nancy Pelosi blurbed it nicely. Anyone looking for full insights into the private man might want to wait."

Archaeologists uncover Roman Emperor Nero's rotating dining room. "The mechanism was a feat of Roman engineering, and moved thanks to the spheres beneath the wooden floor of the room, kept in constant movement by water being forced against them. Quite how this worked is still being researched."

AfterElton interviews Jane Lynch, Glee's Sue Sylvester.

Brazilian beauties decorate Junior.

Eddie Cibrian gives fans what they want on CSI.

Gay man's attacker gets 4 1/2 years in the UK: "Andrew Harris, aged 21, launched the violent attack upon a gay man after agreeing to go home with him following a night out drinking in Northampton town centre. Despite flirting with his victim and going into his bedroom, Harris suddenly turned violent, shouting 'I'm not gay'."

Friday Night Lights returning with some fresh meat.

English cricketer Kevin Pietersen signs on as Brylcreem Boy.

Frat brothers at George Washington University are trying to take the homophobia out of Greek life: "GW’s fraternity brothers are the nation’s future congressmen, investment bankers, and CEOs. They won’t reach those positions if their Google profiles turn up associations with homophobic and misogynistic fraternities. So GW’s frat boys—and don’t call them that!—are straining to undo the legacy of 'aggressive heterosexuality' and gay-bashing forged by their predecessors. It’s an effort that involves a good deal of re-education, some new alliances, and a compensatory vice or two."