GOP Leaders Circulate 'Purity Resolution' with DOMA Support

Adam Nagourney reports on a resolution being passed around by top RNC members meant to solidify conservative tenets of the party:

"According to the resolution, any Republican candidate who broke with the party on three or more of these issues– in votes cast, public statements made or answering a questionnaire – would be penalized by being denied party funds or the party endorsement. The proposed resolution was signed by 10 Republican national committee members and was distributed on Monday morning. They are asking for the resolution to be debated when Republicans gather for their winter meeting."

Here is the resolution’s list:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run health care;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

The deadline for submitting resolutions for the January RNC winter meeting is more than a month away.

News: Mary Cheney, Lutherans, DOMA, Mariah Carey, Detroit

Federal judge rules that gay couple denied benefits should receive compensation: "U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt deemed the denial of healthcare and other benefits to the spouse of federal public defender Brad Levenson to be a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of due process and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is prohibited by California state law."

Mary Cheney and Heather Poe welcome new baby: "Sarah Lynne Cheney was born Wednesday morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is the seventh grandchild of the former vice president and his wife, Lynne."

Mariah Carey demands 20 fluffy white kittens, 100 doves, 80 security guards and more so she can turn on the Christmas lights at a London mall.

South African runner Caster Semenya keeps title after gender dispute.

Robert Pattinson can play things other than vampires.

Incoming gay Detroit City Council member Charles Pugh talks of AIDS crisis in city: “There needs to be more money targets at the crisis areas."

David Vitter won't comment on the Louisiana justice who refused to marry an interracial couple because he isn't familiar with Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case which lifted the ban on interracial marriages.

Demi Moore has lost a chunk of her thigh!

WATCH: Band uses naked men as furniture in new video.

Levi Johnston never intended to go full-frontal in Playgirl.

Neil Patrick Harris has a signature pose.

Probably one of the skankiest beards in Hollywood.

Anti-gay evangelicals met with protest at Syracuse University: "Pesto, a junior from Westchester County, said he saw the Deferios’ signs earlier in the day. It made him uncomfortable, he said, so he made his own sign. 'Corduroy skirts are a sin,' it said, referring to what Michelle Deferio was wearing. 'I was just making a gay joke,' he said. But friends saw him and joined in, standing with him and making signs of their own. Other students came and, by 6:30, there were about 70 people at the scene, holding signs, cheering and challenging the Deferios."

If you were called "Mary" for 55 years would you really want your name changed to "Terry"?

Adam Lambert is starting to resemble a member of the Queen's Guard.

Gay vs Gay? Queer/trans anarchist group Bash Back protests Join the Impact demonstration in Minneapolis.

A guide to D.C. marriage equality discrimination.

Mall Santas and doctors neckties are to be avoided if you want to escape the flu.

Gay couples blast DOMA in new court filing: "DOMA marks a stark, and unique, departure from the respect and recognition the federal government has long afforded to State marital status determinations."

Via Boy Culture, Susan Boyle sings Madonna's "You'll See".

UK pit bull owner hunted after allowing his dog to attack blind woman's seeing-eye dog.

Get hubbied.

Lutherans upset over gay clergy split to form new denomination: "Leaders of Lutheran CORE said Wednesday that a working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination, with hopes to have it off the ground by next August. 'There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened,' said the Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE and a retired ELCA bishop from State College, Pa."

Senator Arlen Specter: Repeal DOMA, Pass ENDA, Rescind DADT

In a piece in the Huffington Post, Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) calls on Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):

"Connecticut, Iowa, and Massachusetts have already passed laws recognizing same sex marriage and other states are moving in that direction. The states are the proper forum to address this divisive social and moral issue, not the Federal Government with a law that attempts to set one national standard for marriage. Prohibition showed just how difficult it is to enforce law establishing standards of personal behavior or morality. Coercion, whether civic or legal, in matters of this kind rarely works. It certainly won't halt public controversy surrounding the issue."

Specter also spells out his thoughts on hate crimes, ENDA, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Obama Administration's Inaction Keeps Married Gay Couple Separated

Despite a plea from Senator John Kerry, Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to act in the asylum case of Genesio "Junior" Oliveira, who requested asylum in the U.S. in 2002. In 2005, he was married in Massachusetts to his husband Tim Coco, but the couple have been separated since 2007 when Oliveira was sent back to Brazil after his asylum requests and appeals were denied.

In March, Kerry came to the aid of the couple, who would normally have no problem in this situation. But, because of the Defense of Marriage Act, the U.S. does not recognize immigrants who marry U.S. citizens in a same-sex marriage.

Holder's response in this case has been silence, the AP reports:

"Tim Coco said Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio 'Junior' Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-year-old Brazilian man's request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. "We needed the Attorney General to make a decision on whether Junior could come home," said Coco, 48, of Haverhill. 'He didn't take this request seriously.' The Justice Department did not immediately return messages...Kerry spokeswoman Brigid O'Rourke said Monday that the senator will continue to work toward a solution that would reunite the couple for good. 'The fact is that if Tim and Junior were a heterosexual married couple, they would never have suffered through more than two years of separation,' said O'Rourke. Coco said he thought there was "no way" the Obama Administration would deny Oliveira's asylum request after Kerry made his plea to Holder.' We are profoundly sad,' said Coco. 'This is more than any married should have to face.'"

Cases like these are why the Uniting American Families Act, which was reintroduced in February, is so important. As well, of course, as the repeal of DOMA which prevents the federal government from recognizing anything other than a heterosexual marriage.

The UAFA has since been added to a larger comprehensive immigration reform bill. Senator Gillibrand spoke about it briefly in answer to a question at her forum over the weekend, and stressed that the immigration reform legislation must be introduced and passed before the Spring.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: I Would Support Amending 1964 Civil Rights Bill to Cover Gay Rights

Andy and I had the chance to sit down and interview United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at the LGBT Community Center in New York City on Sunday afternoon. 

Watch the interview, AFTER THE JUMP...

We spoke to the Senator about the legislative road to repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', critics who have questioned her convictions on LGBT issues, the marriage equality battle in New York State and also if she'd be supportive of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation.

Said the Senator: "I would [be supportive of that]. I truly believe that this gay rights agenda is the civil rights march of our generation. I think marriage equality, I think repealing DOMA, Don't Ask, Don't Tell. All of that work we're doing is part of equal rights in America and it is something that is so important to this generation. I think that kind of bill would be transformational...Whether we have the votes for that kind of bill today, I don't know. But it's something certainly worth fighting for."

Senator Gillibrand had a small private meeting with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists from five boroughs before holding a larger event that was open to the general public. Lt. Dan Choi introduced her at the public event and she updated the audience on the current pieces of legislation before the Congress that are of importance to the gay community. She then took questions from the crowd. During the question and answer period she told a few personal anecdotes related to growing up in a political family where her grandmother had a close gay couple as friends and also how during her career as a senior associate at a law firm she had plenty of gay colleagues.

Watch our interview, and a brief video clip from Gillibrand's talk at the center in which she discusses why LGBT rights are important to her, AFTER THE JUMP...

Mixner: Cut Off Cash to Dems Not Supporting DOMA Repeal Legislation

Today, David Mixner published a list of co-sponsors of Congressman Jerrold Nadler's 'Respect for Marriage Act' (as of Friday) which would repeal the 'Defense of Marriage Act' DOMA.

Mixner is calling for a stop to political contributions to any Democrat not on the list: "Ironically, missing from this list are such obvious ones as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, openly gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, DCCC Chairperson Chris Van Hollen and other key Democrats. Let's get busy. Ever Democrat must join this list and we must remain firm to not contribute to anyone who doesn't support this effort to repeal DOMA....even our friends."

As we know, closing the GayTM has brought results in the past.

Read the list of 'Respect for Marriage Act' supporters,
AFTER THE JUMP...