Right-Wing Group's Secret Meet Against 'DADT' Busted by PFLAG

You may remember Elaine Donnelly. She's pictured here testifying at the July congressional hearings on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. She's seated next to Eric Alva, the first Marine to be wounded in Iraq, who came out of the closet in February 2007.

Donnelly heads up the right wing group 'The Center for Military Readiness' and called upon Veterans Service Organizations to attend a "a private, off-the-record briefing" in Washington D.C. on Thursday intended to strategize on how to prevent the repeal fo "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" from going forward.

PFLAG obtained the letter sent to the VSOs which reads, in part: "Given your organization's long-standing commitment to military readiness and the high standards and sound policy that promotes it, I hope I can count on you in joining CMR to defend the law regarding homosexual conduct in the military. We need to talk about what can be done, and why, face to face...Due to this issue's urgency, this invitation is not transferrable to casual observers, interns or other non-executive support staff. This PowerPoint briefing, which includes short video excerpts of the July 23 House Armed Services Committee hearing on gays in the military, will cover everything you need to know to provide the type of principled, engaged leadership that only you can give. I would welcome new ideas and commitment that could turn the situation around."

According to PFLAG's Steve Ralls, "The briefing, featuring CMR executive director Tommy Sears, will be held at the organization's Washington conference room, at 1615 L Street, N.W., Suite 650, on October 2nd from noon until 2:30pm."

Wrote Ralls iin the Huffington Post: "Thursday's briefing in Washington is a last-minute, last-ditch effort by Donnelly to try and curry some small measure of influence on Capitol Hill. To do so, she is likely to give VSO leaders misinformation, as she has done with the press and the public, in order to mislead them on the issue and attempt to win them over to her side. As polls of military personnel show that young service members and veterans are overwhelmingly comfortable and ready to serve with gay colleagues, she is attempting to reach out to the older, more conservative VSO membership to try and rally support for her cause."

Watch veteran and Rep. Patrick Murphy read Donnelly at the hearings in July, AFTER THE JUMP...

PFLAG Exclusive: Right-Wing Activists Plan Private D.C. Briefing on Gays in the Military [pflag]
Right-Wing Activists Plan Private D.C. Briefing on Gays in the Military [steve ralls - huffington post]

News: David Blaine, Brazil, Tim Gunn, Arctic Gas, Taser Death

Barack Obama and John McCain's joint statement on the economy.

Ian Thorpe dabbles in painting.

"Ex-gay" Alan Chambers to lead simulcast rallies for Prop. 8 at churches via satellite.

This doesn't look like a "suspended" campaign to me. Also, this morning, "while McCain says he was meeting with key advisors and becoming increasingly concerned about the financial crisis facing the country -- he was actually holding a special meeting with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the expat international financier who once supported Hillary Clinton but now is supporting McCain because she thinks Obama is 'elitist'.

Clay Aiken still a working dad.

Pepsi grants $500,000 to PFLAG. Exec director Huckaby: "PepsiCo has provided PFLAG with an enormous gift, and an unparalleled opportunity, to demonstrate the power we have to create change, no matter where we are, or who we are. Because of the Foundation's generosity and commitment, we now have the resources to produce materials for our chapters to use in their communities, and to create critically important conversations, in every corner of our country."

SICK: NYPD tasers chemically imbalanced naked man on ledge, who falls to his death.

Britney Spears wigging out again.

Study supports gay adoption: "...findings by a nonpartisan adoption group being released Thursday conclude that gays and lesbians are an important resource for children awaiting adoption. There is near "universal professional consensus" that these applicants should be judged on their qualifications, not sexual orientation."

Polish men get community service, fine, for anti-gay threats, assault: "The pair downed vodka with the couple, also Polish, before turning nasty, Bradford Crown Court heard last Thursday...Prosecutor Dave MacKay said the gay couple, from Keighley, asked the defendants to help move some of their property. All drank vodka together and Klodzinski and Szofer began making homophobic comments. Klodzinski, of Holker Street, Keighley, shouted: 'I kill gays,' the court heard. Both he and Szofer, of North Street, Keighley, were told to leave but they returned to break a window and hurl plates at the couple. One of the men was punched in the face by Szofer and kicked on the knee by Klodzinski."

Two big Broadway shows are getting the old heave-ho...

A McDonald's hamburger from 1996: how it looks today.

David Blaine completes Central Park hanging stunt.

Tim Gunn does an interview with Time Out and talks about his favorite New York moment: "We had just wrapped the taping of Project Runway season two. Season one had aired, and there were mixed reviews in the industry, including a fair amount of snarkiness about whether it was a quality program. On Bastille Day 2005, I was in my office and received a call from Lauren Zalaznick telling me we had been nominated for an Emmy. I went screaming down the halls to see the producers, who were a floor below me, shouting at the top of my lungs, 'We’ve been nominated for an Emmy! We’ve been nominated for an Emmy!' I remember it vividly. And one of the things I was most pleased about was, 'Take that, Seventh Avenue snarkiness. Take that!'"

Brazilian gay rights group Arco-Iris launches petition drive in support of law criminalizing homophobia.

Travolta to play secret agent in new Luc Besson film?

Little Britain USA is on its way...

Scientists: is melting of the arctic ice cap triggering a methane timb bomb? "Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf."

PFLAG Responds to McCain Remarks on Gay Adoption

Citing research from the American Academy of Pediatrics that children who grow up raised by gay parents "fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual," PFLAG has hit back at Senator John McCain's ignorant remarks to the New York Times over the weekend that he and his wife Cindy and their heterosexual marriage are the ultimate example of what adoptive parents should look like.

Said McCain: "I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption."

Responded executive director Jody M. Huckaby: "In a country where more than 125,000 children are waiting for foster parents, Senator McCain would deny loving homes to children who desperately need them simply because of an outdated prejudice about what a family may look like. We are disappointed and saddened that a public leader who is himself an adoptive father would deny the children in America’s foster care system the opportunity to thrive as part of a welcoming family. Love makes a family, but short-sighted positions like Senator McCain’s can certainly tear families apart, too. Senator McCain’s position is out of synch with the research and science and out of step with what is in the best interests of children waiting for a home and a family. PFLAG knows the pain inflicted upon families due to misinformation about LGBT issues. We implore Senator McCain to take a serious look at the overwhelming evidence and listen to the stories of the countless children raised by loving lesbian and gay couples. The evidence is clear: children should not be denied access to the loving homes of gay couples."

PFLAG notes additional research from the AAP: "In fact, growing up with parents who are lesbian or gay may confer some advantages to children. They have been described as more tolerant of diversity and more nurturing toward younger children than children whose parents are heterosexual."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #305

BARACK OBAMA: Kicked off his "Change That Works for You" tour in Raleigh, North Carolina yesterday. Here's the full speech. Pam Spaulding notes that Obama said he'll be partnering with Elizabeth Edwards on health care.

LOVE WON OUT: PFLAG protests the "ex-gay" conference held recently in Orlando, Florida.

JIMMY CARTER: McCain attempts to make snappy quip comparing Obama to Jimmy Carter. It fails.

CHANNING TATUM: Loves you guys.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

PFLAG's Meeting with Sally Kern: The Full 40-Minute Recording

PFLAG today released recordings of their full 40-minute meeting with Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern. Listen to PART ONE, above. Kern met with the group in late March in response to controversy, which is still ongoing, surrounding her remarks that gays are a worse threat to the nation than terrorists.

Following their meeting with Kern, PFLAG reported that Kern said that she agrees that gays and lesbians should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation. Later, Kern said that her views were misrepresented.

Said Kern to the Oklahoman after the meeting: "I unequivocally do not support sexual orientation laws."While I do not advocate employers going on a witch hunt to fire homosexual employees who are performing their jobs in a manner just like any heterosexual employee, I do not support laws that would force employers to check their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association at the workplace door.”

PFLAG disagrees, and says the tapes tell a different story:

"As the full 40-minute audio recording released this morning by PFLAG proves, Kern said not once (at about 15 minutes and 30 seconds in) that she does not believe GLBT people should be fired from their jobs . . . but she said it twice (again at about 33:15), confirming her stance when Rev. Kelly McCallie recaps the meeting near its end. And, when asked by Rev. Newton-Edwards if she would consider attending future PFLAG meetings to hear from other families in her district, Kern says - almost joyfully - 'maybe.' She even says - when asked if she and her husband will join a PFLAG supporter for dinner - 'Sure!' In fact, if you look at PFLAG’s characterization of the meeting last week, and Kern’s version of the encounter in the local press, there is no question that Sally flat-out lied to reporters."

Listen to Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5 AFTER THE JUMP...

Sally Kern Meets PFLAG, Comes out Against Anti-Gay Discrimination

Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern met with representatives from the Oklahoma City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The group reports that Kern did not issue an apology for her remarks that homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism, nor was she asked for one.

Via PFLAG: "Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards, president of the Oklahoma City PFLAG chapter, was joined in the meeting by Dr. Rev. Kathy McCallie, pastor of the Church of the Open Arms and Rev. Jim Shields, a retired UnitedMethodistChurch minister from Kern’s district. The group requested a meeting with Kern following a March 18 rally at the state capitol. In her meeting with PFLAG supporters today, Kern said that 'I agree with' the idea that gay and lesbian Americans should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation. 'We appreciate Representative Kern taking the time to meet with us and consider an important, ongoing dialogue about our families and loved ones,' said Rev. Newton-Edwards. 'Representative Kern expressed a commendable desire to consider every family, every Oklahoman and every constituent. Today, she took an important first step forward that, we hope, will be the beginning of many conversations with our families and our community.'"

Said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG: "As Representative Kern begins to listen to voices from across her district, and the state, she will hear the stories of hard-working, patriotic men and women who make our communities better, our nation safer and our families stronger. We appreciate this initial meeting, and PFLAG stands ready to be a resource to Kern and a champion for her constituents. We look forward to continuing today’s conversation and working with Kern to move equality forward. Bringing communities together, rather than dividing the public with inflammatory words, should be a top priority of every elected leader. Kern will always find open arms and welcoming families at PFLAG."

On Thursday evening, Kern was the guest speaker for the UCO's College Republicans. The Oklahoman reports: "Kern spent much of her speech explaining why she thought Christianity plays an important role in American government before turning her attention to her previous comments and taking questions from the audience. Most of the questions came from people who disagreed with Kern's views."

At one point, she said, "If I knew it was being recorded, I'd still say the same thing. I will not back down from what I believe the Bible teaches."

Rep. Sally Kern is not asked to quit [the oklahoman]
Kern says she wouldn't change a thing [the oklahoman]
Oklahoma City PFLAG Supporters Meet with Sally Kern [pflag]