Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) says if elected president he will work to limit abortion and birth-control, ban stem-cell research and same-sex marriage, and abolish some areas of the judiciary.
The letter was signed by 86 members of the U.S. House and condemned the Department of Defense’s decision to allow same-sex couples to use federal facilities for marriage or commitment ceremonies.
Bachmann described Minnesota as “a very hostile liberal state,” while discussing the legislative process around the ballot question that could ban same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution.
State Rep. John Kriesel (R-Cottage Grove) condemned the incident, saying, “If someone is brave enough to risk their life and serve their country in a time of war, let them serve. Who cares if they are gay?”
The Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud criticized former Gov. Tim Pawlenty for stating that he would reinstate the military’s ban on openly serving gay and lesbian servicemembers. Pawlenty told members of the Family Leader, a group that opposes rights for same-sex couples in Iowa, that if he was elected president in 2012, he would pull funding for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He also said he’s unsure if gays and lesbians should be allowed in the military at all.
The repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the U.S. military’s policy of banning openly gay servicemembers, was signed into law late last year. Nevertheless, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has already introduced a bill that would require the signature of chiefs of the four branches of the military to sign off on the repeal as well. Republican Rep. John Kline is among 18 cosponsors of the bill.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, appearing on Bryan Fischer’s radio program on Wednesday to talk up his new book, said that if he’s elected president, he’ll reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers. Fischer works for the American Family Association, a group that the Southern Poverty Law Center named a hate group in November for spreading falsehoods about Muslim and LGBT Americans.
When President Obama signed a historic repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers Wednesday morning, he paved the way for a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A gay Minnesota army reserve officer spoke with the Minnesota Independent about the issues involved in the repeal, the struggles faced by gay and lesbian soldiers as they waited for Obama and Congress to act on their promise to repeal, and the stereotypes that conservatives continue to spread.
The U.S. Senate passed a repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on Saturday, paving the way for gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers to serve openly in the armed forces. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken were among the 65 Senators voting to repeal the measure.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC on Thursday evening to share her support for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Klobuchar said there are enough votes to pass a standalone bill in the U.S. Senate on Saturday. Maddow was cynical about the possibility for Democrats to pass the remaining parts of their agenda, but Klobuchar said the likely passage of the DADT repeal is something to celebrate.
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