Your weekday morning blend from Instant Tea:
1. A member of the Air Force was discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” in April, the first discharge since President Barack Obama signed a bill to repeal the ban on open service in December. Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said: “This discharge underscores the need for the President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense to certify ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal and put this ugly chapter in American history behind us. It also highlights the undeniable and unfortunate fact that service members remain under investigation and at risk of discharge.”
2. Three activists from GetEQUAL, including former Senate candidate Jim Neal, were arrested Thursday during a protest at the Capitol in North Carolina targeting a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. Watch video from the action below.
3. Dallas appears at No. 6 on AlterNet’s list of “6 Surprising Places It’s Great To Be Gay.” We’re not sure some of the places on the list, including Dallas and Atlanta, should be all that much of a surprise to anyone. But here’s the conclusion from AlterNet’s Heather Cronk: “Make no mistake – Dallas isn’t a queer utopia and there is still a real need for conversations along the lines of race and class. But the city’s gay bar culture is one of the most vibrant and most diverse in the country.”
This is not necessarily the “wrongful termination” that some are assuming it is. All that is known is that one airman recently — and voluntarily — asked for a quick discharge under the federal DADT law, and Air Force and Pentagon officials approved his request. Although it is theoretically possible there may have been some unfairness on the part of the Air Force, and/or the airman, it’s also possible that the separation is entirely by mutual and happy agreement on both sides.
Until all the facts are known, there’s no reason to cast aspersions in either direction.
What’s AlterNet? I’m not surprised they are are surprised.