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Politics & The Nation


Leaders court groups as same-sex marriage continues to divide


BY KRISSAH THOMPSON Even as the NAACP engages in


a tense debate over same-sex marriage, the group’s leaders have begun reaching out more forcefully to gay rights groups. The outreach has been steered


by former chairman Julian Bond and the group’s president, Benja- min Jealous. Both men are sup- porters of same-sex marriage rights, though the NAACP’s na- tional board has taken no stance on the issue. Jealous, who is helping to lead


a march for jobs and justice in Washington next month, will be inNewYork onWednesday night to encourage members of the city’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center to attend the rally. “The NAACP is opposed to


discrimination in all its forms,” Jealous said in an e-mail, adding: “We recognize that many of our members are also members of the LGBT community, and just as the LGBT community counts on us to stand with it for basic civil rights protections, so we count on the LGBT community to stand with us in our unified struggle for the broader civil rights agen- da.”


EZ SU


KLMNO NAACP reaches out to gays Bond, who spoke at the Na-


tional March for Equality, orga- nized by gay rights groups last fall, has compared the push for same-sex marriage to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, which he helped lead. Bond also testified before the Senate last year in support of a law that would have barred the govern- ment from discriminating against gays in its distribution of family reunification visas. Other members of the


NAACP, which has long had strong ties to the African Ameri- can religious community, have resisted supporting same-sex marriage and,more broadly, gay rights. The Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., national NAACP board member and state president for Iowa and Nebraska, has been a critic of same-sex marriage. He has called on Iowa lawmakers to begin the process of amending the Constitution to restrictmar- riage to between a man and a woman. As awhole, African Americans


are much more likely to think that homosexuality is morally wrong (64 percent) than are whites (48 percent) or Hispanics (43 percent), according to a 2009 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. In Washington, black pastors helped lead a push against a same-sex-marriage bill that nev- ertheless became law. At its convention last year, the NAACP formed a gay rights


equality task force to provide research on issues such as hate crimes against gays, school bully- ing and HIV/AIDS. Jealous has also said that the group’s leaders are continuing to debate the issue of same-sex marriage and that such debates can span years before a consensus is formed. In the meantime, he has


sought to bring gay rights groups into the coalition of groups that will rally on the Mall in October. AIDS Walk Washington will fold its supporters into the event, and Jealous hopes to attract gay rights proponents, union mem- bers and politically liberal mi- norities to the rally. More than 200 liberal and civil


rights groups are behind the “One Nation” event, which orga- nizers hope will revive themes that energized the progressive grass-roots base two years ago. LGBT groups have not always been in that mix, said Jeffery Campagna, a gay rights activist who is helping with logistics for the rally. More than 20 LGBT groups have signed on. “It’s a turning point,” Cam-


pagna said. “This is a huge coalition of groups that don’t always sit at the same table, but it is groups that come together around common ideals. What has impressed me about this coalition is that it has actively reached out to the LGBT commu- nity.”


thompsonk@washpost.com


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 Fate of ‘don’t ask’ ban is still being debated


As issue stalls in Senate, gay activists look to federal courts


BY ED O'KEEFE The fate of themilitary’s “don’t


ask, don’t tell” policy continues to unfold in two federal courtrooms on the West Coast despite the failure of efforts in the Senate this week to repeal it. In a case brought in California


by thepro-gayLogCabinRepubli- cans, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled Sept. 10 that the law,whichbans gays fromserving openlyinthemilitary,violatesdue process and First Amendment rights and has a “direct and dele- terious” effect on the armed forc- es. She gave the federal govern- ment untilThursday to appeal. Advocates for ending the 17-


yearbanare calling ontheObama administrationtoforgoanappeal. Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Depart- ment spokeswoman, declined to commentWednesday onwhether the governmentwill do so. Gay rights groups said the gov-


ernment has no obligation to ap- peal. Diane H.Mazur, legal co-di- rector of the PalmCenter, a think tank at the University of Califor- nia at SantaBarbara that is devot- ed to repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” cited a 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas sodomy lawbecause it restricteda


person’s right to sexual privacy. “Judge Phillips recognized that


‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ can no longer be justified under current consti- tutional doctrine, and President Obama is not required to argue otherwise,” Mazur said. “He need not defend laws that are based on old, discredited constitutional as- sumptions.” JoeSolmonese,president of the


Human Rights Campaign, argued that government lawyers should not appeal the ruling because Obama and Defense Secretary RobertM.Gates oppose the ban. “The leaders of our nation’s


armed forces understand that [‘don’t ask, don’t tell’] serves no purpose in the laws of our nation; it is time for the DOJ to stop defending this law,” Solmonese saidinaletterTuesdaytoAttorney GeneralEricH.Holder Jr. In another case, a federal judge


inWashingtonstate is expectedto ruleFriday inthe caseofMargaret Witt, a flight nurse who was dis- charged from the Air Force be- cause she is a lesbian. Witt is arguing that she should be rein- stated to theAir ForceReserve. U.S. District Judge Ronald B.


Leighton said Tuesday that he may have to reinstate her because of orders he received froman ap- peals court when it sent Witt’s case back for reconsideration. Leighton rejectedWitt’s claims


in 2008 that themilitary violated her rights by discharging her un- der “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit returnedthe case toLeigh-


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ton, ruling that the military can- not discharge gays unless it is necessary to further military goals. The 9th Circuit “put a pretty


heavy burden on the government to justify the policy,” said Dale Carpenter, a University ofMinne- sota lawprofessorwhospecializes in legal issues related to sexual orientation. “There are two questions:


whether that standard ordered by that court is the right one and whether the government can jus- tify ‘don’t ask,don’t tell’using that heightened standard,” he said. Gay activists predict that the


government’s legal defense of the lawwill fail,andsay thatothergay service members will challenge their discharges ifWittwins. But Timothy J.Haggerty, a pro-


fessor at CarnegieMellonUniver- sity who helped write the 1993 study that led to “don’t ask,” cau- tioned that efforts to repeal the lawwouldprovemoreuseful than legal proceedings if supporters garner enough political support. On Capitol Hill, Senate Demo-


cratswouldnot sayonWednesday when they plan to reconsider the annual defense authorization bill or whether it will include the “don’t ask” repeal. On Tuesday, they fell short of earning the 60 votes necessary to start debate on themeasure,which contained the repeal, by a vote of 56 to 43. ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com


Staffwriter JerryMarkon contributed to this report.


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