Category Archives: Congress

Historic Senate vote: Congress repeals 17-year-old ban on gays in military

The U.S. Senate approved a bill Saturday, December 18, to repeal the 17-year-old law banning openly gay people from serving in the military. The roll call vote on the measure, which came to the Senate Wednesday from the House, was

House clears DADT repeal measure

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday afternoon to approve a measure to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the second time this year the House approved such a measure.

LGBT housing bill faces long odds

Three weeks before the end of a session of Congress may seem an odd time to introduce any new bills, much less one dealing with always-contentious LGBT civil rights. But three representatives introduced a bill 12/8 that would better protect

Senate fails to bring DADT repeal to the floor

Thu. Dec. 9 - 4:10 p.m.—The Senate has just rejected an attempt to bring the defense authorization bill to the floor, effectively killing the prospects for repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell this year, and likely for years to come. The

DADT suspense continues: maybe tomorrow

All the focus was on Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins Wednesday, with the question being whether she could be persuaded to vote to end the Republican-led filibuster against the defense authorization bill.

DADT Day 2: Repeal supported

The second and final day of the Senate hearing on repealing "Don’t ask, don’t tell" has adjourned and the battle lines are still very much where they were at the beginning, with one exception.

Military leaders stand firm: For repeal

The Pentagon’s top four leaders stood their ground Thursday during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s report concerning Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. But there was considerable pushback from Republicans on the committee—and not just John

Feds support new national LGBT youth suicide prevention task force

A national task force dedicated to suicide prevention among LGBT youth will be part of the new National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, a public-private partnership supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Levin poised to strip DADT repeal from defense spending measure

A key supporter of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is poised to deal the legislation a significant setback. Sen. Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong supporter of repeal, said he will hold hearings on

Two groups send mixed message on DADT repeal timing

When Congress came back to begin its lame-duck session on Monday, it was suddenly hearing mixed messages from LGBT groups concerning repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.