Victory in the News

Obama's DADT Dilemma

House speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged the administration’s predicament last night following an event where she received an award from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund for her work on LGBT issues. During her speech, Pelosi reiterated her pledge to an adoring crowd that “’don’t ask, don’t tell’ would “be gone by the end of the year.”

Pelosi foresees ‘Don’t Ask’ end by year’s end

The speaker spoke to reporters after she gave a speech at the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Awards at the W Hotel, which was hosted by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

During her speech, Pelosi made similar assurances and promised that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be “gone by the end of the year.”

“Some are here tonight who serve in the military,” she said. “God bless you for your courage and your patriotism. … But because of courage of some of them, this will be gone by the end of the year.”

Pelosi previously predicted in May that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would be “a memory” by the end of this year during an interview with the Hill newspaper.

Speaking to reporters, Pelosi said Congress got the ball rolling on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to get lawmakers on record on the issue and so the change would be “in statute and all of that.”

The House in May passed an amendment that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as part of the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill.

“But even the bill that we passed said that it was contingent upon the recommendation of the president’s … review,” she said. “The only difference would be statute versus the president [making a policy change.]”

Pressed on whether she thinks the executive branch would ultimately be responsible for ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Pelosi replied, “That’s where it was anyway.”

“Others wanted to have more, so we tried to do more,” she said. “We’ll work very closely to try to see what happens after the election.”

Pelosi has previously said President Obama can issue an executive order to stop discharges under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” without action from Congress.

Supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal have been calling on Obama since the beginning of his administration to issue an order to stop the discharges under the law, but the president hasn’t taken such action.

Asked whether she would call on Obama to issue an order to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Pelosi replied, “That is the unfolding that we will see.”

“I’m very pleased with the course that the president’s on, but I think that they we shouldn’t be discharging people until that happens — so that, we have a little separation of — in terms of policy on that,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi added House members who support “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal were “very disappointed” the Senate didn’t have sufficient votes to end a filibuster on moving forward with legislation that would end the law.

“In the Senate, the Republicans held up the bill entirely so it couldn’t even be considered, so it was very disappointing,” she said. “They went really out of their way to try to block this.”

Pelosi also reiterated her position that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act wouldn’t see a House vote until legislative action is complete on repealing the 1993 law barring open service in the U.S. military.

“I told everyone that right from the start — that if we want to go down the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ route, then we’d have to put ENDA in a different place,” she said.

Pelosi said initial plans for the 111th Congress were to take on hate crimes protections legislation followed by ENDA and then “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But she said the House ended up acting on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” first before ENDA because there was “a lot of enthusiasm about changing the order.”

During her speech, Pelosi maintained the importance of the mid-term elections and said “the fabric of our middle class and strength of our democracy” is at stake.

Pelosi added that the election results will also “accelerate the pace of passing ENDA or set us back.”

The speaker said she believes the votes are in the U.S. House to pass ENDA, but expressed concern about a motion to recommit that could derail the bill.

The motion to recommit is a legislative manuever that opponents of ENDA could use to scuttle the bill when it comes to the House floor.

“I think we have the votes for it, but we have to resist the motion to recommit,” Pelosi said. “We can’t pass the bill unless we can resist all of the bad things that they could do to the bill along the way.”

Also speaking at the event were gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

During his speech, Frank emphasized the importance of keeping a Democratic majority in the next Congress and questioned those who would criticize lawmakers who support LGBT rights for the lack of progress on pro-LGBT bills.

“I understand people being unhappy about that,” he said. “What I do not understand is people who think that the way to respond to the fact that we weren’t able to get things done is further to empower the people who kept us from getting them done.”

Frank urged attendees to “bitch and fight” all the way to the polls to re-elect a Democratic majority in the U.S. House because Pelosi has been such a strong supporter of LGBT rights.

“Neither Tammy, nor I, nor anybody else has ever had to ask for her to support us,” Frank said. “We take that for granted and she has been the been the single most important public official in the history of the United States to be fully committed to our agenda not just as a matter of support, but as matter of her own personal involvement.”

Pelosi: DADT "will be gone by the end of the year"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was optimistic about the end of the military's ban on gay and lesbian service, saying on Wednesday night, "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' will be gone by the end of the year. It will just be a sad memory." This, she said, despite last week's vote in the Senate against bringing the bill containing repeal language to the floor for debate.

Talking about "the pain [DADT] has caused people," Pelosi told the crowd at the Victory Fund's 10th annual Gay & Lesbian Leadership Awards that "some are here tonight who served in our military. ... Because of the courage of some of them, this will be gone by the end of the year."

Pelosi was introduced by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), who had been, in turn, introduced by Victory Fund president Chuck Wolfe.

Her comments, however, about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act -- a bill sponsored by Frank -- were far more equivocal.

Pelosi -- whose decision not to bring ENDA the House floor for a vote has led to multiple occasions in which people were arrested for protesting that inaction -- on Wednesday said that the upcoming mid-term elections were essential to moving forward the bill outlawing anti-LGBT job discrimination.

"[A] lot is riding on this election," she told the crowd gathered at the W Hotel's main ballroom on Wednesday evening. "And part of the choice that will be made will either accelerate the pace of passing ENDA or set us back, and we have to realize that. We have to realize that."

For the co-director of Get Equal, the organization involved in those protests of Pelosi, tonight's speech was about leadership -- but more about, in Robin McGehee's view, Pelosi's lack of leadership on the bill.

Talking to Metro Weekly, McGehee said, "Leadership is about doing the right thing, not the politically safe thing. What I heard her saying is that even with controlling both chambers of Congress and having a Democratic president -- even with all of that -- her leadership has not been able to get ENDA passed out of committee and onto the floor.

"I don't want to have a Republican-dominated Congress. But I also don't believe we're the only progressive community dissatisfied with the lack of leadership," McGehee said. "I feel like she's punting on our position and our rights and yet asking us to give, and I'll give when we get equal. I'll vote for her, but I'm not going to give money or time."

WATCH: Victory Fund Asks What's at Stake for LGBT Voters on Nov. 2

Thinking of sitting out the mid-term elections on Nov. 2? Don't.

The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund releases a hard-hitting new web video entitled "What Will You Lose?" to explain what is at stake for the LGBT community. And there are dozens of reasons to vote in November, from health care reform to the Supreme Court. Most important: Preventing anti-gay conservatives from controlling Congress.

Shout out to hottie Democratic National Committee member Evan Low at 1:00, the mayor of Campbell, California and the youngest openly gay mayor in the country. And thanks to the Victory Fund for its help in electing Maryland's Mary Washington, the second openly lesbian Black legislator in the nation.

Victory Fund Video: What Will You Lose?

With five weeks remaining before the midterm elections, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund has launched a video campaign asking people to express what they will lose should antigay extremists succeed in consolidating their power.

The stark video cites antigay rhetoric from incumbents up for reelection like U.S. senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern. Some of the rights deemed to be at stake have not even been won yet, which points to the video's role as a motivation tool for disaffected Democratic voters.

“If they win, they'll kick brave troops out of the military, stop partner visitation rights in hospitals, and prevent gays and lesbians from adopting kids who need loving homes,” says the Victory Fund.

The campaign invites viewers to submit their own 15-second video about what they will lose in the event of antigay extremist wins.