Log Cabin Republicans

Massachusetts Republicans Mitt Romney and Scott Brown have a history of supporting each other throughout their political careers. But with each facing a tough election, neither the presidential candidate nor the U.S. senator is playing up that history, perhaps with good reason. Brown, trying to win re-election in one of the most Democratic states, spends much of his time promoting his bipartisan bona fides and describing himself as a "Scott Brown Republican" rather than a conservative or liberal Republican.

Massachusetts Republicans Mitt Romney and Scott Brown have a history of supporting each other throughout their political careers. But with each facing a tough election, neither the presidential candidate nor the U.S. senator is playing up that history, perhaps with good reason. Brown, trying to win re-election in one of the most Democratic states, spends much of his time promoting his bipartisan bona fides and describing himself as a "Scott Brown Republican" rather than a conservative or liberal Republican.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — President Obama’s remarks that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy weakens national security shows it should be declared unconstitutional, a lawyer for the nation’s largest Republican gay rights group told a federal judge yesterday. Attorney Dan Woods challenged the policy on gays in the military during his opening statement at the nonjury trial of a lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans. The case has put the federal government in the awkward position of defending the policy that the president has said should be repealed.

Mitt Romney's foreign policy spokesman, a gay man whose support for same-sex marriage infuriated social conservatives, abruptly resigned on Tuesday, saying the intense focus on his sexual orientation was making it impossible for him to do his job. Richard A. Grenell, who served as the spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations under George W. Bush, revealed he was leaving less than two weeks after he was hired. "While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama's foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Lawyers for a Republican gay rights organization asked a federal judge yesterday to issue an injunction halting the military’s ban on openly gay service members. Government lawyers countered by warning US District Judge Virginia A. Phillips not to overstep her bounds while ruling on the lawsuit by the Log Cabin Republicans. The exchange came as both sides made closing arguments in the case after a two-week trial. It was unclear when Phillips would make a ruling on the policy that forbids openly gay personnel in the military.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court yesterday indefinitely extended its freeze on a judge’s order halting enforcement of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy. A three-judge panel of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals granted the US government’s request for a stay while the Justice Department challenges the trial court’s ruling that the ban on openly gay service members is unconstitutional. The same panel, composed of two judges appointed by President Reagan and one by President Clinton, on Oct. 20 imposed a temporary hold keeping...

NEW YORK -- Though decried by many gay rights leaders, "outing" -- the practice of exposing secretly gay public figures -- is expanding into new terrain as Internet bloggers target congressional staff members, political strategists, even black clergy whose sermons and speeches contain antigay rhetoric. Few issues are as divisive within the gay community. Numerous gay organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Log Cabin Republicans, staunchly oppose outing, yet many other activists support it when the targets are public figures -- or their aides -- who work against gay...

Even as federal officials laud the end of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay troops, Justice Department lawyers are trying to dissuade a federal appeals court from deciding if the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was unconstitutional. They filed a motion Tuesday asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate a lower court ruling last September that found the ban violated the civil rights of gay service members. The government says the case is moot now that "don't ask, don't tell" is history and the more than 14,000 people discharged...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is being challenged by 12 former service members who were separated from the military because of their homosexuality. They planned to file a federal lawsuit today in Boston that would cite last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws making gay sex a crime as grounds for overturning the policy. Other courts have upheld the 11-year-old policy, but C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which is advising the plaintiffs, said those decisions came prior to the 2003 Supreme...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court ordered the US government yesterday to immediately cease enforcing the ban on openly gay members of the military, a move that could speed the end of the 17-year-old rule. Congress repealed the policy in December and the Pentagon is already preparing to welcome gay military personnel, said the ruling from a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. There’s no longer any purpose for a stay that the appeals court had placed on a lower court ruling that overturned “don’t ask, don’t...

Even as federal officials laud the end of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay troops, Justice Department lawyers are trying to dissuade a federal appeals court from deciding if the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was unconstitutional. They filed a motion Tuesday asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate a lower court ruling last September that found the ban violated the civil rights of gay service members. The government says the case is moot now that "don't ask, don't tell" is history and the more than 14,000 people discharged under the...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court wrestled yesterday with whether it can declare the military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional when the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is due to be lifted in 19 days. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard about 45 minutes of arguments in Pasadena, Calif., from a lawyer for the gay-rights group that successfully sued to overturn "don't ask, don't tell" in a lower court last year, and from a lawyer representing the federal government.

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court ordered the US government yesterday to immediately cease enforcing the ban on openly gay members of the military, a move that could speed the end of the 17-year-old rule. Congress repealed the policy in December and the Pentagon is already preparing to welcome gay military personnel, said the ruling from a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. There’s no longer any purpose for a stay that the appeals court had placed on a lower court ruling that overturned...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Lawyers for a Republican gay rights organization asked a federal judge yesterday to issue an injunction halting the military’s ban on openly gay service members. Government lawyers countered by warning US District Judge Virginia A. Phillips not to overstep her bounds while ruling on the lawsuit by the Log Cabin Republicans. The exchange came as both sides made closing arguments in the case after a two-week trial. It was unclear when Phillips would make a ruling on the policy that forbids openly gay...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — President Obama’s remarks that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy weakens national security shows it should be declared unconstitutional, a lawyer for the nation’s largest Republican gay rights group told a federal judge yesterday. Attorney Dan Woods challenged the policy on gays in the military during his opening statement at the nonjury trial of a lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans. The case has put the federal government in the awkward position of defending the policy that the president has said should be...

NEW YORK -- Though decried by many gay rights leaders, "outing" -- the practice of exposing secretly gay public figures -- is expanding into new terrain as Internet bloggers target congressional staff members, political strategists, even black clergy whose sermons and speeches contain antigay rhetoric. Few issues are as divisive within the gay community. Numerous gay organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Log Cabin Republicans, staunchly oppose outing, yet many other activists support it when the targets are public figures -- or their aides -- who work...

Mitt Romney's foreign policy spokesman, a gay man whose support for same-sex marriage infuriated social conservatives, abruptly resigned on Tuesday, saying the intense focus on his sexual orientation was making it impossible for him to do his job. Richard A. Grenell, who served as the spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations under George W. Bush, revealed he was leaving less than two weeks after he was hired. "While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama's foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is being challenged by 12 former service members who were separated from the military because of their homosexuality. They planned to file a federal lawsuit today in Boston that would cite last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws making gay sex a crime as grounds for overturning the policy. Other courts have upheld the 11-year-old policy, but C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which is advising the plaintiffs, said those decisions came prior to the 2003 Supreme...