The G.O.P.’s Cynical Gay Ploy; New York Times, 6/20/16

Charles M. Blow, New York Times; The G.O.P.’s Cynical Gay Ploy:

"Maybe Republicans want us to forget that, as ThinkProgress reported in December:

“Six of the Republican candidates vying for the presidency have signed a pledge promising to support legislation during their first 100 days in the White House that would use the guise of “religious liberty” to give individuals and businesses the right to openly discriminate against L.G.B.T. people.”

They want us to forget that although people of all political stripes have evolved on the issue of gay equality — including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton —Republicans are the trailing edge of that evolution.

No amount of the exploitation of fear and the revising of history is going to change what we know about the Republican Party and their continued abysmal record on gay rights.

In the wake of tragedy, you can’t conveniently hang the L.G.B.T. community on the tree of life as a glistening ornament."

Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94; New York Times, 6/16/16

Robert D. McFadden, New York Times; Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94:

"In 2011, after years of trying to remove the blot on his record, Mr. Dwork, supported by advocates for gay and lesbian military personnel and veterans, won his point. The Navy officially changed his discharge to honorable.

“It meant an awful lot to me because I know I never did anything disgraceful or dishonest,” Mr. Dwork said in a 2014 interview for this obituary, in which he spoke of painful military policies and glacially slow changes toward gay and lesbian service members.

Mr. Dwork, who became a hero to gay people for his persistence in fighting the dishonorable discharge, died on Tuesday in Manhattan, Alan Salz, the executor of his estate, said. He was 94.

Mr. Dwork was believed to be the first veteran of World War II to have an “undesirable” discharge for being gay expunged, although his case may have opened the floodgates for appeals in hundreds of similar cases. His was resolved shortly before the military ended its 18-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred openly gay people from service but prohibited discrimination against those not open about their sexuality."

California Bars Judges From Boy Scouts Membership; Associated Press via New York Times, 1/24/15

Associated Press via New York Times; California Bars Judges From Boy Scouts Membership:

"California's Supreme Court voted Friday to prohibit state judges from belonging to the Boy Scouts on grounds that the group discriminates against gays.

The court said its seven justices unanimously voted to heed a recommendation by its ethics advisory committee barring judges' affiliation with the organization.

In 1996 the state Supreme Court banned judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but made an exception for nonprofit youth organizations.

The Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics in February recommended eliminating the exception to enhance public confidence in the judiciary."