President Obama and Congress find themselves in a staredown over debt ceiling negotiations, but the President did find time to announce an end to the ban on gays in the military. more ›

The Senate made history yesterday and, frankly, did the right thing yesterday, voting to end the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians in the military. The vote stands as a landmark in gay rights and helps President Obama fulfill a campaign promise. more ›

Mark Kirk talked big during his swearing in about taking a bipartisan, centrist approach to being Illinois' junior senator. Given an opportunity to walk the walk yesterday, voting with Senate Republicans to filibuster a procedural motion to consider next year's defense authorization bill and, by extension, bring the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy to a vote. This despite support for the repeal from 78 percent of Americans, a majority of military members and the recommendation of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. more ›

Per a recent interview with Gay Chicago Magazine, staunch LGBT ally U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) is reportedly "hopeful" for progress on a number of pieces of queer-centric legislation in Congress yet this year, but has admitted it's unlikely LGBT issues will see much movement prior to this fall's midterm elections. more ›

Earlier this week, the White House announced its support of a two-step compromise approach toward repealing the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy toward openly gay servicemen and women. The issue will likely come to vote before the House and Senate yet this week. more ›

Answering the call from Cleve Jones and other organizers of last autumn's national LGBT march on Washington, Chicago activists have put together a busy week of actions slated to honor gay political leader Harvey Milk and continue the push for legal progress. The week culminates with a march on Saturday, which would have been Milk's 80th birthday. more ›

The military's Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy on openly gay and lesbian employees again feels increasingly subjective and complicated, if ridiculous, judging on the Air Force's recent decision to discharge Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya, a lesbian officer from Chicago. more ›

Less than a week on the heels of his appearance at the Unite+Fight Midwest Equality Across America conference, "Don't Ask Don't Tell" activist Lt. Dan Choi made national headlines by handcuffing himself to the White House fence in an act of civil disobedience. The action, in addition to two sit-in protests at the San Francisco and D.C. offices of Nancy Pelosi, sparked a new question of what role aggressive, confrontational activism could play in LGBT communities' quest for the passage of pro-gay legislation. more ›

After multiple promises, President Obama has finally started the process for the repeal of the controversial, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Sec. Robert Gates made the call before the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Gates said that such a repeal, which will require an act of Congress, could take up to a year. In the meantime, Gates said the current policy would be enforced “in a fairer manner." But it won't be an easy road: besides deeper issues within the military - including benefits, housing, and misconduct, according to Gates - there's certainly a bipartisan element. Per the New York Times: more ›

While we've been busy watching just a few of the many fine films screened at Reeling this year, a mighty lot of gay-centric news has come across our desk. Consider this little round-up a crash course in the past two weeks in the world of LGBT Chicago, headlined by a gay couple that now faces perhaps the most far-reaching denial of equal rights in our modern world: A lifetime ban from Wal-Mart. more ›

Under fire from gay rights group for his lack of action since his inauguration, President Barack Obama pledged yesterday to end the military's controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Of course, such a proclamation came with a caveat that likely will cause the criticism to continue: he set no specific time-table for actually ending the policy. Obama made the announcement yesterday at a fund-raiser for the Human Rights Campaign. Speaking to a crowd of 3,000 at the event, Obama said, "I will end 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'; that is my commitment...I'm here with you in that fight." The frustration with Obama's lack of action has led to today's National Equality March (which also marks National Coming Out Day). If you want to join the march, you've still got time: it gets underway at 1 p.m. at Daley Plaza. Just watch out for those marathon stragglers. more ›

President Barack Obama will sign a presidential memorandum today to extend some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, but they may not include health or retirement benefits. Some gay rights activists expected Obama to make strides for gay rights this June in honor of Gay Pride Month, but they have been disappointed by the lack of movement. more ›