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Obama is arguably the most gay friendly president in U.S. history.

His repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and passage of a federal law that further extends protections of LGBT people firmly solidifies his support from gay community.

However, one issue he has been slow to support-at least officially-is that of gay marriage. TheRoot says there would be benefits and risks behind such an endorsement:

If President Obama expressed support for marriage equality before the 2012 elections, there would be both benefits and risks. He would surely excite some of his supporters, especially those who feel that he too often shies away from bold stances in favor of measured pragmatism and common ground. On the other hand, some voters who support Obama but still oppose marriage equality may abandon the president over this issue. That leaves the president with two choices: Endorse marriage equality now or wait and play it safe until he is re-elected.

What do you think? Would supporting marriage rights invigorate Obama campaign? Or would such an endorsement derail his reelection hopes? Check out the rest of the article here.

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“I’m very pleased with how it has gone,” Amos said in an Associated Press interview during a week-long trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he held more than a dozen town hall-style meetings with Marines of virtually every rank. He was asked about a wide range of issues, from his view of the Marine Corps’ future to more mundane matters such as why he recently decided to stop allowing Marines to wear their uniform with the sleeves rolled up.

Not once was he asked in Afghanistan about the repeal of the gay ban.

Nor did it come up when he fielded questions from Marines on board the USS Bataan warship in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday. On his final stop, in Bahrain on Sunday, one Marine broached the topic gently. He asked Amos whether he planned to change the Marines’ current policy of leaving it to the discretion of local commanders to determine how to handle complaints about derogatory “homosexual remarks or actions.” Amos said no.

The apparent absence of angst about gays serving openly in the Marines seemed to confirm Amos’ view that the change has been taken in stride, without hurting the war effort.

In the AP interview, he offered an anecdote to make his point. He said that at the annual ball in Washington earlier this month celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps, a female Marine approached Amos’s wife, Bonnie, and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.

“Bonnie just looked at them and said, `Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,’” Amos said. “That is happening throughout the Marine Corps.”

Amos said he is aware of only one reported incident in Afghanistan thus far, and that turned out to be a false alarm. He said a blogger had written of a gay Marine being harassed by fellow Marines for his sexual orientation. In an ensuing investigation, the gay Marine denied he had been harassed.

A Defense Department spokeswoman, Cynthia O. Smith, said implementation of the repeal of the gay ban is proceeding smoothly across the military.

“We attribute this success to our comprehensive pre-repeal training program, combined with the continued close monitoring and enforcement of standards by our military leaders at all levels,” Smith said.

In the months leading up to Congress’s repeal, which took effect in September, there were indications that the change might not be embraced so readily.

During a visit to a Marine combat outpost in southern Afghanistan in June, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates was confronted by an enlisted Marine who clearly objected to the repeal. He told Gates that the Marine Corps has “a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector,” and that repeal of the gay ban has “changed those values.”

He asked Gates whether Marines who object to serving with gays would be allowed to opt out of their enlistment. Gates said no and predicted that if pre-repeal training was done right, “nothing will change” with regard to rules of behavior and discipline.

That Marine was not alone in making known his doubts about the wisdom of allowing gays to serve openly in uniform. In a survey of military members last year, 45 percent of Marines viewed repeal negatively in terms of how it could affect combat readiness, effectiveness and cohesion. Among those Marines who serve in combat roles, 56 percent expressed that view.

It was those statistics that caused Amos concern prior to repeal, and he made known his position in no uncertain terms when he testified to Congress last December.

“Successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus on preparing units for combat,” Amos said at the time. He stressed then and later that if repeal were approved, Marines would faithfully follow the new law.

Looking back, Amos said in the AP interview that he had no regrets about publicly opposing repeal during wartime. He said he was obliged, as the commandant of the Marines, to set aside his personal opinions and represent the views of those combat Marines who told the survey “pretty unequivocally” that repeal was problematic.

“I think I did exactly what I should have done,” he said.

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Shorter University instituted the pledge in late October. If an employee decides not to sign the pledge, they are at risk of losing their job.

Since Shorter University is a private college, and doesn’t receive public funds, the move is legal, WSB-TV reports. University president Don Dowless, says similar pledges are not uncommon at other Christian universities. “These are biblical positions,” he said.

Read more at TheRoot.com

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Stephen Hill, a soldier serving in Iraq, spoke on having to lie about who he was in order to serve in the army.

Santorum approached the controversial topic, saying that the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” injected social engineering into the military.

I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. The fact they are making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to, and removing don’t ask don’t tell. I think tries to inject social policy into the military.

Read more at the Huffington Post.

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Fitzgerald is the fourth openly gay person to be nominated as a judicial candidate.

Huffington Post:

“I am honored to nominate Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court,” Obama said in a statement. “His impressive career stands as a testament to his formidable intellect and integrity. I am confident he will serve the people of California with distinction on the District Court bench.”

On Monday, Paul Oetken became the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a federal judge.

Read More At HuffingtonPost.com

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The final barrier it seems is not in accepting the heroism and exceptionalism of females, but of gay men and lesbians as icons and role models: capable of all feats and triumph on the field, court and track.

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The measure, which was voted in the senate 21-16, is said to be a compromise intended to provide gay and lesbian couples with added rights and benefits, such as state tax breaks, health-care benefits and inheritance. Gov. Lincoln Chafee is expected to sign the bill into law. Once signed, it will go into effect on July 1.

Civil unions are currently permitted in New Jersey and Illinois, and will be allowed in Delaware and Hawaii beginning January 1, 2012.

Read More At CNN.com

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The denomination needed 87 votes in order to ratify the constitutional amendment.

The 87^th vote came from a Minnesota presbytery that voted 205-56. This is a result of the fourth attempt since the late 1990’s to change the current constitution, which says, “Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman — or chastity in singleness.”

Support for the ban waned in the most recent round of voting in 2008 and 2009. But many presbyteries, the local governing bodies, changed their votes from opposition to support in the current round of voting, USAToday reports:

“I didn’t actually expect to see this for many more years,” said the Rev. Ann Deibert, a co-pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville, which has long supported the change in policy.

The denomination “has talked about, prayed about, worked, discussed, discerned for 35 years,” she said. “It feels like an enormous gift and a breath of the Spirit. What it means is we are recognizing the gifts and graces of God in more and more people.”

The new language says nothing about marriage, singleness or sexuality.  Instead it says, “Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life. The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

Ratification occurred after several of conservative congregations left the denomination – Some of these congregations had large memberships and active leaders in resisting changes to ordination standards. Other conservative congregations are proposing a reorganization of presbyteries, asking to be separated  by theology, rather than location.

Presbyterians for Renewal, a Louisville-based coalition of evangelical churches, lamented “this unfaithful action” in a statement.

“In a lot of presbyteries, evangelical folks didn’t show up in enough numbers that it swung some votes,” added its executive director, the Rev. Paul Detterman. “How opposing sides can work together without compromising their core identities under the same denominational canopy is the question of the day.”

Other denominations that ordain gay or lesbian ministers include United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

WASHINGTON– Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that the country is evolving on the issue of gay marriage and he thinks it’s inevitable there will be national consensus.

He said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” the same thing is happening with the issue of marriage that happened with gays’ service in the military.

Changes in attitudes by military leaders, those in the service and the public allowed the repeal by Congress of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that will eventually allow gays to serve openly in the military.

Gay marriage is still not legal in most states. President Barack Obama recently said his feelings on the gay marriage issue are evolving, but he still believes in allowing strong civil unions that provide certain protections and legal rights that married couples have.

Read more at HuffPo

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With the decision by Mayor Richard M. Daley not to seek reelection in Chicago next year, the potential field of candidates who hope to replace him could make for an interesting campaign. Congressmen Danny Davis and Luis Gutierrez are testing the waters for a City Hall bid, and former Senator Carol Moseley Braun is a part of the field as well. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is considered damaged by personal scandal and alleged ties to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is all but certain to throw his hat in the race as well.

This is the first wide open mayoral race in Chicago in years, and the best chance to elect a black mayor since Harold Washington died in 1987– provided the black vote is not divided. The Chicago City Council’s black caucus will decide on a consensus candidate, and one of the people on their short list is State Senator James Meeks.

Read more at The Grio

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