End to US military gay ban 'would not harm war effort'

Most US troops think allowing gays to serve openly in the military would have a minimal effect on US war efforts, the Washington Post newspaper reports.

Some 70% of troops surveyed said the effects of repealing the ban would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, the paper said, citing a Pentagon report.

US President Barack Obama has called for an end to the policy.

But hopes for a repeal dimmed this month amid conservative Republican gains in the US Congress.

According to the newspaper, which spoke to people who had read the unreleased 370-page study, the survey results have led the report's authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them.

However, a significant minority opposes serving alongside openly gay troops, with opposition apparently strongest in the Marine Corps.

Troops' young age

Britain, Israel and dozens of other countries allow gay personnel to serve openly, but under the US policy established in 1993, gays may serve in the military but cannot acknowledge their orientation. The military is forbidden to inquire but may expel service members found to be gay.

Richard Socarides, former gay and lesbian policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, told the BBC the report was not surprising considering the relatively young average age of the troops.

"This is not a big deal for them," said Mr Socarides, who said he had discussed the report with people who had seen it. "Young people have gay friends."

Pentagon officials have said allowing openly gay military personnel would necessitate dramatic policy changes on everything from housing and insurance to protocol at social events.

The Pentagon is expected to deliver the report to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on 1 December.

Meanwhile, two federal courts have ruled the "don't ask, don't tell" policy unconstitutional, saying it violates gay troops right to free speech by effectively forbidding them from discussing their personal lives.

Though Mr Obama favours repealing the ban, he has said the change should come through legislation, rather than the courts, and has appealed against the rulings.

A Republican-led minority in the US Senate in September blocked debate on a provision to repeal the ban.

In this month's elections, the Republican party took control of the House of Representatives and strengthened its numbers in the Senate, dimming hopes of speedy action on the ban.

University offers Lady Gaga sociology course

The University of South Carolina has developed a sociology course dedicated to the life, work and rise to fame of pop star Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame is to be taught by Professor Mathieu Deflem, a fan of the singer.

Course documents said students would learn to "engage in sound and substantiated scholarly thinking" on issues related to her fame.

The course, which has its own blog, is due to start in spring 2011.

The Belgian born sociologist, whose research interests also include counter-terrorism, international policing, crime control and internet technology, says he has seen Lady Gaga in concert 30 times.

'Sociological dimensions'

"We're going to look at Lady Gaga as a social event," Prof Deflem told the USC student newspaper, the Daily Gamecock.

"So it's not the person, and it's not the music. It's more this thing out there in society that has 10 million followers on Facebook and six million on Twitter. I mean, that's a social phenomenon."

The course description says it aims to "unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga with respect to her music, videos, fashion, and other artistic endeavours".

It will look at business and marketing strategies, the role of old and new media, fans and live concerts, gay culture, religious and political themes, sex and sexuality, and the cities of New York and Hollywood, it says.

Prof Deflem said he initially planned to call the course the Sociology of Fame or the Sociology of Celebrity, and to use Lady Gaga as an example.

"Then I thought, 'Oh, what the hell? Let's make the whole freaking course about Lady Gaga and her rise to fame.'"

Also a fan of Frank Zappa, Prince, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Status Quo and Ritchie Blackmore, Prof Deflem says his interest in Lady Gaga began when he first saw her perform on television on 9 January 2009.

"I hope that [prospective students] are at least somewhat fans of Gaga," he told the student newspaper.

"They don't have to be hardcore fans. The better fan will not necessarily be the better student. But you have to have some interest in the topic. So if you really don't like her, you probably shouldn't take the course."

Speaking to BBC, he said the media reaction to the launch of the course has been "simply staggering", and the academic endeavour has become caught up in the very phenomenon it is exploring.

"The story has gone viral... My work on terrorism got a lot of attention as well, but that is dwarfed by the Gaga course!", he said.

Gay couple plan legal action to challenge marriage ban

Reverend Furguson and Franka Strietzel

A couple plan to take legal action to challenge the UK's ban on gay marriage and heterosexual civil partnerships.

Sharon Ferguson and Franka Strietzel were refused a civil marriage licence for Greenwich Town Hall, south-east London, and now plan to go to court for the right to obtain one.

Seven other couples are expected to launch similar actions.

Their campaign has been coordinated by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who said he wanted equality for all.

Marriage and civil partnerships should be "open to all couples - gay and straight", he said.

Reverend Ferguson, who is a pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of North London in Camden, said they were "recognising and celebrating that we love each other and want to make a commitment to each other for life".

"My whole life is about campaigning for equality and justice as a pastor in a parish that is known for its social justice work," she added.

"It's part of my daily life to challenge discrimination, but with this campaign what is really nice is that it's about love."

Denying couples 'wrong'

Four homosexual and four heterosexual couples are uniting for the attempt to overturn the law.

Only heterosexual couples can marry in the UK.

And only same-sex couples can agree to a civil partnership - a legally recognised union which offers equal legal treatment in matters such of inheritances and next-of-kin arrangements.

"Denying couples the right to civil marriage and civil partnership on the basis of their sexual orientation is wrong and has to end," Mr Tatchell said.

"In a democratic society, we should all be equal before the law."

The campaign will be represented in court next year by Robert Wintemute, a professor of human rights law at King's College London.

A spokesman for the Government Equalities Office said: "We are currently considering the next steps for civil partnerships."

"Earlier this year, ministers met with people and organisations holding a range of views on the issue, and we are now looking at the best way to take those views forward."

Court extends gay military ban pending appeal

A federal appeals court has ordered the US military's ban on openly gay troops to remain in place indefinitely while a legal battle is fought over the policy.

The court had last month issued a temporary injunction blocking a judge's ruling that overturned the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law.

The government argues that it should stay in place until the military has devised a new policy.

The ruling means troops can still be discharged for being openly gay.
The Obama administration has voiced support for ending "Don't ask, don't tell" but argues that any repeal of the policy should be undertaken by Congress, not the courts.

The Pentagon is currently assessing the impact that allowing openly gay servicemen and women may have on military readiness and effectiveness, and is due to release a report on 1 December.

Over the past few weeks, the defence department has been bounced between legal rulings first allowing, then denying, homosexual men and women the right to enlist.

Ten days ago, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates issued a new mandate that only five senior officials, all civilian, could expel someone from the military for being gay.

Prior to this change, a large number of less senior officials, both civilian and military, could decide to discharge gay servicemen and women.

Julianne Moore - Lesbian?

Julianne Moore

She is... in her new movie!

Julianne Moore stars in a new film called The Kids Are All Right.


She's been a porn star, walked with dinosaurs and had dinner with Hannibal Lecter. Now Julianne Moore is back in another memorable role as a lesbian mother of two in The Kids Are All Right.

Moore stars alongside Annette Bening in Lisa Cholodenko's comedy drama, which has proved to be one of the most talked-about films of the 2010 festival season.


The Kids Are All Right is a portrait of a family unit rarely seen in mainstream American cinema.

Married gay couple Nic and Jules (Bening and Moore) share their suburban home with their teenage children, both of whom were conceived by artificial insemination.

When the teens (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) track down their biological father, the family's cosy existence is challenged.

Moore's character in particular goes on a surprising journey.

"I liked it that her emotional state was not articulated," says the actress.

"Often in film, a character's dilemma is presented in a very concrete way. In life, that really doesn't happen."

For Moore, the film was a long time coming. She attached herself to the project in 2005, but it took another four years for the cameras to roll.

She says it was her admiration for director and co-writer Lisa Cholodenko that kept her on board.

"I like her sensibility so much," she continues. "I think her films are so compelling and so full of humanity."

"When I like something and someone, I stick with it a long time."

'Not PC'

From left: Annette Benning and Julianne Moore
play lesbian parents Nic and Jules

Cholodenko admits that having Moore attached so early helped her keep the project on track.

This was despite a postponement in filming in 2006 after the director became pregnant herself, via a sperm donor.

"I felt like there was someone there having a little subliminal pressure to get it done," she says.

"I had my son, got my head back on straight and resumed the project."

Despite the unconventional family unit at its heart, The Kids Are All Right explores themes that could occur in any family with kids.

"There's nothing sanctimonious," Cholodenko points out. "There's no rainbow flags, this is not PC - we're not doing that kind of movie."

"She's in a full-fledged panic," says Moore of Jules, who strikes up a rapport with the biological father of her children, a raffish restaurateur played by Mark Ruffalo.

"She has been a stay-at-home parent, her kids are growing up. She has never really chosen something she wants to do as a career."

"She feels estranged from her partner and Jules is just flailing. I though it was interesting that it was presented in a realistic and comedic way."

The "comedic" element includes 49-year-old Moore in some energetic bedroom scenes.

Moore had already worked with Ruffalo on 2008's Blindness. Did that help speed things up on the rapid 23-day shoot?

Oscar buzz

Mark Ruffalo plays Paul, the biological
father of Nic and Jules's children

"We had a whole storyline to shoot in three days. Had we had the luxury of a lot of time I don't think it would have mattered."

"But we really hit the ground running, and the fact that we are friends was a big help to us."

The Oscar buzz around The Kids Are All Right has been louder than a stadium full of vuvuzelas.

As a four-time Oscar nominee, how much attention does Moore pay to such awards talk?

"It's extremely gratifying," she admits. "It's certainly an indication that people are responding to a film and I think that you never become jaded about something like that."

Having embarked on a film career at the age of 29, Moore disproves the theory that there are no decent roles for older actresses.

Indeed, she is one of only 11 people in Oscar history to receive two acting nominations in the same year.

Those came for her performances in 2002's Far from Heaven and The Hours. She has also been seen in Boogie Nights, Hannibal and A Single Man.

"Obviously it's a fairly risky career choice," says Moore. "You're never guaranteed a job at any point in your career"

"That being said, I feel I've been very fortunate and I can't complain about the opportunities I've been offered."

WATCH THE TRAILER OF THE MOVIE HERE!

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Gay Sign Language - Video Clip

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