NEWSLGBT POLITICIANS

Change.org received a statement from the United States Postal Service (USPS) in response to a petition with more than 8,000 signatures started by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force urging USPS to make a stamp honoring Harvey Milk.

Roy Betts, a spokesperson for USPS wrote:

I am pleased to respond that Harvey Milk is under consideration by the Committee for possible future stamp issuance. The Committee is responsible for reviewing stamp proposals and making subject and design recommendations to the Postmaster General.As additional information, the Committee decides on new stamp subject recommendations far in advance of the issue date in order to provide time for planning, design, production, and distribution. Currently, the 2012 and 2013 stamp programs are completed, and stamp subjects for the 2014 program and subsequent years are being selected. Although many of the subjects for upcoming new stamps have been identified, no public announcement of individual new stamps is made until the entire stamp program for that year has been approved. This occurs in the fall preceding the year of issuance.

It is reassuring that a Harvey Milk stamp is still under consideration. The committee could have dismissed the idea by now, but they chose to keep the idea alive.

As the number two discount retail chain in the U.S. with over $67 billion in annual sales, and intent on conquering Canada's retail market, Target Corp. undoubtedly wields significant socio-economic influence.

Recognizing this influence, Target regularly donates to good causes, encourages volunteerism among their employees, and boasts a generous and open work atmosphere (though their overseas record is less than spotless).

But as you might remember from last year, Target's name became synonymous with more than just shopping deals, having gained notoriety for their continued support of anti-LGBT politicians across the country; this after significant public outrage over their whopping $150,000 in cash donations to one hate-promoting group in Minnesota (nothing to twist here, WSJ).

All this in the name of seeking bigger breaks and business-friendliness from state politicians. (I guess a growth of $3 billion in sales in the past two years isn't friendly enough).

Fred Karger is the openly gay Republican -- and former Reagan adviser -- exploring a run for the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination. He might not get as much press as, say, the Santorums or Pawlentys or Huckabees, but Karger has been vocal about his intentions of exploring a run for President, and he's been trekking to places like Iowa and New Hampshire meeting with scores of voters.

By many respects, Karger has invested himself more into his exploratory campaign than any other potential 2012 GOP nominee. Yet despite his efforts, the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition doesn't consider Karger a "legitimate" contender for President. The group's head even went so far to say a couple months ago that he'd like to personally "abort" Karger's potential candidacy.

President Obama has nominated two openly gay men to federal courts. If confirmed, J. Paul Oetken and Edward C. DuMont would become the first openly gay men to serve on the federal bench.

Oetken, who has been nominated to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York , has incredible credentials. He holds a law degree from Yale Law School and is currently a senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision.  Prior to Cablevision, he clerked for a federal district court, a federal appeals court and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, worked for the Justice Department and the White House counsel’s office and worked in private practice for four of years.

Dumont, who has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, has equally impressive credentials. DuMont has a J.D. from Stanford Law School; he has been with the law firm WilmerHale since 2002. He also served as a clerk on the 7th circuit court of appeals and as Assistant to the Solicitor General, where he tried 18 cases before the United States Supreme Court.  With qualifications like these, one would hope they would have a smooth confirmation.

Fred Karger deserves a whole lotta love. The openly gay former Reagan strategist and founder of Californians Against Hate has formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee, traveling frequently to Iowa and New Hampshire as a potential GOP presidential candidate. His goal? To get the Republican Party to not only deal with LGBT issues in a new capacity, but to actually admit that there are LGBT people in the GOP.

His presence is already making waves. Take, for instance, the fact that the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition singled out Karger as someone whose candidacy they want to "abort." They've refused to invite Karger to a March 2011 candidate forum where potential candidates will dish with Iowa residents and introduce themselves to voters. Karger, for his part, is fighting tooth and nail to participate, and a number of Change.org members have joined him in calling on the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition to truly open their doors and let Iowa voters decide who's a legitimate candidate, and who is not.

But Karger isn't just making waves in Iowa. Head on over east to the equally as frigid New Hampshire scene, and this week you'll find Karger getting ready to take on the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the officially-dubbed hate group that makes it their sole business to take civil rights away from LGBT Americans. This week, Karger is going to release an ad in New Hampshire that will run statewide, and will target NOM for their shady work to repeal the state's marriage equality law.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced yesterday on a conservative talkshow that he would reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" if he were running the country.

“I’ve been a public supporter of maintaining ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and I would support reinstating it as well," he said. It is rumored that he may run for president in 2012, a thought that reasonably causes many an LGBT voter to shudder. Then again, Pawlenty may also open a margarita bar instead, as he has repeatedly joked. Doesn't he know Jimmy Buffet is so passe?

"I'm not just a fiscal conservative, I'm a social conservative," T-Paw, as Pawlenty has been nicknamed, relayed on the radio show. When asked how he would treat "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" if elected president, he said, "I believe strongly in traditional marriage. I don't believe all other domestic relationships should be on the same platform as traditional marriage. I just don't buy that." He went on to reinforce that he believes strongly in a "conservative interpretation" of the law.

How big is the tent in the Republican Party? That's a question that GOPers in Iowa will have to answer, as they get set to host an event in March 2011 for potential presidential hopefuls. If organizers of the event are to be believed, you can expect to see Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, and a host of other politicians rumored to be running for president.

But at the moment, you won't see GOP presidential hopeful Fred Karger, because folks with the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition won't give him an invite. Why? Because of what they consider his evil homosexual ways.

Steve Scheffler, an Iowa GOP activist and religious conservative, has a thing out for Karger, believing that Karger isn't a legitimate candidate for President. “We're inviting all potential candidates who are legitimate candidates,” said Scheffler. "[Karger] is not a legitimate candidate."

Scheffler has a pretty whacked out definition of the word legitimate then. That's because Karger has visited Iowa at least five times over the past few months, has cut an introductory commercial that's aired on television, and has met with scores of Iowa voters -- which combined is much more political activity than practically every candidate on the invite list for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition's event. But perhaps what Scheffler really means to say is that if you're gay, you simply can't be a legitimate Republican. Maybe he should have the gumption to just come out and say that.

We're barely a week into 2011, and already thoughts are swirling about the next Presidential election, and the beloved Iowa caucus that gets the ball rolling. Politicians from Rep. Michele Bachmann to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to former Sen. Rick Santorum to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour are all traveling up to Iowa, stoking the fires of potential campaigns.

There's another potential candidate who has formed his own presidential exploratory committee, who has visited Iowa five times, and who has even filmed a television commercial introducing himself to voters. That would be Fred Karger, the openly gay Republican political operative creating quite the splash by dabbling into presidential politics.

Karger may not have the profile of  Gingrich or Huckabee, or the financial war chest of Palin or Paul, but he's very much a serious and legitimate candidate. Yet, despite Karger's bonafides, the Iowa Christian Alliance has refused to invite him to a planned March 2011 candidate's forum in Waukee, Iowa. And the reason? They don't acknowledge gay Republicans, or believe there's space within the Republican Party for those who identify as LGBT.

There are a lot of folks running to be the next leader of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Current RNC Chair Michael Steele wants the job again. Former Missouri GOP chairwoman Ann Wagner is running. So are former deputy RNC chairwoman Maria Cino, and Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus.

There's also a fifth candidate purposely running with a lower profile, in hopes of waging a quiet campaign for the position that will show he's a leader who knows how to get stuff done. That would be Saul Anuzis, the former Michigan GOP Chairman. But don't let Anuzis' quiet profile catch you off guard. Turns out that Anuzis has some close ties to a fiercely anti-gay, anti-immigrant, white supremacist hate group leader who Anuzis once touted as the future of the Republican Party.

That hate group leader would be Kyle Bristow, who as a student at Michigan State University was the leader of a group known as Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). The group would soon become one of the more radical groups in the country, with Bristow and YAF known for some of the following: (a) hosting a Quran desecration contest, where participants would come up with 'creative' ways to deface the book; (b) hosting an event called "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day"; (c) posting "Gays Spread AIDS" fliers all across campus; (d) holding an official position that "homosexuality kills people almost to a degree worse than cigarettes," and; (e) inviting Holocaust deniers to give speeches at Holocaust memorials.

Yet in the wake of all of this, how did Saul Anuzis describe Kyle Bristow and his work?

"This is exactly the type of young kid we want out there," Anuzis said. "I’ve known Kyle for years and I can tell you I have never heard him say a racist or bigoted or sexist thing, ever."

The type of kid Anuzis wants out there is one who would legitimize Holocaust deniers, call homosexuality a disease, purposely destroy copies of the Quran with glee, and host games about detaining immigrants? That's really the type of profile Anuzis wants to welcome into the Republican Party?

Despite recent success, the Republican Party is still having a major identity crisis. Tea Party activists want the Party to focus on limiting government and reducing debt, while socially conservative groups are grasping for the power they enjoyed in the Bush Administration. With the Republicans taking over the House and a slew of GOP leaders about to start the two-year boxing match for the Republican presidential nomination, this is a crucial time in defining the future of the Republican Party.

It should now be a priority of the LGBT equality movement to encourage a Republican exodus from social issues. We need to create an environment where Republicans feel more comfortable voting for equality and representing their LGBT constituents.  We need to celebrate and thank the Republicans who cross the aisle for equality and we need to continue fervent opposition to Republicans who have built their careers on anti-gay bigotry.

A more socially moderate GOP will also force the Democrats to stop taking the LGBT voting bloc for granted. It will make full marriage equality a requisite position for any serious Democratic candidate.

So, instead of moping around for the next few years, while we face a hostile House of Representatives, it is imperative that the LGBT movement starts pushing this GOP evolution.