Dan Choi, co-founder of KnightsOut, a group campaigning to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t tell (DADT) spoke recently to PinkNews.co.uk on how the firing of gay linguists may have undermined national security in the lead up to 9/11.

“On Monday, September 10th 2001, a message was intercepted by the State Department: tomorrow is zero hour. Despite its simplicity, nobody was able to translate it. Any of the dozens of linguists already discharged for being gay at the time would have done so easily.”

Choi, a former infantry platoon leader for the New York Army National guard, has been outspoken against DADT since coming out of the closet on the Rachel Maddow Show In March:

Since the introduction of DADT in 1994, over 1200 services members have been ejected from the military, including 60 Arab linguists.

President Obama spoke yesterday on resisting injustice and intolerance at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Day of Remembrance Ceremony, an annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. From Obama’s speech…

“To this day, there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened, who perpetrate every form of intolerance — racism and anti- Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism and more — hatred that degrades its victim and diminishes us all.

Today and every day, we have an opportunity as well as an obligation to confront these scourges, to fight the impulse to turn the channel when we see images that disturb us or wrap ourselves in the false comfort that others’ sufferings are not our own. Instead, we have the opportunity to make a habit of empathy, to recognize ourselves in each other, to commit ourselves to resisting injustice and intolerance and indifference…”

During hearings on new energy legislation today Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) attempted to discredit Al Gore by alleging—through her constituents—that the former Vice President was profiting from the climate crisis. After laughing with the audience through much her remarks, Gore repudiated the allegations saying “If you believe the reason I have been working on this issue for 30 years is because of greed… You don’t know me.” Watch.

Blackburn and Michelle Bachman must be cut from the same cloth. I say we torture these folks by putting them on the beach and watching them scream for help as the water levels rise. Oh wait a minute… that’s not torture. They’ve said so themselves. Sorry.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, sometimes referred to as the Matthew Shepard Act, made significant progress today passing 15-12 in the House Judiciary Committee, despite GOP members efforts to ammend the bill with frivolous amendments and gutting the “gender identity” language from the bill entirely.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), praised the committee vote in the Washington Blade:

“Laws ultimately reflect a nation’s values, and this legislation, once passed, will send a strong message that America rejects all forms of hate violence, including bias-motivated crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” she said. “This committee vote marks the beginning of the end of a long-fought battle.”

There was protracted discussion in committee Wednesday and Thursday of several amendments to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The measure is intended, among other things, to allow the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of hate crimes committed against LGBT people that result in death or serious injury.

Amendments offered by the committee’s Republican members, though, sought to include unborn children, military members and pregnant women in the measure. Another proposed amendment sought to strip passages regarding “gender identity” from the bill. The amendments were voted down.

The bill may come up for a vote on the House floor as early as next week.

Hate crimes legislation has languished under Republican leadership since 1997, even after the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student who was murdered in 1998 for being gay. But now with a Democratic Congress and President the bill has a legitimate chance of becoming law.

Recently, Matthew’s mom Judy Shepard made an impassioned plea for the bill’s passage. Watch.

For more information visit http://www.FightHateNow.org.