Connect with us

Week In Review: Obama Argues Gay Rights At UN, DADT Repeal, Palestine

Published

on

“Week in Review” is a new addition to the New Civil Rights Movement by Tanya Domi, which presents a review of top news throughout the world and in America each Sunday. We begin this week by highlighting several major stories from the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York this week.

International News

Obama Affirms the Human Rights of Gays and Lesbians at the UN

After laying down an aggressive LGBT human rights agenda at the UN during the past year, President Barack Obama called for equal rights for lesbians and gays in an address before the UN General Assembly. “No country should deny people their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere,” Obama said. Mark Bromley, chair of the Council on Global Equality, issued this comment on Wednesday: “The President’s remarks today at the UN General Assembly, where he called for the world to ‘stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere,’ were historic. Never before has a sitting U.S. President spoken so clearly about LGBT rights in a formal address to the full General Assembly. It shows how far we have come.”

Palestinians Ask the UN for Statehood Vote

https://youtube.com/watch?v=d8_rd3PqT-k%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

 

Mahmood Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, went before the UN General Assembly this week andsolicited the UN for a full Statehood vote n the Security Council. The U.S. has indicated it will veto such a proposal. Abbas was received warmly by the world body during his speech, receiving a standing ovation. Abbas said during his speech, “I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership. I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership in the United Nations and our admission as an independent state.” Upon Abbas’ return to Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinians greeted him in a raucous celebration.

Pope Calls for Global Religious Alliance Against Gay Marriage and Abortion

During a tour of his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI called on Orthodox Christians to join with the Roman Catholic Church to form a religious alliance against gay marriage and abortion. During a meeting with Orthodox Christians he said, “Knowing, too, the value of family and marriage, we as Christians attach great importance to defending the integrity and the uniqueness of marriage between one man and one woman from any kind of misinterpretation,” adding, “Here the common engagement of Christians, including many Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians, makes a valuable contribution to building up a society equipped for the future.” The Orthodox Church also condemns homosexuality and has proven to be a formidable adversary toward LGBT rights in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Putin Announces Second Run for Russia’s Presidency

Endorsed by his party United Russia, Vladimir Putin announced he will run for President again in 2012by switching places with Dimitri Medvedev. Many Kremlin watchers have said the younger Medvedev had been keeping the seat warm for Putin to reclaim for a 2012 run. Theoretically, if successful, this election could extend Putin’s reign of power to 2024 equating his time in power to that of Stalin and Brezhnef. Medvedev announced he would step down from the presidency yesterday, allowing Putin to move forward, with no significant opposition in sight.

13 Million Affected by Famine in Horn of Africa

A predicted famine in Sub Sahara Africa rages on, affecting at least 13 million people who have been disproportiately displaced from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, a failed state located in the Horn of Africa.  Startling photographs documenting this famine can be attributed to lower wheat crop yields around the world, coupled with poor humanitarian response by state officials.  Somalis are fleeing, by walking out of the poor country that takes about a month, to the Dadaab refugee camp, located in Northern Kenya, the largest such camp in the world today. But arriving to the the camp does not assure access to food or safety and many continue to die in the camp. The U.S. government is providing an array of humanitarian assistance, including $69 million in emergency food aid to support the populations in emergency conditions.

Jailed American Hikers Return to the U.S.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, two American hikers who had been held in an Iranian prison for more than two years, were released this past week and returned to the United States on September 25. The two were released from Tehran’s Evin prison under a $1 million bail deal and arrived in Oman on Wednesday in the first leg of their journey home. The third hiker, American Sarah Shourd, was released for health reasons in November 2011. Shourd met Fattal and Bauer in Oman for a joyous reunion. Bauer asked Shourd to marry him while they were imprisoned in Iran. Nick Kristof of The New York Times interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this past week and raised the issue of the American hikers. On Thursday, Ahmadinejad told CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer that homosexuality is, “one of the ugliest behaviors in our society. It is against divine will, divine teachings of any and every faith, and it is certainly at the detriment of humans and humanity.”

National News

End of Era: DADT Ends

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a Clinton Administration “compromise” in 1993 during the effort to repeal the gay ban was finally repealed this past week that was marked by celebrations from Washington D.C. to San Francisco.  This watershed event was made evident in an official Department of Defense website titled “DADT is Repealed.” Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in observation of the day, “Today, with implementation of the new law fully in place, we are a stronger joint force, a more tolerant force, a force of more character and more honor, more in keeping with our own values.”

The White House issued the following statement from President Barack Obama, ‘Today’s achievement is a tribute to all the patriots who fought and marched for change; to Members of Congress, from both parties, who voted for repeal; to our civilian and military leaders who ensured a smooth transition; and to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who showed that they were ready to move forward together, as one team, to meet the missions we ask of them.”

Republicans Boo Openly Gay Soldier During GOP Presidential Debate

In the same week DADT was repealed into the history books, a partisan Republican audience jeered Stephen Hill, an openly gay soldier based in Iraq, who questioned in an YouTube presentation whether Republican candidates for the presidency would reinstate the discredited and unconstitutional policy. Virulent anti-gay candidate Rick Santorum, condemned the jeering by the audience, only to retract his statement a day later. The New Civil Rights Movement captured all the candidates comments or actions about the jeering of the gay soldier following the debate. Ultimately, only John Huntsman, candidate from Utah, expressed his regrets for not condemning the jeers of the audience.

Troy Davis Executed in Georgia Prison Garnering Worldwide Condemnation

Troy A. Davis, sentenced to death row 19 years ago for the killing of Mark Allen MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah, Georgia police officer in 1989, was executed on September 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court and the Georgia Parole Board denied his request for clemency. Pleas for Davis’ clemency were submitted by numerous luminaries, including former Nobel Peace laureates President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as Pope Benedict and the European Union. The Georgia conviction of Davis unraveled in recent years, when several eye witnesses recanted their original statements. The NAACP has established an on-line condolence book for Troy Davis, who will be buried on October 1.

HRC Announces Obama as Keynote Speaker for Annual Dinner

“We are honored to share this night with President Obama who has a tremendous record of accomplishment for LGBT people,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “On the heels of the end to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ we look forward to celebrating our victories and redoubling our efforts for the fights that remain ahead.”

The event, HRC’s largest fundraiser which is expected to draw nearly 3,000 attendees, will be the evening of Saturday, October 1st at the Washington Convention Center. many wonder if the President will make any major news this time, like supporting full civil marriage equality.

 

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘The Whole Thing Is Imploding’: Chaos and Rebellion at America’s Top Right-Wing Think Tank

Published

6 hours ago

on

November 9, 2025

By

Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation has become what its president, Kevin Roberts, now hails as the “intellectual backbone” of the conservative movement. It crafted the policy blueprint that powered President Ronald Reagan’s right-wing revolution — and today, under Roberts’s leadership, it’s once again shaping the machinery of power. Through its highly controversial Project 2025 — a plan widely credited to Roberts as its chief architect — Heritage laid out a road map for President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. But Roberts’s recent missteps have rattled the institution, raising strong questions about his leadership — and the future direction of the conservative movement itself.

Roberts gained widespread attention in July 2024 when he issued a warning to Democrats: “we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

At the time, Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer said, “they are threatening violence.”

As did others.

“Kevin Roberts is threatening violence to anyone not following his dear leader,” former Republican and former U.S. Congressman Denver Riggleman wrote. “Every network should cover this.”

Roberts’s remarks had come just after the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a new constitutional principle of “presidential immunity” for official acts — a decision critics say President Donald Trump has wielded to expand his power.

Late last month, Roberts came under tremendous criticism after throwing his support behind former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who had a two-hour interview with far-right extremist leader Nick Fuentes, whom many see as promoting Christian nationalism, white supremacy, racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and Islamophobia.

“There has been speculation that @Heritage is distancing itself from @TuckerCarlson over the past 24 hours,” Roberts wrote on October 30 when posting the video that sparked this current firestorm. “I want to put that to rest right now.”

The editors of the right-wing National Review in a scathing editorial explained the issue: “Tucker Carlson, knee-deep already, has taken another step into the muck with a friendly interview with Nick Fuentes.”

HERITAGE “WILL ALWAYS DEFEND OUR FRIENDS … THAT INCLUDES TUCKER CARLSON”

Roberts had wasted no time in coming to Carlson’s defense.

“The Heritage Foundation didn’t become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people or policing the consciences of Christians. And we won’t start doing that now,” he said in his video supporting Carlson.

Roberts insisted that Heritage “will always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else’s agenda. That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and as I have said before, always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”

Criticism of Roberts was immediate.

Journalist Yashar Ali called it a “watershed moment.”

“In his statement,” Ali wrote, “Kevin condemns what he calls a ‘venomous coalition’ that is ‘sowing division’ by attacking Tucker. That ‘venomous coalition,’ includes MAGA Republicans as well as Jewish conservative commentators, activists, and donors.”

“Kevin also frames Nick Fuentes’s rhetoric as worthy of debate, rather than something to be condemned outright. A shift like this would’ve been unthinkable for Heritage just three years ago.”

Condemnations came, and continue to do so — from both outside and inside Heritage.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski on Thursday reported on what one senior staffer called the “absolute s–” swirling inside Heritage.

“The staff that we talked to told us the Heritage Foundation is in open revolt over the president’s defense of Carlson,” Kaczynski explained.

That senior staffer also told CNN that Roberts had “lost control over the organization.”

Kaczynski noted that they also “said there’s an open rebellion, and this really all came to a head [Wednesday], where they had this all hands meeting … this was kind of going around social media, where Roberts publicly apologized, according to her recording we obtained, Roberts told employees, ‘I made a mistake. I let you down. I let this institution down. I’m sorry.'”

“But,” Kaczynski added, Roberts “also made clear he has no plans to resign.”

On Friday, Reason senior editor Stephanie Slade wrote that at a Thursday night event, “I was asked if the crisis at Heritage Foundation seemed to be blowing over. This morning I received a message from someone inside the building about Kevin Roberts: ‘He needs to be made to resign by the [Heritage] Foundation Board of Trustees.'”

“In speaking to current and former Heritage staffers over the last week,” Slade continued, “the emotion I’ve most commonly encountered is disgust and the words I’ve most commonly heard are ‘Kevin Roberts has to go.'”

By Wednesday, as Ali noted, Roberts had “made his fourth public statement on the Tucker Carlson/Nick Fuentes situation … over the course of six days.” After the initial video that ignited the firestorm, Roberts made three other attempts to “clean up” his remarks.

According to The Wall Street Journal’s Elliot Kaufman, Heritage senior fellow Amy Swearer, in remarks before Heritage staff, told Roberts, “over the last week, you have shown a stunning lack of both courage and judgment.”

She called Roberts’ initial defense of Carlson “at best … equal parts incoherent, unhelpful and naive.”

“At worst, it was more akin to a master class in cowardice that ran cover for the most unhinged dregs of the far right.”

“LOST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DONATIONS”

Heritage also appears to be losing important donors.

“One major donor, whose organization contributes more than a half million dollars annually to Heritage Foundation, told us that they had totally lost faith in Roberts,” Kaczynski reported.

“They said, ‘I see how things play out, but if Kevin remains as president, we will not be giving to Heritage.'”

“Likewise, the Zionist Organization of America, that’s actually the oldest pro-Israel group in the United States, announced that it has withdrawn from Heritage’s initiative on antisemitism, unless Roberts publicly apologized, and retract his praise for Carlson.”

Newsmax reported that “Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein told Newsmax Friday that Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts should resign immediately.”

“My organization has many of the same donors as Heritage,” Klein also said. “They’ve told me that they’re stopping all funding for Heritage until they get rid of Kevin Roberts, so yes, they have lost millions of dollars in donations since this controversy arose.”

Klein also “pointed to longtime Heritage fellow Stephen Moore’s recent departure.”

“He doesn’t want to be involved with Heritage, which is now tainted as an antisemitic, bigoted organization,” Klein told Newsmax. “It’s harmed everything else they do.”

Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that “Any tent that is big enough for them …is too big for me,” referring to Fuentes and his allies.

The Journal reported that “Goldfeder resigned from Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism in the aftermath of Roberts’s video.”

“CIVIL WAR AT THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION”

Other critics outside Heritage have also been observing Roberts’ crumbling support, and what it means for the future of the organization, its president, and the conservative movement.

“The civil war at the Heritage Foundation is far more consequential than most people realize,” noted Mike Madrid, the prominent Latino Republican political consultant. “The divide seems irreconcilable and it could splinter the American right irreversibly.”

Conservative New York Times opinion columnist David French wrote on Sunday, “I don’t know if Roberts will survive at Heritage.”

“I do know that Carlson and Fuentes and their constellation of friends and allies are far too popular to cancel or even to contain,” he noted, and observed: “The fight for the future of the Republican Party is underway.”

And pointing to a Washington Post article on the crisis at Heritage, Madrid declared: “The whole thing is imploding.”

 

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

News

‘Impossible to Lose’: Trump Pitches Strategy to Cement One-Party Rule

Published

2 days ago

on

November 7, 2025

By

President Donald Trump renewed his demand that Republican senators eliminate the 60-vote filibuster, which he sees as one of the biggest roadblocks to achieving his far-reaching agenda. Now, he said he wants to eliminate the filibuster as a way to ensure permanent Republican control of the government.

The president has been calling for senators to act, despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s strong opposition to invoking the “nuclear option.”

In a lengthy Truth Social post last week, Trump expressed his agenda.

“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” he declared.

READ MORE: Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

He warned that Democrats want to “substantially expand (PACK!) the United States Supreme Court, make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico States (Thereby automatically picking up 4 Senate seats, many House seats, and at least 8 Electoral Votes!), and many other highly destructive things.”

“Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.'”

Trump then admitted: “I want to do it in order to take advantage of the Democrats….”

Trump has repeated his call to end the filibuster several times since then, most recently on Friday afternoon.

“The Democrats will do this,” he said of killing the filibuster, “so if the Democrats are gonna do it, I’m saying Republicans should do it before they get a chance.”

“It’s very simple,” Trump explained.

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

“And if we do it, we will never lose the midterms, and we will never lose the general election, because we will have produced so many different things for our people — for the people, for the country — that it would be impossible to lose an election.”

Critics quickly weighed in with warnings.

“I thought the vice president Vance statement about ignoring judges would be it for today,” wrote The Steady State, a group of over 350 former national security and intelligence officials, referring to JD Vance’s apparent suggestion to ignore a federal judge’s order to release about $6 billion in SNAP funds.

“President Trump went a little farther in terms of crossing yet another red line,” the group continued, “explaining why he wants [the] filibuster gone he is very clear. One party rule. Elections that he and his never lose —— that is autocracy.”

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘Unique Action’: Trump Admin Spins Flight Cancellations as Fix for Traveling Frustration

Published

2 days ago

on

November 7, 2025

By

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sought Friday to cast a positive light on the Federal Aviation Administration’s order requiring airlines to cut ten percent of flights at 40 major airports — a move prompted by overworked air traffic controllers who have gone weeks without pay as the government shutdown stretches into its 38th day with no immediate end in sight.

More than 800 flights nationwide were canceled on Friday, leaving some travelers “scrambling to figure out backup plans,” the Associated Press reported.

But According to Secretary Duffy, he has come up with a “unique action” that reduces a major frustration of air travel: flight delays.

READ MORE: Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

“I asked the head of the air traffic controller union to reach out to his controllers, to ask them to show up. It is their jobs,” Duffy said on Friday.

“If they start coming to work, we may have the same experience we had in Newark: We had delays and cancellations in Newark in the early summer. We reduced the capacity, and then the flights were on time. Right?”

“It was the most on-time months we had in Newark ever,” he added. “So that could be an outcome of what we’re doing, and we’ll see probably more people on less flights, which means less pressure on controllers.”

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

Secretary Duffy also said, “There’s a very easy solution to the problem that they put directly on my lap, which is open the damn government. Vote to open the government, so those who snipe at me for having to take really unique action — they put that on my plate.”

Critics blasted Duffy.

Republican former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger wrote: “Cutting flights because of the govt shutdown is a stunt, plain and simple.”

He also remarked, “We’re cutting flights and food because of the govt shutdown but ICE is out [in] full force!”

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.