Earlier tonight, the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will in fact schedule a vote on the Defense Authorization Bill for the week of September 20th, ending speculation that the Senate would eschew the measure to better distinguish themselves from Republicans on tax policy. Johnson’s sources are saying that “Senate leadership is anticipating the Senate won’t have unanimous consent to bring the legislation to the floor, so 60 votes will be necessary to end a filibuster and move forward with debate on the bill. “We are going to take it the floor next week to see where the votes are,” the aide said.

LGBT activists expect to prevail on the floor, pointing to Sens Jim Webb’s (D-VA) and Scott Brown’s (R-MA) support for the overall bill and Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) vote in favor the DADT measure in committee. Sixty votes will also be needed to strike the amendment from the authorization or change its condition. As it stands, the DADT repeal measure would require President Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen to certify that repeal would not undermine military readiness or cohesion before the policy can be eliminated.

Earlier today, the Palm Center’s Chris Niff suggested that even the opponents of the measure — like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who was objecting to bringing the Defense Authorization Bill to the floor as of this morning — should (by their very own logic) allow the Senate to vote on the measure. As Neff writes, Congressional action would move issue out the courts (who have been rather hostile to the policy) and bring it back to Congress:

In short, Senator McCain is taking repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ out of the hands of the Department of Defense and Congress and placing it in the hands of a judge whose ruling he opposes. Part of his objection is his concern that the Service Chiefs in the Pentagon have not been consulted more. But just last month, the lead objector Marine Corps Commandant General Conway stated that despite any opposition he might have, the Marine Corps would lead all of the Services in implementation of openly gay service. [...]

Senator McCain has a choice: to scuttle the legislative process and block military input, thus handing this decision to Judge Phillips, or to allow the Senate to deliberate on this issue in the light of day.

Given McCain’s rather moderate past positions on DADT, his ongoing opposition to the entire defense measure is surprising — especially to those who believed that he would move back towards the middle after his victory over Tea Party Candidate J.D. Hayworth. He still has two weeks to do just that.

Florida’s leading LGBT organization, Equality Florida, has rightfully praised Charlie Crist (I-FL) for suddenly embracing a wide array of LGBT equality measures, but it’s probably worth pointing out that his conversion comes out of political necessity, not any kind of policy realization. In fact when Crist was running for Governor and for Senator as a Republican, he opposed almost every measure he now supports. Consider the following:

CRIST ON FLORIDA’S GAY ADOPTION BAN:

2010: “That is why I oppose Florida’s current law that requires Family Law judges to ignore what is right for a child in order to adhere to what Florida law blindly demands.”

2006: “Charlie Crist also believes that children are best raised in a traditional family. Accordingly, he does not support repealing the ban on adoption by same-sex couples.”

CRIST ON EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION:

2010: “I support strong anti-discrimination laws including ENDA. Employment and advancement should be based on skill and merit, not hindered by prejudice of any kind.

2006: “Charlie Crist does not support including sexual orientation within anti-discrimination laws…Charlie Crist opposes giving sexual orientation status equivalent to those currently covered under existing civil rights laws. “

CRIST ON CIVIL UNIONS:

2010: “I believe civil unions that provide the full range of legal protections should be available to gay couples. That includes access to a loved one in the hospital, inheritance rights, the fundamental things people need to take care of their families.”

2006: “Charlie Crist does not believe that the government or private industry should be required to provide health insurance benefits to same sex partners of employees or contractors.”

2008: Opposed civil unions when he supported The Florida Marriage Amendment, or Proposition 2. It said: “This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

CRIST ON DON’T ASK, DONT’ TELL:

2010: “I’m a strong supporter of the men and women of our military. Those willing to risk their lives to defend our country should not be compelled to lie to do so.”

MAY 2010: “I think the current policy has worked pretty well for America. I really do. So I don’t know why there’s any need for change at this time.”

Again, Crist’s progress speaks to the success of LGBT activism in bringing these policies into mainstream and hints to the positions all candidates will have to take in future elections. But the reason for Crist’s evolution should not escape scrutiny. Crist changed his positions to lure moderate and independent voters away from Democratic challenger Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL). And now, both men have almost identical positions on LGBT rights, with Crist still hanging on to his support for a state-based same-sex marriage ban. Ideally, of course, Crist’s move to the left would push Meek to embrace full marriage equality — a position that 41% of Floridans already hold (and increase of 15 percentage points from the mid 1990s). But I suspect that LGBT voters will have to wait two if not four more years for that issue to enter the mainstream.

Today is the deadline for California to join the anti-gay groups appealing Judge Vaughn Walker’s opinion striking down Proposition 8, and both Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) have indicated that the state will not do so.  Prop 8′s supporters, however, think they have an ace in the hole — the state’s Lt. Governor:

A group of conservative leaders led by former attorney general candidate John Eastman have asked to meet with Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado to discuss his support of an appeal in a federal court suit regarding Proposition 8.

While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled a December hearing of a lower court’s decision overturning the voter approved initiative, there is some question whether the proponents of the measure have standing to argue the case before the court.  The Attorney General and the Governor clearly have authority to file the appeal.  But, both Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger have refused to do so based on their personal opposition to Proposition 8.

“But Abel Maldonado is a supporter of Proposition 8 and hopefully more willing to honor the obligations of his office than the current Attorney General has been” says Eastman.  “Importantly, while the Governor is traveling outside of the State, all of the rights and responsibilities of the office of Governor rest with Mr. Maldonado.”

Eastman, who is best know for inventing wildly wrong theories of the Constitution supporting right-wing policy goals, is uncharacteristically correct about Lt. Gov. Maldonado’s temporary authority.  Under the California Constitution, “The Lieutenant Governor shall act as Governor during the impeachment, absence from the State, or other temporary disability of the Governor or of a Governor-elect who fails to take office.”  Thus, because Schwarzenegger is currently on business in China, Maldonado does have the authority to file an appeal that the governor objects to.

It’s difficult to imagine that Maldonado would actually do such a thing, however.  For one thing, he presently has much more important matters to deal with.  Not long after Schwarzenegger left for China, a massive gas explosion occurred in San Bruno, California.  As the state’s acting governor, Maldonado has been quite busy dealing with this tragic development.

Moreover, filing an appeal that Schwarzenegger has consistently and publicly opposed would be nothing less than a declaration of war against the highest ranking official in his state.  If the governor had to fear that every time he left the state his decisions would be overruled by Maldonado, Schwarzenegger would be discouraged from traveling outside of the state even when it was in California’s interests for him to do so.  Simply put, it makes no sense to have crucial policy decisions rest upon where Gov. Schwarzenegger happens to be sleeping tonight.

Nevertheless, the anti-gay activists offer one entirely cynical reason for Maldonado to abuse his temporary powers as acting governor: the upcoming election.  As one anti-gay activist puts it, “more than a few conservatives are still angry with the Lieutenant Governor for votes while he was in the California Legislature.  The simple act of filing this appeal could wipe away many bad memories.”

Raw Story is reporting that Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) will issue a new position paper later this week embracing a host of new LGBT initiatives, while still opposing same-sex marriage:

Civil Unions
I believe that the government should not make it harder for people to take care of their loved ones. I believe civil unions that provide the full range of legal protections should be available to gay couples. That includes access to a loved one in the hospital, inheritance rights, the fundamental things people need to take care of their families.

Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
I’m a strong supporter of the men and women of our military. Those willing to risk their lives to defend our country should not be compelled to lie to do so. I support the current efforts by Congress and military leadership to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and hold every member of the military to the same standard of professionalism that has made our military the greatest force for good in the world

Federal Safe Schools Improvement Act
As Commissioner of Education I was the first statewide official to support anti-bullying protections that specifically enumerated the most frequent manifestations of bullying in our schools. Everyone who has children or who has worked with students knows that anti-gay taunts are used relentlessly on our campuses. We need to address the epidemic of bullying and create safe learning environments for every single student.

The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act
I’ve been a consistent supporter of providing legal protections for gay couples. Like most Americans I believe the government should make it easier, not harder, for people to take care of their loved ones.

Uniting American Families Act
Family reunification has been the foundation of U.S. immigration law but U.S. citizens who are gay cannot sponsor their partners for family-based immigration. As a consequence, many same-sex, bi-national couples are kept apart or torn apart sometimes even separating parents from their children. This bill, which I support, humanely addresses a problem that disproportionately impacts Floridians.

Equal Access to COBRA Act
I strongly support this act which mandates that employees, their partners and dependent children be allowed to continue participation in their employer-sponsored health coverage.

Crist has a long and complicated history on gay issues and has at times opposed many of the above measures. As a Republican, Crist supported the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, but as an independent, he now supports its repeal. Crist has also supported efforts to ban gay marriage in Florida, but has said that civil unions between gays are “fine.” In 2007, however, he asked the Republican party to stop spending money promoting “a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Florida” even after he signed a petition “to place an amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage on the 2008 election ballot.” “When asked if he supported civil rights on the basis of sexual orientation, Crist said ‘no.’”

On July 28, 2006, Crist told a radio show that he “haven’t taken a position yet” on the right of gays to adopt, but only days after — in an interview by the Florida Baptist Witness — “Crist answered ‘no’ to repealing the ban on gays’ adopting.” In the draft provided to Raw Story, Crist says he now opposes the adoption ban. “We need to take politics out of adoption decisions,” the governor says in the draft. “That is why I oppose Florida’s current law that requires Family Law judges to ignore what is right for a child in order to adhere to what Florida law blindly demands. There is only one question that matters: What is in the best interest of that child?”

As an independent, Crist probably feels that he has to position himself as more accepting of LGBT issues to bolster his position with moderate voters. This strategic decision — the realization that supporting LGBT issues is mainstream — is in itself a major victory for LGBT activists. As Equality Florida’s Nadine Smith points out, “It’s great to hear a sitting governor take such a strong stand on equality issues. This is the first time in Florida’s history that a sitting governor has taken these public positions on a wide range of LGBT equality issues. It marks a shift in the debate in our state.”