Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano on Friday pledged in a letter (PDF) to consider a gay or lesbian person’s relationship status in deportation proceedings, bringing relief to many bi-national gay and lesbian couples whose relationships aren’t recognized because of the Defense of Marriage Act.

While this echoes an earlier commitment from the Department of Homeland Security, it is the first time such guidance will be provided in writing:

In an effort to make clear the definition of the phrase “family relationships,” I have directed ICE to disseminate written guidance to the field that the interpretation of the phrase “family relationships” includes long-term, same-sex partners. As with every other factor identified in Director Morton’s June 11 memorandum, the applicability of the “family relationships” factor is weighed on an individualized basis in the consideration of whether prosecutorial discretion is appropriate in a given case.

Napolitano’s commitment is a response to a request for clarification from members of Congress about the deportation process, which currently does not factor in whether a gay or lesbian non-citizen is in a relationship with a citizen — a right afforded to straight couples.

Our guest blogger is Erik Stegman, Manager for the Half in Ten campaign at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The award-winning documentary about two-spirit people in Navajo culture.

Inspired by the Coquille and Suquamish Tribes’ recent landmark decisions to recognize same-sex marriage, a cutting-edge legal guide has been developed to help tribal legislators strengthen LGBT equality in their governments and communities.  The guide, “Tribal Equity Toolkit: Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit and LGBT Justice in Indian Country,” is a first-of-its-kind collection of legal resources that helps tribal government officials identify discrimination in tribal codes and regulations and offers draft language to strengthen and promote LGBT equality.  The toolkit was developed by the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis and Clark College in partnership with the Native American Program of Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, and the Western States Center.  The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians also offered technical support to the project.

Although the final toolkit won’t be released until November, the project’s authors had a unique opportunity to present a draft to the general assembly of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which is an association of the leadership 57 Northwest tribal governments.  The toolkit covers a comprehensive range of legal areas where tribal leaders can improve the lives of LGBT tribal members.  The family law section provides guides and sample language for marriage equality, adoption codes, visitation for LGBT parents, and even ways to strengthen the environment for LGBT native youth in the juvenile justice system.  Other sections of the toolkit include employment nondiscrimination approaches, hate crime legislative options, housing nondiscrimination policies, and options to improve education, and health care.

Se-ah-dom Edmo, director of the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis & Clark College, stold the Indian Country Today Media Network that “our hope is to begin to construct a cohesive narrative about Two Spirit & LGBT Natives within our own Tribal communities and for those stories to compel us to take action.”

Basic Rights Oregon also produced a new video called “Our Families: LGBT Two Spirit Stories,” which tells the stories of LGBT tribal members and their families.

The toolkit is especially timely for the Northwest because of Referendum 74, a state ballot initiative in Washington State that would uphold marriage equality.  Washington State has 29 federally recognized tribes, one of which, the Suquamish Tribe, has legalized same-sex marriage.  There are 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States.  As sovereign governments, tribal leaders have wide-ranging opportunities to promote LGBT equality in their agencies, police systems, courts, schools and business relationships.  The final toolkit will be available on November 1.

A foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney on Friday called President Obama’s foreign policy “limp wristed.”

Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton employed the term, usually used as a slur against or allusion to gay men, to describe the Obama administration’s response to the attacks in Libya earlier this month:

The US is viewed under Obama as weak, as Sen. McCain said, as declining in influence dramatically in the Middle East, pulling out of Iraq, intending to pull out of Aghanistan, having a limp wristed reaction to the assassination of four American diplomats.

Watch it:

Though he is frequently and prominent featured on Fox News, Bolton often acts as a surrogate for the Romney campaign, hosting numerous events for the GOP candidate. After Bolton endorsed Romney in January of 2012, the former Massachusetts candidate said, “John has been a staunch defender of U.S. interests and values, both while he was in and out of government … I look forward to consulting with him as we campaign to restore America’s standing abroad and ensure that this century is an American Century.”

Steve Cammett, 60, worked for nearly a decade at various Chick-fil-A branches and at their corporate offices, but he resigned in protest last month. He is now speaking out about the anti-gay environment nurtured by the fast food chain:

CAMMETT: It’s become a safe place for people to hate and they expect to be patted on the back for it. I don’t want to work in that kind of environment. [...]

[Customers on Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day were] putting their arms around the person, and saying, “We sure are glad that your company is taking a stand against those perverts,” and this person was gay and they didn’t know it. And I just thought, “Wow, what has happened here?” Chick-fil-A allowed a mindset to continue amongst their customers that seemed to think Chick-fil-A didn’t like homosexuals.

Cammett has also penned an open letter to the restaurant’s president, Dan Cathy, asking him to make a public statement, “declaring your love, acceptance, and support for gay and divorced people.”

Michelle Kosilek

In a jarringly anti-trans maneuver, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s (D) administration has appealed a federal judge’s ruling granting sex reassignment surgery for transgender inmate Michelle Kosilek. The surgery has been prescribed by her Bureau of Prisons doctors, but the state has resisted allowing her to get it for over a decade, spending far more on court medical experts than the surgery would even cost. Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin explained the appeal:

WIFFIN: Following a thorough review of the decision, we believe the court failed to give due deference to the fact that the Department has and continues to provide adequate medical treatment to address inmate Kosilek’s gender identity disorder. We also found the opinion improperly discredits the legitimate safety concerns trained correctional professionals testified will arise if sex reassignment surgery is performed.

It’s clear from this explanation that the administration is trying to avoid addressing its lack of transgender protections by punishing Kosilek instead. As Gunner Scott of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition points out, “Care that is medically necessary for prisoners cannot be denied based on public opinion.” If the state truly were providing “adequate medical treatment,” it would allow Kosilek to receive the treatment prescribed by her Bureau of Prisons doctors.

The “legitimate safety concerns” are a problem with the system, not with this case. Kosilek identifies as a woman regardless of whether she has had surgery or not, and her safety is definitely at stake so long as she remains in a men’s prison. By filing this appeal, Patrick’s administration is proving there is no limit to how much taxpayer money it will waste simply to refuse to recognize transgender people for who they are.

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has been a very vocal advocate for marriage equality, helping fundraise to defeat his state’s marriage inequality amendment and just defending the gay community in general. For this, he has been bombarded with anti-gay hate mail, including one particular individual who photoshopped his name into a cartoon describing him as worse than a pedophile. Kluwe reacted to Outsports:

KLUWE: It arrived in the mail along with photocopied articles demeaning gays as “serial killers” and “pedophiles.” Doing some research, it appears the original cartoon came out in 1999 and this group (American News Center) has been mailing it out for multiple years now. No actual writing, no name, just lazy copy-pasted hate.

Indeed, there seems to be somebody in Minnesota who identifies as “American News Center” and sends anti-gay rhetoric like this, including comparisons between homosexuality and pedophilia, to many in the media who support LGBT rights. Kluwe, taking the cartoon in stride, described it as “the greatest piece of hate mail ever,” but awarded “no points for artistry.

The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) at the University of Alberta launched NoHomophobes.com in July to track the usage of anti-gay language on Twitter, including “Faggot,” “So gay,” “No homo,” and “dyke.” In the short time the tracker has been active, it has found the word “Faggot” over 2.5 million times, an average of nearly 1 million times per month, or over 10 million times a year.

Dr. Kristopher Wells, Associate Director for iSMSS, responds to the data collected so far:

WELLS: We never imagined the scale of casual homophobia that actually exists on social media. The use of homophobic language remains one of the few socially acceptable forms of discrimination in our society and make no mistake, leads to isolation, bullying, beatings, and tragically youth suicide. [...] Our use of casual homophobia must end. We are all responsible to put a stop to it. The lives of our youth, and the humanity of our society depends upon it.

The campaign encourages people to use the #nohomophobes hashtag on Twitter to respond to such negative language, and to “challenge their friends, colleagues, or family members who use it.”