craig: never make hillary jokes in front of lesbian row. geoff: aaahhh. lesbians. oh, man.round doing it. get up to your lesbian business with comfort and ease. geoff: standard attire for lesbians. craig: what you're saying, craig, don't be so ridiculous. there is no such thing as standard attire for a sexual group. is that what you're saying? what are you doing? clinton or jimmy stewart? geoff: you can't tell, can you? craig: no, no, i can tell. i can tell. we can tell because the thumb, the little penis thumb comes up. right there, it is like mm-hmm. see that? that is like a small penis, but i've got a big penis. and i can do this with it too. and that. [laughter] what? it is christmas. i get to do this, don't i? the unhappy lady in the front row doesn't like to penis jokes. she is going like this. geoff: surly lady doesn't like to penis joke. there she is. craig: i don't know why, but that kind of disapproval turns me on, geoff. geoff: yeah, i've got something in my pants now. craig: i don't know what it is but when i see someone angry like that, i am like you like that,

no--no--no--no--no, we've always had lesbians in this village. mrs. cropley was a lesbian.before she retired. was she? no jim, she was a librarian. librarian, yes. ( door closes ) here she comes. don't say a word, please. she doesn't know that we know. oh sorry i'm late. hope you haven't gone past item two. there's a couple of arts grants i want to support. so where have you got to so far? sorry. have i interrupted the parish council annual mindless staring competition? um, no. well, we'll go on to item two, then. ah, great. well, there's a couple of young women in the village who'd like a hundred pounds to start a drama club. that seems fair to me. a lesbian drama club would be an interesting development. all those in favor? i'm not quite sure they are lesbians actually, david. oh, aren't they? no, just women. oh, right. right. and they'll do plays about lesbians. well, they might. i don't know. anyway, the other one is the local women's institute. they want to do a charity calendar that i'm very keen to support. but will all the women be topless, or just some of them? no,

military policy known as don't ask, don't tell, banning openly gay and lesbian service members. just today a sign of the times. two women shared the traditional first kiss after the u.s.s. oak hills returned to home port in virginia. sailors and their families buy dollar raffle tickets for the chance at it. those two women happened to win it. critics said changing this law would never work in the real world of combat. tonight, nbc's jim maceda takes one measure of the change on the ground with some of america's troops in afghanistan. >> reporter: task force bulldog, on patrol in eastern afghanistan. it's the kind of combat unit that would implode, critics warned, if don't ask, don't tell were repealed. >> get ready to move! >> reporter: but the chaos they predicted if openly gay and lesbian soldiers served in close quarters during combat never happened. >> i don't think anything's really changed at all. >> reporter: staff sergeant chris bostik is on his third combat tour, a squad leader. >> every one of my soldiers know i'm gay. they know who i am and what i stand for. >> report

a lesbian sailor showed that the don't ask don't tell is a thing of the past. we're joined with more on the moment and what it means for the gay and lesbian community. >> reporter: it was just a quick kiss, but because it was a same-sex couple and one woman was in a united states navy uniform, it will have a lasting impression. the navy tradition of the first kiss on the pier when a ship sails home makes history. with cheers of support erupting, marissa egaita is thrilled to kiss her sweetie hello and old rules good-bye. >> i feel good about it. it's nice to be myself. i've been in for almost two and a half years. this is recent with the changes in effect. it's been nothing but positive. >> reporter: a picture of the lesbian sailor kiss has gone viral. >> when the largest employer in the united states says that it's okay to be gay or lesbian, that sends a powerful signal to the rest of civilian society. >> reporter: the author says while gays and straights are working well together, they are still not equals. >> gay and lesbian troops are not entitled to the sa

even if we're talking about black people, some are gay, lesbian, transgender.ey're in school being harassed on the basis of gender or sexual identity, we have to have the same sense of urgency, right? >> well, it's a little more complicated than that. we don't hold jurisdiction over sexual orientation. but as in the case of wilhemina's son -- they're not considered a protected class in the same way race is. >> if your child is being harassed for sex identity, you can't file civil rights -- >> yes, you can. as in the case of wilhemina's tragedy, so many across the country, students aren't bum lead or harassed because they're gay, lesbian, transgender, they're bullied and harassed because they're not submitting to traditional roles. that said, when they are harassed because they aren't conforming to what we perceive of as male behavior or traditional female behavior and it rises to the level of a hostile environment, it very well may violate the civil rights laws. >> that's important insight. the parents know not only is this a deep problem, but there are concret

military policy known as don't ask, don't tell, banning openly gay and lesbian service members. just today a sign of the times. two women shared the traditional first kiss after the u.s.s. oak hills returned to home port in virginia. sailors and their families buy dollar raffle tickets for the chance at it. those two women happened to win it. critics said changing this law would never work in the real world of combat. tonight, nbc's jim maceda takes one measure of the change on the ground with some of america's troops in afghanistan. >> reporter: task force bulldog, on patrol in eastern afghanistan. it's the kind of combat unit that would implode, critics warned, if don't ask, don't tell were repealed. >> get ready to move! >> reporter: but the chaos they predicted if openly gay and lesbian soldiers served in close quarters during combat never happened. >> i don't think anything's really changed at all. >> reporter: staff sergeant chris bostik is on his third combat tour, a squad leader. >> every one of my soldiers know i'm gay. they know who i am and what i stand for. >> report

ays and lesbians formed signiffcant part of tten-candidate obama's constituency in the 2008 washingtonames rosen, fox news. your taxes will be going up if congress can't reach a deal. time s running out or payroll tax cut. the cut expires on january first.... would go up by 15 hundred dollars onnaveragee democcrts want to pay for the pxtension wwth a 2 percent surtax on the wealthiest americans.but republicans are against any tax increases in 3ny forr..- obaaa says: "noo, i know many republicans have sworn an oath as they live. how could it be that the only time there's a catch is wwen it comes to raising taxes on middle-class fammlies?" mcconnell says: "it makes absolutely no sense at a mmment when 14 million &pamericans are looking or job tooraise taxes on the very peopleewe're counting on too create them." the surtax woulddonly be for tte very wealthiest of the pop one percenn of taxpaaers. p deeocrats say their plan woulddreduce middle class taxes by two thousann dollars 3 3 3 coming off a big divisional win, rayydidnnt have time to rest. why the raaens decided to spend the day at

as -- for gays and lesbian as broad.r dumb directing u.s.cies e state department to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians facing human rights vials. >> lady gaga meeting with administration staffers to discuss her work on preventing bullying. she won't meet with president obama as we showed you minutes ago he's in kansas making an economy speech now. the white house held an anti-bullying conference earlier this year. officials estimate bullying affects 13 million students nationwide. >>> here's a holiday story that turns a negative into a super positive situation. [ unintelligible ] >> reporter: this is not your typical holiday clothing giveaway. something that started off illegal is being given as a holiday treat for people at st. vincent paul in oakland who can use the help a few dozen folks in the training program got new clothes as a reward for hard work. $15,000 worth of clothes confiscated from illegal garment shops by the state's labor department. under the law, after the state confiscates the merchandise it

as -- for gays and lesbian as broad.ember dumb directing u.s. agencies including the -- the state department to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians facing human rights vials. >> lady gaga meeting with administration staffers to discuss her work on preventing bullying. she won't meet with president obama as we showed you minutes ago he's in kansas making an economy speech now. the white house held an anti-bullying conference earlier this year. officials estimate bullying affects 13 million students nationwide. >>> here's a holiday story that turns a negative into a super positive situation. [ unintelligible ] >> reporter: this is not your typical holiday clothing giveaway. something that started off illegal is being given as a holiday treat for people at st. vincent paul in oakland who can use the help a few dozen folks in the training program got new clothes as a reward for hard work. $15,000 worth of clothes confiscated from illegal garment shops by the state's labor department. under the law, after the state co

. >> bret: the obama administration is adding leverage to a push to improve the way gays and lesbians treated abroad. chief washington correspondent james rosen reports on a new financial incentive. >> marking international human rights day, secretary of state hillary clinton urged the world to see gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals as fellow human beings whose sexual orientation is genetics, not of choice. >> we need to ask ourselves how would it feel if it were a crime to love the person i love? how would it feel to be discriminated against for something about myself that i cannot change? >> in a men ran dumb, president obama ordered the state department and usaid to use foreign aid where possible to have equality for the lbgt sits. i am deeply concerned about the violence and discrimination for lgbt persons around the world. whether it's passing laws that criminalize the lgbt status, beating individuals for joining the peaceful pride celebrations or killing, men, women, children for their perceived sexual orientation. >> first and foremost, it will continue to raise

government strategy to deal with human rights abuses against gays and lesbians abroad. we will continue to be more information and keep you posted. >>darya: we are keeping our eyes on the big board this morning, let's take a peek, stocks are doing pretty well. the dow was up 34 points trading well above 12,000. we will be back with more team coverage on the weather to get you going on this cold tuesday morning. freezing and colder than freezing temperatures around the bay this morning. we have advisories and warnings about the frost. we're back with more in a couple of minutes. >>erica: aides love a.m.. here is a live look at sunny conditions of the golden gate bridge. it is a clear start to the date of cold. several locations currently in the upper 20s. as we walked into the lever--as we walk you through the weather headlines, we still have freeze advisory's. a lot of sunshine to look forward to all the temperatures will remain cool. as we finish up the work week, we will continue to see sunny and mild. foss >>erica: i will bring down temperatures the neighborhood by n

[laughter] geoff: hey, lesbians, man. lesbians. right there, man. craig: good night, everybody. but we're sorry. the message lucky is sending to customers after a security . >>> we didn't do it. we won't help you. we're sorry. the message lucky is sending to customers after a security breach. >> after one, two days with family people have had enough. why they had to go shopping today. the presents went missing and so did the dog. how this grinch got into the house to steal christmas. the silver screen losing luster, people are skipping the since practice. >> good -- cinema. >> lucky supermarkets are in damage control after last month's massive credit card skimmer execute breach. the chain has taken out ads saying it is still safe to shop there. >> lucky acknowledges atm in their stores have within compromised but they have not explained how the atm under the eye of a clerk were altered without anyone noticing. they only say the investigation is continuing. [inaudible] obviously we had technical problems. the atm were sending out information to someone recording that information.

this is, you know, a lesbian female, this is my dad, you know, whatever, whatever. >> lorraina diaz iserving six years for manslaughter and an assault on an officer. >> something that they don't get at home, something they've never had. in here the relationships are much more close because you're so enclosed. you see these people every single day no matter what you do. so you build these bonds with people. >> many of these inmates become so close that their relationships go beyond mere support. >> women have a much stronger need for touch and to be close to each other and to talk and to have close relationships. >> married in prison? >> yeah, i'm married in prison. >> to who. >> to a woman. >> you got married? >> i've been with the same woman five years. >> many of our women prisoners who would not be gay or lesbians in the free world are, in fact, drawn to each other here in a supportive, family-like concept and that ultimately may lead, actually, into sexual, lesbian sexual relationships. >> when i first came to prison, about a year after i was in prison, i started being with women.

agencies working abroad to improve protections for gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers. secretary of state hillary clinton followed up by criticizing nations who criminalize homosexual behavior. >>> president obama made his case for the payroll cut tax extension today. payroll tax cut will expire at the end of the month. the president is pushing congress to extend the cuts before taxes go up for millions of americans. >> what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement. >> republicans and democrats are in favor of the extension just not on how to pay for it. democrats are working on a package that would cost $180 billion over the next decade. >>> dan quayle is returning to the political spotlight today. this time, thought, to throw his support behind mitt romney. in an op. ed. piece today in the arizona republic, quayle called him the most credible candidate in the race. he was vice president under president george h.w. bush from 1989 to 1993. >>> a third

. >>> still ahead, a file stone for gays and lesbians in the military. a picture not only worth a thousand words, it is also historic. >>> the last people you want to be asleep on the job. we're talking about pilots. there's a new plan to make sure both pilots and passengers get where they're going safely. >>> and hazing at the highest level. soldiers in trouble with the law and bullying could be at the center of an investigation into a soldier's death. >>> good afternoon. i'm jeff ranieri. plenty of 50s across the board right now on your wednesday afternoon. 54 in livermore. 56 right now in sunnyvale. for tonight, numbers dropping to even colder levels. we're talking 20s and 30s. we'll have more on our freeze warning that's just been issued in minutes. >>> she's known for making millions. now a celebrity's being called in tosi cderis. csis. >>> bullied on the battlefield. eight u.s. soldiers are facing charges in the death of 19-year-old private danny chen who was found shot to death in afghanistan in october. his parents are blaming the military. offic

[laughter] geoff: hey, lesbians, man. lesbians. right there, man. craig: good night, everybody. . >>> the army corps of engineers took it for granted they can lull this thing and the community has risen up. >> right now the plan to build a new spy campus draws sharp reaction from future neighbors. >>> plus the forecast has umbrella weather on the way. >>> but first tonight, your money at waste. a senator unveils this year's most shameful spending of our tax dollars. >>> this is 9news now. >>> good evening. it is the day after christmas and a lot of us are talking about gifts, the ones we gave and the ones we got. a prominent u.s. senator is also talking about gifts tonight, the extravagant ones. taxpayer unknowingly handed out over the course of the past year. matt jablow explains. >> reporter: the international house of pancs on 14th street northwest is open 24 hours a day. it's also been opened to criticism ever since it was learned that the restaurant was built with about $800,000 in government money. >> await the taxpayer dollars. i don't think

we have a program at community connections specifically for lesbian and transgendered folks. and it focuses in on the additional feeling of disaffiliation, of stigma that people experienced when they tried to come out to family members. there are very few communities, regrettably, where you are easily embraced when you reveal an alternate lifestyle, so that you may have been traumatized physically or sexually as a child but then, as you come to identify yourself more fully as a person, you're traumatized all over again for your honesty. and we get into also, i mean the whole bullying aspect within the schools, you know, not only against lgbt youth that are experimenting and really haven't made up their minds as to their sexuality, and so on and so forth. but on top of that, then you lay the layer of the trauma in school. correct, dr. clark? well, yes. that's part of the kind of traumatic experience that dr. harris was talking about. and again, working with different agencies, we're trying to educate providers and educators as well as family members about the experiences of lg

gingrich does not believe in rights for gay and lesbian people and that's the real harm. derek. >> all right. thank i, matt. >>> vulnerable to bomb attacks. that is what a recent report put out by dc protective services says about several high profile district government buildings. ken molestina is live with the bone chilling details. ken, what is going on? >> reporter: you know, the stuff we're talking about really is scary. the wilson building behind me, the main building of dc's government is one that failed this test terribly. the details of the findings are shocking. >> we're talking about information on the explosion. >> reporter: and even dc mayor appeared to be surprised by it. >> someone was able to get some fake explosives in here. what's to say one day they're not going to bring in the real thing. >> it could happen. i'm not at all afraid. that could happen anywhere out in the community. >> reporter: the operation by pspd last ed a full 12 months sending in june this month. officers and crews were able to sneak fake bombs past contracted security officers sever

rick perry's strong ad, where he says, you know, obama has a war on religion, because gay men and lesbiansing and serve openly to protect this country. you have michele bachmann and the little set-to she had yesterday in iowa with folks, rick santorum is a whole other category all by himself when it comes to this issue. herman cain, he's no longer in the picture, so we can leave him alone, and mitt romney, who he was running against senator ted kennedy, for the senate seat, has all these beautiful comments about equality and inclusion and how he would be a better champion for gay rights than senator kennedy, because he's a republican, and now look where he is. >> and what newt gingrich investigators is, as he's throwing out that red meat to part of his base, this election is over this 20% in the middle who may or may not be for gay marriage, but who don't want to vote for a guy who is that callus and dismissive of this important issue. >> i think, though, there are two tiers of the republican response. certainly, your bachmanns, your perrys, and santorums are very far right not issue. but

gays and lesbians formed a 2008 eleetion.egations that members of congress are using inside palls foo change.but today on capitol hill... some representatives seemed to hedge their supporr ffr new legislation....even arguing &pthht the problem has been blown out of roportion. 318:00:11"now is the timeeto act 18800:13it was a congresssonal that started out with resolute calls for change.18:00:21"thh american people shoulddnever again have tte slightest conception that we aae using our office to line our own pockets"ouuspoken support for &ptightening seccrities laww froot and center on capital hhll for the second time in congress and their stffs, ere have been engagging in dayy ffnd this troubling:but even with impassioned testimony from thh billls sponsors that a new law is needed to mmke itclear congress ouldn't use priledgee information for profita&18:01:08"i still think the best thing to doais to be cautious"some of lawmakers expressed ddubts that new legislation was needed at alllconcernn thaa the law would stifle discussi

holy redeemer church has a largely lesbian, gay, transgender congregation.op of san francisco's archdiocese directed the most holy to cancel the invitation. >> we think it should better reflect advent scenes. >> the message of advent is hope, love and peace. >> reporter: reverend knight in the castro says the holidays are often difficult times for the lgbt community. >> hope springs eternal. why would you deny that message? >> reporter: one of the scheduled guest speaker was 85- year-old odus charles a retired bi-p shop seen here on you tube marrying his partner after divorcing his wife of 30 years. within days the invitations were rescinded. reporting live in the castro, amber lee. >>> applause, cheers and tears greeted a bay area soldier as he returned home from iraq. nicholas tesby is now home after two tours in iraq. the last one lasted for almost a year. the army sergeant says he's proud of the work his unit accomplished. >> coming back knowing that we actually made a big difference, change in security. made sure everybody was on top of their jobs, prov

holy redeemer church has a largely lesbian, gay, transgender congregation.the archbishop of san francisco's archdiocese directed the most holy to cancel the invitation. >> we think it should better reflect advent scenes. >> the message of advent is hope, love and peace. >> reporter: reverend knight in the castro says the holidays are often difficult times for the lgbt community. >> hope springs eternal. why would you deny that message? >> reporter: one of the scheduled guest speaker was 85- year-old odus charles a retired bi-p shop seen here on you tube marrying his partner after divorcing his wife of 30 years. within days the invitations were rescinded. reporting live in the castro, amber lee. >>> applause, cheers and tears greeted a bay area soldier as he returned home from iraq. nicholas tesby is now home after two tours in iraq. the last one lasted for almost a year. the army sergeant says he's proud of the work his unit accomplished. >> coming back knowing that we actually made a big difference, change in security. made sure everybody was on top of thei

will use foreign aid to help gays and lesbians suffering discrimination aboard.on said gay rights are equal to others rights. >>> aleck baldwin is using twitter to express his frustration with american airlines after getting kicked off a flight. the actor tweeted about his experience at l.a.x. this afternoon saying quote, flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing words with friends while we sat at the gate not moving. he also added a hash tag saying no wonder america air is bankrupt. baldwin's rep says baldwin boarded another american airlines flight later today. >>> we want to acknowledge some wrong video we showed minutes ago. the story about college conference showed video of a high school game from delasalle. >> it actually makes me feel [ female announcer ] what's so great about jcpcash? no exclusions! with jcpcash, get 10, 15 or $20 off on the spot storewide! unlike other stores, we don't make you come back to save. get up to $20 off with no exclusions! we make christmas affordable. you make it yours. jcpenney. ♪...my trsix geese a-laying... fi

he's so debt pratt to get back on track, he's attacking gays and lesbians. there are nine members in the supreme court, not eight. your watching "hardball" on msnbc. >>> back to "hardball." now for the side show. first up, lesson learned? not the right lesson in this case. earlier this week, we showed an ad release d by rick perry's campaign. a war on religion, it slams letting gays serve openly in the military. let's watch a portion of the perry ad. >> i'm not ashamed to admit i'm a christian. you don't need to be in the pew every sunday when you know gays can serve openly in the military and kids can't openly pray in school. i'll fight against liberal attacks on our heritage. >> no surprise it sparked backlash. it garnered close to half a million dislikes on the youtube channel. the campaign's response, they disabled the like and dislike icons for the newest addition of the lineups. perry stuck to his argument when asked about president obama's war on religion. true to form, it was not without a snafu. let's listen for it. >> do you believe he's waging a w

will use foreign aid to help gays and lesbians suffering discrimination aboard.d gay rights are equal to others rights. >>> aleck baldwin is using twitter to express his frustration with american airlines after getting kicked off a flight. the actor tweeted about his experience at l.a.x. this afternoon saying quote, flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing words with friends while we sat at the gate not moving. he also added a hash tag saying no wonder america air is bankrupt. baldwin's rep says baldwin boarded another american airlines flight later today. >>> we want to acknowledge some wrong video we showed minutes ago. the story about college conference showed video of a high school game from delasalle. >> it actually makes me feel comfortable. >>> a new periodic table and how it ended there. >>> bill martin is tracking tonight's cold weather and he's fine tuning your complete area forecast. scrambled eggs. [ male announcer ] actually, it's easier. citi financial tools. easier banking. standard at citibank. it's easy to see what subaru owners car

i am a member of the harvey milk lesbian, gay, bisexual, transbay genschetrench center c. we are opposed. parks first of all are for people and other living things. so now astroturf and i share the previous testimony regarding the kromchrome rubber. there is a danger to children and animals. with the astroturf, we will not sit on upkeep. it will commit the city two years of repair and replacement costs and the press itself will be much lower upkeep in terms of preservation. why switch grass for astroturf? the stadium lighting. this will only increase the level of lead pollution on the coast which is something of great concern. generally in urban areas. our part should be a resource for all. as the last two speakers have said, it was created to have a balance between the urban environment and nature. this was true of william hammond hall and john mclaren's vision. also the desire to make san francisco a distinctive place by providing both for its residents and for the nation in place, a distinctive and beautiful place to recreant within the city. the city as part of our inf

thanks so much to both and president obama is making a big appeal to the gay and lesbian communities.olitico briefing up next. car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >>> in our politico briefing today, the white house is making a concerted effort to mobilize gay and lesbian voters and their supporters, a key source of continributions and votes. it's part of an elaborate sales pitch to sell the president for lbgt rights. hey, joe. is there any chance they will try to build on the repeal of don't ask don't tell and actually move the president's position on gay marriage? >> well, that's the foundation, a lot of gay supporters are expecting. because they do have a decent record so far. based on the repeal of don't ask don't tell and the nondefense of the defense of marriage act, so a will the of supporters are anticipating the president is close to making that next step and they're saying that it won't m

people can serve in the military and that faith is the answer, and gay and lesbian is not.ut it on youtube and did likes and dislikes, and it was one to 100,000. >> yeah, and it had the most dislikes on youtube. >> when you think about who is sitting on the internet doing likes and dislikes -- >> well, i don't know if they are constituents. >> the crowd sourcing at its best. a youtube commentator. >> i want to know the kids who are not allowed to celebrate christmas. all the stuff he was hiding on in the ad, putting people, gays and lesbians on one side, and people of faith -- it was deeply out of touch. >> i am sorry to do this, but the foreign policy as it relates to foreign rights, bun thing i want to throw out there, when you look at iran and cuba, in a way, clinton's initial fif could be seen as a weapon for the united states to deploy against regimes, and i think that's something that has been part of center right and conservative rhetoric in the united states and elsewhere. and during the bush administration, you know, the white house and the state department did cri

>> i think gay and lesbian people are still marginalized.et and it plays very well to evangelical christian base but it really plays to their worse natures and the fact of the matter is, this is a man running for president. don't ask-don't tell is gone. it is the law of the land. for him to use the brave soldiers in that way seems to me despicab despicable. >> have you heard from them? >> i would love to governor perry himself to talk. i think anyone running for president and to be commander in chief, he needs to understand to be commander in chief for all of our troops like all of our citizens need to be full citizens of this country. >> reverend gene robinson, great to have you here, bishop. >> thanks so much. >> that will do it for me today. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. don't go anywhere though. "now" with alex wagner is next. another we can't wait announcement for you straight ahead. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. som

you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, be who you want to be. that's quite all right. inspired by the drag community there, gay community there as well as elton john, grace jones, madonna. so these concerns are very close to her heart. >> want to play a clip of the president talking about his meeting with lady gaga at a human rights campaign din fler october. >> i also took a trip out to california last week where i held some productive bilateral talks with your leader, lady gaga. she was wearing 16-inch heels. she was 8 feet tall. it was a little intimidating. >> toure, what do you see as the politics of this? when you see lady gaga doing a network thanksgiving special, she seems to be going in a certain kind of way, there's nothing more main stream than thanksgiving network special. at the same time, she seems to retain renegade status. >> i mean, you're right, she is retaining both those things by doing a sort of, by playing a gayish role even though she is straight. she takes these th from the gay community and does it on this national stage. but this is the bigges

. >> you were the first to ordain women, african-americans and gay lesbians. >> one of the first. >> fantastic, continue. >> thank you for joining us for you have surely been blessed this morning. our blessings to you during this advent christmas season. the joy of the lord is our strength. go with you this season. that joy.

the national center for lesbian rights. san francisco chamber of commerce. the san francisco department of children, youth, and their families. san francisco department on the status of women. san francisco zero divided foundation. we would like to thank the city department heads that are here. the department of status of women. the human rights commission, and our own director, the office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs. you have an opportunity later in the meeting for public comment. please indicate if you would like to speak or write down your questions and return the cards to staff members. i would like to introduce an outstanding leader who has worked hard to bring the diverse segments of the san francisco community together to reach a common ground. since coming into office in january of 2009, he has brought thoughtful leadership to our city. we're pleased to welcome the president of the san francisco board of supervisors. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i am pleased to be with all of you today. i want to think the immigrant rights com

. >>> the obama administration has taken a significant step in protecting the rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered community around the world. on orders from president obama secretary of state hillary clinton told a conference in geneva that the u.s. will use foreign aid to reward countries that safeguard gay rights. firmly linking gay rights with human rights, the administration has also vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize and abuse gays or ignore abuse against homosexuals. >>> the chief of the federal aviation administration has stepped down from his position after he was arrested on drunk driving charges over the weekend. randy babbitt's recognition comes halfway through his term as faa. he was pulled over in virginia where they said the 65-year-old was driving on the wrong side of the road. >>> now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a cantaloupe-sized cannonball fired by the crew of a reality show "mythbusters" nearly took the lives of several people. the projectile ripped through one home and across six lane

[applause] tom amiano, who has been a historic figure and trailblazer, coming from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered community. [applause] also, our newest elected official, supervisor cohen, with her election last november at age 32, is the youngest african-american ever to be elected to the board of supervisors. [applause] she is now san francisco's highest-ranking elected official who is african-american, one of three women on the 11-member body, and the only african- american on that 11-member body. let me read -- since we are short on time -- the letter from the united states senator, dianne feinstein. it reads, "dear mrs. colvin, it is a pleasure for me to join your friends, family, and colleagues in recognizing you for all the work you have done in the fight for civil rights. thank you for dedicating your life to the cause of equality. you have given so much to this country. when you refuse to give up your bus seat on march 2, 1955, it ignited a spark within montgomery, alabama, that helped begin the process of change. the landmark united states supreme court case that