Daniel Hernandez Jr., Breakout Star

THE SHOT — Daniel Hernandez Jr., America's new gay hero and a 21-year-old University of Arizona student, scores his first magazine cover.

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John Feal (left), a U.S. Army veteran and construction supervisor who was injured at the World Trade Center site, presents the flag to Daniel Hernandez (center), an intern in Giffords’ Tucson office, and Peter Ambler (right), Giffords’ legislative director. Hernandez, a University of Arizona student, came to Giffords’ ...aid when she was shot and seriously wounded Jan. 8. Hernandez celebrated his 21st birthday today by attending the State of the Union speech as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama.

Daniel Hernandez Talks About Equality at HRC HQ

By Anthony Moll

The following is from HRC’s Online Content Manager, Dan Rafter:

Daniel Hernandez, the Congressional intern widely credited with saving the life of Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, visited HRC this morning to discuss acceptance and ongoing efforts to advance equality.

Hernandez, who is gay,  had been on the job for just five days when Giffords and 18 others were shot at a “Congress on Your Corner” event outside of Tucson. He provided medical aid to the Congresswoman and other shooting victims, and accompanied Giffords to the hospital.

Occurring just weeks after the President signed legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Hernandez said the shooting serves as a reminder that LGBT Americans make critical contributions and sacrifices on a daily basis.

“We are in every part of the American community,” said Hernandez. “The best thing we can do is to be extraordinary as we live ordinary lives – to live, love and learn.”

Hernandez cited the unity and toned-down political rhetoric seen after the shooting as a positive sign for acceptance. He will be sitting next to First Lady Michelle Obama during tomorrow night’s State of the Union address.

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Nightly Wrap Up With New Mexico GLBTQ Centers

James Franco looks horrible in his sex tape?  How is that possible?

New MTV show, Skins, is losing its advertisers.

New "Smart Bomb" to combat HIV!

Tomorrow, on Oprah, 25 Years of LGBT issues.  Sounds like a great show!

...but he IS going around judging everybody...

What a hypocrite!

Does he or doesn't he?  Just tell us!

The city with the highest percentage of gay and lesbian parent in the U.S.

Dan Savage on MTV?  YES!

The Razzie Awards:  Cher, Liza and Barbra up for Worst Supporting Actress.

Georgia Man Targeted with Anti-gay Arson.

Our Hero will be sitting with First Lady at State of the Union.

A network comedy sitcom that revolves around a lesbian couple?  Bring it!

Villarreal files Texas ENDA bill.

Arizona Hero Daniel Hernandez: I 'Shut Off My Emotions To Get Stuff Done'

by Mark Memmott

President Obama shakes hands with Daniel Hernandez Jr., during the memorial event, "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America," at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona, on Wednesday (Jan. 12, 2011).

How did he apparently stay so calm and keep his head?

That's a question many have asked after hearing about what 20-year-old intern Daniel Hernandez Jr. did on Saturday when shots were fired during an event that his boss, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was holding at a strip mall in Tucson.

David Becker/Getty Images Daniel Hernandez, Jr.

While six people lay dying and another 13, including Giffords, were down with gunshot wounds, Hernandez ran toward the sound of gunfire and to the congresswoman. He held the 40-year-old Giffords and administered some basic first aid that helped keep her alive.

Last night at the memorial service in Tucson, Hernandez insisted he's not a hero. President Obama insisted he is.

Today on Tell Me More, host Michel Martin asked Hernandez about his "poise under pressure ... where does it come from?"


"I think I've always just had the strange ability to kind of work under pressure and to shut off my emotions to get stuff done because I thrive when I'm under stress," he said.

Of course, Hernandez added, before Saturday that ability mostly was of good use "for big homework assignments ... not anything of real consequence."

Also during their conversation, Hernandez told Michel that "when I heard the gunshots, I knew she [Giffords] was likely ... the target, but probably not the only victim."

And, he described his last few days as "absolutely surreal."

"To go from such great sadness and loss to kind of as a community and a nation move forward in our grieving process," was important, he added. "Last night was absolutely a great step forward in bringing everyone together."

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Hernandez: I Am Not a Hero

By Advocate.com Editors

Speaking Wednesday night at a memorial service for the victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Daniel Hernandez, the gay intern credited with helping to save the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, said he appreciates the outpouring of support, but he does not believe he is a hero.

"Although I appreciate the sentiment, I must reject the word hero, for I am not one," Hernandez said to a cheering crowd. He then said the victims of the shooting, including Giffords, are "the real heroes ... the people who have dedicated themselves to public service."

Hernandez was seated next to Barack and Michelle Obama during the service, held at the University of Arizona. Later, Obama took to the stage and commended the 20-year-old intern.

"We are grateful to Daniel Hernandez," he said. "I am sorry, Daniel, you may deny it, but we decided you are a hero because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and tend to her wounds and helped keep her alive."

Obama announced during his speech that moments after he visited Giffords at the hospital, she had opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting.

Read a transcript of Obama's speech on the next page and check back for video.

To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.

There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.

As Scripture tells us:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders — representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation’s capital. Gabby called it “Congress on Your Corner” — just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.

That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman’s bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday — they too represented what is best in America.

Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain 20 years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona’s chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.

George and Dorothy Morris — “Dot” to her friends — were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.

A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her three children, seven grandchildren, and 2-year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she’d often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.

Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together – about 70 years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy’s daughters put it, “be boyfriend and girlfriend again.” When they weren’t out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.

Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion — but his true passion was people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved — talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.

And then there is 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, “We are so blessed. We have the best life.” And she’d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken — and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.

Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this — she knows we’re here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.

And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby’s office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61-year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer’s ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who’d been hurt.

These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned – as it was on Saturday morning.

Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?

You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations — to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we’ve seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized — at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do — it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, “when I looked for light, then came darkness.” Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind.

So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.

But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.

After all, that’s what most of us do when we lose someone in our family — especially if the loss is unexpected. We’re shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent? we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in a while but every single day?

So sudden loss causes us to look backward — but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame — but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions — that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed — they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis — she’s our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America’s fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public-spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.

And in Christina ... in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.

So deserving of our love.

And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point-scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives — to be better friends and neighbors, coworkers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here — they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.

That’s what I believe, in part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us — we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.

Christina was given to us on September th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called Faces of Hope. On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child’s life. “I hope you help those in need,” read one. “I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles.”

If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.

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Maddow Talks with Gay Tucson Hero

By Advocate.com Editors

Rachel Maddow spoke with Daniel Hernandez, the gay congressional intern whose quick application of his nursing training is credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after the Tucson shooting rampage that killed six people.

Hernandez was honored for his actions during the State of the State speech by Gov. Jan Brewer. He talked with Maddow about the history of threats against the congresswoman, his career ambitions, and his ability to remain calm under pressure.

Watch the interview.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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I Want John McCain To Tell Gay Hero Daniel Hernandez Jr. He's Too Queer To Be Courageous

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sen. John McCain's angry rhetoric that he entered in to the public record on the Senate floor — the type that helps LGBT kids learn to hate themselves — is completely disproved by amazing young gay men like Daniel Hernandez Jr., who saved Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' life just five days on the job as an intern for her office. Interviewed on Today this morning, Hernandez reveals his limited medical training was enough to keep Giffords from choking to death on her own blood, or bleed out from her head wound. One's sexuality, Hernandez shows, has absolutely nothing to do with courage, nor the ability to protect others in the face of danger — in this case, a raging madman with a gun. Hernandez, a gay man, saved the life of a federal lawmaker. Something tells me that Sen. McCain, in his decade-plus of military service, was also kept safe by a bunch of homosexuals, and would pray a David Hernandez Jr. would be there if some lunatic ever pulled a gun on him.

Today Gov. Jan Brewer — the same woman who authorized a law that would let police demand Hernandez prove he is a legal citizen — recognized Hernandez in front of state lawmakers and led them in a standing ovation.


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Writer: It Matters That Giffords's Assistant Is Gay

By Advocate.com Editors

It's an important fact that Gabrielle Giffords's assistant, who helped save the congresswoman after she was shot Saturday, is gay and Latino, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams on Salon.com.

Daniel Hernandez is the 20-year-old intern who helped stanch Giffords's bleeding and stayed with the 40-year-old Arizona Democrat after she was shot in the head at point-blank range. Hernandez also stayed with his boss after medical professionals arrived and soothed Giffords by telling her that he would notify her husband and parents.

"[Reporting that Hernandez is gay and Latino] matters because guys like Arizona Sen. John McCain, who described the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' as 'a very sad day,' still think that orientation has an effect on whether or not a person can ably serve in the military," writes Williams. "It matters because the notion that two people of the same-sex can love each other and build a life together is still considered in many parts of the country, including Arizona, a threat to what is laughably referred to a "traditional marriage" — as if heterosexuals have really mopped up the floor with this whole commitment thing."

Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, agreed with Williams, telling The Advocate that Hernandez's sexual orientation shouldn't be hidden.

“Our sexual orientation is an important part of who we are as people,” Barrios says. “Media today — and Americans — want to get to know courageous people like Daniel and learn who they are. Profiles of Daniel should include his sexual orientation because a story about who he is would not be complete without it. But the media should focus on what’s truly important and that’s the fact that Daniel helped save the life of Congresswoman Gifford and doubtlessly many others with his heroic act and patriotism.”

Read the full story here.

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WATCH: Gay intern Daniel Hernandez, who saved Gabrielle Giffords’ life, on CNN

by John Wright



On Sunday morning Instant Tea broke the news that Daniel Hernandez Jr., the intern credited with saving the life of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after Saturday’s shooting, is gay.

Unfortunately, just a few hours after we posted this exclusive story, our website went down for maintenance. Talk about bad timing!

Anyhow, we thought we’d follow up on our little scoop by sharing Hernandez’s interview with CNN, in which he refuses to take credit for saving Giffords’ life.

“People have been referring to me as a hero. I don’t think that’s something that I am,” Hernandez tells CNN. “I think the people who are heroes are the people like Gabby who are public servants and who have dedicated their lives to public service. So it just makes me happy that I was able to help her in any way that I could.”

Spoken like a true gay Latino hero.

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Jan Brewer Leads Standing Ovation For Daniel Hernandez

by Jason Linkins 

Moments ago, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer spoke out in support of "extraordinary Arizonans who responded with professionalism and saved lives" during this weekend's tragic shooting in Tucson. Present at the occasion was Daniel Hernandez, the intern whose quick response may have saved the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Brewer requested that Hernandez stand to receive thanks, and a well-deserved standing ovation ensued.

WATCH:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/10/jan-brewer-leads-standing_1_n_807018.html

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Daniel Hernandez & The Inspiring Story Of How Gabby Giffords' Intern Saved Her Life (PHOTOS) The First Photo of Rep. Giffords Emerges After Being Shot.

(via AZ Central)

Daniel Hernandez had been U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' intern for five days when she was shot Saturday outside Tucson.

The junior at the University of Arizona was helping check people in at the "Congress on Your Corner" event when he heard gunfire. He was about 30 feet from the congresswoman. When the shots began, he ran toward them.

"I don't even know if the gunfire had stopped," he said Saturday night as he kept a vigil at the University Medical Center cafeteria, gathered near a TV watching tributes and getting updates.

When the shots began that morning, he saw many people lying on the ground, including a young girl. Some were bleeding. Hernandez said he moved from person to person checking pulses.

"First the neck, then the wrist," he said. One man was already dead. Then he saw Giffords. She had fallen and was lying contorted on the sidewalk. She was bleeding.

Using his hand, Hernandez applied pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. He pulled her into his lap, holding her upright against him so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. Giffords was conscious, but quiet.

Ron Barber, Giffords' district director, was next to her. Hernandez told a bystander how to apply pressure to one of Barber's wounds.

Barber told Hernandez, "Make sure you stay with Gabby. Make sure you help Gabby."

Hernandez used his hand to apply pressure until someone from inside Safeway brought him clean smocks from the meat department. He used them to apply pressure on the entrance wound, unaware there was an exit wound. He never let go of her.

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