Film star Sidney Poitier, civil rights icon the Rev. Joseph Lowery and tennis legend Billie Jean King are among those set to receive the medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Other recipients include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has been battling brain cancer, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Kennedy will remain on Cape Cod following the death Tuesday of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, but the senator’s spokesman said his children will attend the ceremony and his daughter, Kara, will accept the award on his behalf.

Obama, awarding his first presidential medals, also will make posthumous awards to former Republican Rep. Jack Kemp of New York, the quarterback-turned-politician who died in May, and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978.

The recipients have diverse backgrounds and achievements in fields ranging from sports and art to science and medicine to politics and public policy. The White House has said the individuals were selected for their work as “agents of change.”

President Harry S. Truman established the Medal of Freedom in 1945 to recognize civilians for their efforts during World War II. President John F. Kennedy reinstated the medal in 1963 to honor distinguished service.

The other recipients are:

- Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leading breast cancer grass-roots organization.

- Dr. Pedro Jose Greer Jr., assistant dean of academic affairs at Florida International University School of Medicine.

- Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and mathematician known for his work on black holes and his best-selling 1988 book “A Brief History of Time.” He has been almost completely paralyzed for years and communicates through an electronic voice synthesizer.

- Joe Medicine Crow, the last living Plains Indian war chief, who fought in World War II wearing war paint beneath his uniform.

- Chita Rivera, actor, singer, dancer and winner of two Tony Awards.

- Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female president and one-time U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

- Dr. Janet Davison Rowley, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

- Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his global, pioneering work extending “micro loans” to poor people who don’t have collateral.

America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

From the White House press release:

“This year’s awardees were chosen for their work as agents of change.  Among their many accomplishments in fields ranging from sports and art to science and medicine to politics and public policy, these men and women have changed the world for the better.  They have blazed trails and broken down barriers.  They have discovered new theories, launched new initiatives, and opened minds to new possibilities.

President Obama said, “These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds.  Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs.  Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change.  Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.   

“Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive.  It is my great honor to award them the Medal of Freedom.”

President Obama will present the awards at a ceremony on Wed., Aug. 12.”

Other awardees include Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer awareness organization; Stephen Hawking, the internationally-recognized theoretical physicist; Sen. Edward Kennedy; Desmund Tutu; Chita Rivera; Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland; and Sidney Poitier.

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King was an acclaimed professional tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, and has helped champion gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all areas of public life.  King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, then the most viewed tennis match in history.  King became one of the first openly lesbian major sports figures in America when she came out in 1981.  Following her professional tennis career, King became the first woman commissioner in professional sports when she co-founded and led the World Team Tennis (WTT) League.  The U.S. Tennis Association named the National Tennis Center, where the US Open is played, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006. 

Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social equality. Milk, alongside San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed in 1978 by Dan White, a former city supervisor.  Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights.

Land for the RainbowVision project was reclaimed this week by its lender in a foreclosure auction.

The land, at East Palm Canyon Drive and Gene Autry Trail, was mortgaged for $9.6 million. The lender, Senior Housing Partners III, took it back, successfully bidding $8 million for the 13-acre site.

RainbowVision had planned to build 184 condos, with a pool and tennis courts, and a clubhouse with spa, nightclub and cafe. It was to have been the first LGBT seniors community in Palm Springs.

RainbowVision president Joy Silver said it is possible the complex will someday be built, but not until the economy improves.

“The only thing stopping us is the economy — the fact that banks have not been in a position to make construction loans,” Silver told The Desert Sun newspaper. “We plan to move forward as soon as the economy allows.”

Dozens of people have paid deposits on the Palm Springs project. Silver said many of the prospective buyers have agreed to keep their reservations intact. Others have had their deposits returned.

The money crunch appears to only have affected RainbowVision’s Palm Springs site.

San Francisco-based RainbowVision opened its first LGBT seniors community in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2006. It also announced plans earlier this year for other projects in San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada.

The New Mexico project is operating with 100 percent occupancy, Silver said. It features condominiums along with independent-living and assisted-living apartments.

The crisis in the mortgage market has tightened credit throughout the world. In an attempt to free up lending money in the US the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it would slash its target interest rate to nearly zero.

The central bank also pledged to use “all available tools” to fight the current downturn. It said it was likely that rates would be kept at “exceptionally low levels” for some time to come. 

Last Friday, reporter from the New York Observer asked me what I thought about Sarah Palin.  I told her I thought Sarah Palin was honest and real.  I believe that.  But, that in no way should be viewed as an endorsement of any kind.  I oppose many of the positions of Sarah Palin, particularly those tied to the LGBT community.  I am supporting Barack Obama and, in fact, I have lent my name to both Women for Obama and the Obama LGBT Steering and Policy Committee. 
Billie Jean King
Sept. 9, 2008

Her initial statement to the Observer led to a firestorm of confusion; Towleroad said, “This one threw me for a loop.”

I’m glad that King is getting the word out that her statement was not an endorsement of Sarah Palin. Her point, I think, was that Palin is a firecracker and an interesting character – that doesn’t mean she’s good for our community, or that GLBT people should stand behind her.

Its lessons are 35 years old but, as King tells us, they are more relevant today than ever.