Todd Lally, Kentucky Republican, On Opposition To DADT Repeal: I Don't Want To Trample On 'Straight' Soldiers' 'Rights' (VIDEO)

With Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck's recent comments comparing being gay to alcoholism raising eyebrows, another Republican candidate in Kentucky came out last week and seemed to compare homosexuality with obesity.

In an Oct. 12 debate hosted by KET's "Kentucky Tonight," KY-3 Republican candidate Todd Lally said he is firmly against repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), based on his many years serving in the military. He further added that he doesn't want to "trample" on the rights" of "straight" soldiers:

LALLY: I'm a 22-year veteran, I've been to war three times. I know what it's like to live for a year in a tent with 10 men, and I can tell you, it poses a lot of problems for the military. It does absolutely nothing for military readiness, and two, it's a logistics issue. Now are we going to have dorms and facilities for men, gay men, women, gay women -- and at what cost to the taxpayer are we going to do that?

So we have only discharged only 13,000 people under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It is a policy that works, and it has kept the troops very happy over the years, and I'm not going to sit there and trample on any troop's rights that is straight because this is not a place for this.

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said that he disagreed with Lally, noting he voted to repeal DADT as part of the recent Defense Authorization bill, which ultimately failed. "Adm. Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says it's an indefensible policy, it does not at all impact negatively our troops," he said. "As a matter of fact, it unfortunately prevents a lot of very very capable Americans who would perform valuable service to our military from serving. So I was proud to cast that vote."

Lally responded that being gay and being in the military is not the problem; the problem is "openly gay behavior."

"No, that's not what we're talking about," countered Yarmuth. "We're talking about just acknowledging your sexual orientation. It has nothing to do with behavior."

WATCH:

The next day, Lally went on "The Joe Elliott Show" on 970 WGTK and further elaborated on his views on DADT, reiterating many of his comments from the debate but adding, "People say, well, you're discriminating, I'm like, the military has standards. We don't allow overweight people, we don't allow people that have certain medical issues. I mean, you don't go to the military to be an individual."

The Lally campaign did not respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment.

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Comments

[thepoliticalcat]

05:23 PM on 10/20/2010

Oh, absolutely. I can totally get behind that. Especially their right to trample gay soldiers. Yup.

[Jim281]

02:33 PM on 10/20/2010

Help me understand HOW, in his widest dreams, would it violate str8 soldiers rights? To know that some among them are gay?

Maybe their egos are at risk! Like, maybe when the gay soldier sees the str8 ones na ked @$$e$, and doesn't bat an eye, doesn't get a bo ner, and doesn't make a pass, well maybe that will shatter their egoes? Because that's EXACTLY what will happen - NOTHING!

Gay soldiers are as serious and professional about their service as ANYONE. They will not feel free to misbehave and cause problems, once they can simply acknowledge they are 'out'.

[thepoliticalcat]

05:24 PM on 10/20/2010

Some closeted and h0m0ph0bic t_r0// fl@gged you. Ugh.

[Jim281]

06:45 PM on 10/20/2010

Thanks, Politicat!

FANNED

[Jim281]

02:10 PM on 10/20/2010

Seems there is no limit to how far the 'right' will stretch its imagination, in an attempt to justify discrimmination against gays (and phat people, now.)

How, by any stretch, does it violate the rights of str8 soldiers by allowing gay soldiers to acknowledge who the really are? That;s among the most homophobic things in his H8ful rant.

Why would there need to be 'facility' changes? The strict rules of conduct, in the military, are not being modified bu repealing DADT. If an 'incident' were to occurr, involving 'inappropriate liasons, of 6UL contact, well those soldiers will be in big trouble, because that is NOT ALLOWED! And to me, its more likely to occur among soldiers who identify as str8, get really drunk, and 'experiment. (Of course, they will forever blame the booze. Maybe even claim they have no recollection.)

From the interviews I've heard from str8 and gay soldiers, everyone usually 'knows' if one of their unit is gay, and they simply don't care!

[timx2]

09:48 AM on 10/20/2010

He said it himself; you don't join the military to be an individual. Therefore being openly gay will have no bearing on being a good soldier, You take your orders and you carry them out. So if a straight soldier has a problem with the gay one next to him he then is not a good soldier, he is not an individual and has no say in the matter and his anxieties about us homo's carries no weight.

[Satoshii]

09:35 PM on 10/19/2010

My understanding of his position is that Mr. Lally believes that being openly homosexual disrupts the lives of hetrosexual servicemen/women, but being secretly homosexual doesn't? The fact remains that in both cases the individual is homosexual and their feelings and actions aren't going to change much if at all. The only thing that's going to surface from this is that close-minded troops who are intolerant of homosexuals will be uneasy. Maybe you should tackle that problem instead. These people aren't crazy, sexual deviants who want to screw around with the military. They don't want to make life uneasy for others (although you sure make it uneasy for them), and they don't want to disrupt other troops. These are normal people who are only different because of who they are attracted to.

Regardless of how I feel about the military, if I was a soldier working alongside an openly gay man, i'd feel proud that he is willing to risk his life to help protect our country and ideals. Get over your intolerance.

Anyone who wants to school me on the real problems caused by openly homosexual individuals, please feel free to comment. I have no experience of the military, so I can only comment as an outsider.

[gws1968]

10:28 PM on 10/19/2010

This is one of the best comments I've read on this entire situation and hope I friend you in time to be the first.

[Satoshii]

10:58 PM on 10/19/2010

Thank you very much. Yes you are indeed the first, haha. I have only just started commenting after a long period of lurking.

[doctor4kids]

11:19 AM on 10/20/2010

You need another fan! The irony is that these same folks who push deny gay people the right to serve in the military and to get married are the ones who love to talk about "freedom" and "liberty".

The whole concept of DADT is evil. It assumes that being gay is so shameful that it must be hidden.

[Satoshii]

11:48 AM on 10/20/2010

Indeed. Not only that, but DADT assumes that being openly homosexual has some incredibly negative impact on straight troops. Is this the case? I don't believe so. As far as I'm concerned, the only ones who would be affected would be the ones who 'feel uneasy' knowing their fellow servicemen/women are homosexual. I would wager a large sum of money that these are also the bigots that feel similarly uneasy with groups such as African Americans, Afghans and women serving.

I also fail to see how a few people's uneasiness is equal to the pain caused by having to hide the fact that you are homosexual, not only in the military, but at home and in public.

Thank you for the fan! F&F'd back.

[doctor4kids]

12:07 PM on 10/20/2010

I meant to say "folks who push denying....." I'll try to proofread better next time.

[Moxo]

08:44 PM on 10/19/2010

Don't we all wish the GOP had "standards"! The current crop of party members sure are making America look bad.

[ChiGuy]

07:44 PM on 10/19/2010

I guarantee Mr. Lally that for as long as he was in the military, he served alongside gay men.
HE may have been oblivious to the fact, but others in the ranks knew and didn't care.

Just another homophobe throwing everything he can against the wall in the hopes that something will stick.

[Nosybear]

07:37 PM on 10/19/2010

While the Military might have its standards, it appears Kentucky voters do not.....

[LynnW49]

07:28 PM on 10/19/2010

==LALLY: I'm a 22-year veteran, I've been to war three times. I know what it's like to live for a year in a tent with 10 men, and I can tell you, it poses a lot of problems for the military. It does absolutely nothing for military readiness, and two, it's a logistics issue. Now are we going to have dorms and facilities for men, gay men, women, gay women -- and at what cost to the taxpayer are we going to do that?==

Idiot, you have very likely already lived in a tent with gay men. If you had a problem with that, it must have been your own feelings of attraction that were causing them.

[thepoliticalcat]

05:28 PM on 10/20/2010

Would the t_r0// who's flagging perfectly reasonable comments please stop? If you have a good response, please post it, otherwise, please go away and leave the discussion to those who actually prefer discussing to just cussing. Thank you.

[pbezuhov]

07:27 PM on 10/19/2010

The army may have standards but it looks like Kentucky Republicans don't have them.

[Nosybear]

07:37 PM on 10/19/2010

Didn't see your insightful comment (see above). Didn't mean to crib....

[Bob Kellerman]

07:26 PM on 10/19/2010

IDIOT....

Every service member showered with Gays in High School.

This doofus is glad we only ruined 13000 people and wasting their training costs.

[BalancedEgg]

07:23 PM on 10/19/2010

Men like Lally do not want to see openly gay men in the military because with what this country puts young gay people through growing up, a gay soldier will be stronger, more disciplined and more capable than these overly indulged mama's boys with wives who keep pandering to their massive egos.

[NotaBPapologist]

07:19 PM on 10/19/2010

I bet their are some fat toe tapping Republicans in bathrooms right now that agree with that!

[reddi27]

07:18 PM on 10/19/2010

I support ALL soldiers. Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"!

[BalancedEgg]

07:15 PM on 10/19/2010

Looks like Colorado and Delaware have not cornered the market on stupid candidates. Way to go Kentucky! Lally is loco.