- BIG NEWS:
- Terrorism
- |
- Health Care
- |
- Sarah Palin
- |
- Senate Races
- |
Obama and the End of the Military's Ban on Gays
Read More:
Dadt, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Ellen Tauscher, Gays In The Military, Military, Obama Gay Rights, Obama Gays In The Military,
Politics News
Wouldn't that be novel; gay soldiers serving openly in the military. People willing to fight and perhaps die for freedom allowed to freely be themselves.
With Barack Obama as president it's not just possible. Thankfully, it's probable.
Out on the stump candidate Obama promised to work toward lifting the ban on gays serving openly, calling the ban is a "counterproductive strategy." A typically Obama-esque way to intellectualize what is a moral imperative: the obligation of the government to fight discrimination which, obviously, includes the institutionalization of "separate but equal."
While this will not be an easy fight -- the passage of the bigoted Prop 8 in California only demonstrates the glacial pace the acceptance of Sexual Orientation moves -- it also won't likely be a return to the belabored hearings of the Clinton presidency which produced the Bizarro World Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) non-policy of not asking what nobody's saying.
But attitudes are changing. According to a Washington Post-ABC news poll 75 percent of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly. That's as compared to only 45 percent in 1993 when Clinton made his effort.
Intentions aside, this policy reversal isn't one Obama can perform alone. That is to say, by Executive Order. As Federal law, DADT must be repealed by Congress. To that end California Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher has introduced a bill to overturn the ban which has picked up nearly 150 cosponsors. And CNN reports: "More than 100 retired U.S. military leaders -- including the former head of the Naval Academy -- have signed a statement calling for an end to" DADT.
For those who believe spiking DADT is just some social do-goodery, it's much more than that. It's a matter of national security, and not merely in terms of filling the "boots" of our military. Since 1998 the US military has discharged more than 58 Arabic and Farsi translators because they were gay. As I've said previously, here we are told again and again that Americans are in a decades-long struggle to secure Western civilization which will require shared sacrifice from all, yet all are not allowed to share the fight.
And all the talk of negative effects on unit cohesion among the ranks, the ability for gays to serve effectively under pressure... Lies. And we know they are lies. They are lies because have already demonstrated distinguished service in some of the hottest spots on the planet. Just not openly so. And the bromides about lack of ability or the erosion of unit cohesion; same nasty things that were said of Black soldiers prior to President Truman signing EO 9981 which ended segregation in the military (at least as policy).
While it will not likely be Obama's priority to dismantle DADT, and honestly it should not be, I would be personally willing to take the bet that as change truly comes to America, the days of this flawed and failed policy are numbered.
For more news and views go to That Minority Thing.com
Loading comments…
Most Popular on HuffingtonPost
jVt9qW0dHOlT%2Bf8DRAgKo5lap3dwxH%2BRGiVtqSnCp0gBiWjPYXioGJ24whKsb4wfx472MekCFLkuG33HUEbQwg%3D%3D
ahS%2Fa8%2BfMnDAZS0AjduYoMMbcpUZovHT0mg888i%2FL%2F1lz5inhbUEPvYjmdoNN%2Ft%2F%2FwtUA%2FgkftxYzFa1MF4K3A%3D%3D
1 of 2
HuffingtonPost Reporters
9uXioS8VSh26k1cMcLOn%2FTJXkz0kX0Me
8kE%2B2oxokEfQhoFDJt9VEB%2F5Z3B%2FY4TU
1 of 2
Don't Miss HuffPost Bloggers
1 of 3
Huffington Post Apps and Feeds
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
John I do know if you ever served in the military, but this is a very hard subject because of dealing with privacy. Men are in close quarters! Now, those who are gay will be place in separate quarters. I understand they are serving now, but I do not think you should make another person shower or live with another person that is gay for personal reason! This is not about the color of your skin. Please I am sorry, but you cannot compare being a minority to being gay. This is just stupid because these are different issue! However, I do think they should be able to serve with honor. I think they should not be kick out for being who they are, but I would have felt very uncomfortable living in the same room with someone known to be gay. Now, if the numbers of people in the military stop serving and stop signing up to be in the military this will become a national security problem. You have a volunteer Force! I hope their is enough gay volunteer ready to take up the slack. Easy for others to talk about this when you never served in the military and lived in close quarters with other people. You do not pick your room mate!
Oh, please. African-Americans were forced to use separate facilites under the same Neandethal reasoning. If some soliders are that insecure about thier sexuality, they have bigger problems than who their roommates are.
exactly ... we DONT WANT YOU if you arent already gay! too much work!
What is your fear? Are straight soldiers are going to overpower gay soldiers and have their way with them? If so, then you are dealing with other gay soldiers, right? Your fear is that those nasty gay soldiers will overpower the straight soldiers. And now I'm really laughing. What is it in the phrase, "professional soldier" you don't understand? You have gay people all around you, every day, wherever you go. Get used to it--and get over yourself.
It is the same fear having to make another woman live with men. You just do not get it. Yeah there were case were some men have been raped. No one talks about this in the military! These stories are kept quite! I think the military should not kick a military member out because he or she is gay, but I do not think they should provide special treatment. If you identify all gay member in the military they will be put at risk, because they are gay. I think they should just stop kicking them out.
If you never served in the military you will never understand. Just join and you will understand very quickly.
I like how so many people like to talk about this subject and never served. I would like to here from those who served.
Just stop making a big deal out of it and just stop kicking gay member out! Things will change over time, but they will not change overnight! You cannot make anybody love you. African America, Native Americans, Latino and Asian cannot change the way we look!
So stick to the issue and not apply yours to others and I think you will be treated with respect. This is why most ignore gay issues!
"...but I would have felt very uncomfortable living in the same room with someone known to be gay."
Well then that is your problem. I did serve, did live in close quarters, and did not have a problem with anyone around me for being gay. And yes, there were plenty of gay soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division. I had a few problems with people acting like asses or not being professional and courteous, but never for being gay.
It is obvious that you are way hung up on sex and view it from a perspective of fear, most likely brought about by your religion (God sees you making the nasty, you filthy boy). It is not at all uncommon for folks who still see sex as some kind of taboo, dirty act to feel the way you do, so its not really your fault.
It is however, your problem. You are, like it or not, a homophobe. Work on that, then we'll talk some more, see if we can't get your attitude straightened out.
And I will be right there with Okie to help you too.
Would you say that to women who are not comfortable cohabitating with men? Or vice versa? It's not any individual's problem, it becomes the military's problem.
There are gay people everywhere. In your family, at school, at your job, walking down the street, at your local gym using the same toilets, showers, lockers etc. There gays at restuarants, in the bars, at the parks, at beaches, in the airplanes. You get the gist - We're queer, we're here, we're everywhere.
Even in the military because I should know I was in the Navy for 9 years and had straight and gay Sailor, Marine and Coast Guard friends who knew my orientation and kept it a secret because I wasn't a threat I was a comrad at arms. Why go to the trouble to discriminate against people that are everywhere you live and breath? I mean come on. Enough is enough!
Your story is not unique. I was listening to a guy being interviewed on NPR a couple months ago who was, I'm pretty sure, a Marine. His entire unit knew he was gay, and when he was wounded, they brought his partner to him in the hospital. Because one could not be sure if the orderlies would rat them out or not, they had to act like "comrades" rather than lovers, but they at least got to see each other.
The only problem he ever had in the service was when he was up for promotion and another guy tried to torpedo him by claiming he was "openly" gay. The CO already knew and recommended him for the promotion anyway.
I was interested in his first-person account. It illustrated to me that when the bullets are flying, no one cares if you ARE straight, only that you can SHOOT straight.
Wow. MRb1000 has just discovered the vast gay agenda: to enter the military and specifally make MRb1000 uncomfortable.
Maybe if you took the time to know a gay person you might realize what a tool you sound like.
You talk about choosing your roomates. I didn't choose my college roommate. She was a full-blown praying, fasting, Koran-reading Muslim. Since it never occured to me to be afraid of her, I instead decided to befriend her. Funny how that works...ge
Methinks MRb1000 is just afraid that if he gets looked at in the shower he might be judged as ... well ... *inadequat
Tell it like it is, Beth.
If every person in the world had no religion, would homosexuality even be an issue? Gay people are the same as straight people. They just love a different way. I have met many gay people in my life and for them to have to deny who they are, just to fit in, does not sit well with me. If we allow our petty differences to separate us, then what does that say about us as a nation? Getting rid of DADT is the smartest thing. DADT is Jim Crow.
The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is inevitable and as justified as past openings of the military to women and African Americans. The key issue to me is making sure it is replaced with "Ask, Tell and Keep Kicking Ass." Might I suggest that we do what was done in the past, which is to say, start with special purpose units exclusively for gays. I have no doubt they will quickly prove their worth on and off the battlefield and allow for an eventual full integration with other units. Perhaps it is sad that this approach might be required, but it could be the best way to preserve moral in a time of intense military and defense needs.
my sistren and brethren already serve alongside heterosexuals. Why would we want to move them into special 'separate but equal' units and call it an improvement?
Geoffreys, perhaps you are right. Skipping the separate but equal step would be preferrable, if politically possible. After reading some of the comments above, it seems many soldiers may be ready for openess and a more obvious "improvement". Of course, it could also be that this is only a small minority of active duty soldiers. After all, we are on Huffingtonpost.
You missed the fact that they have alrady proved their worth on and off the battlefield, and are already, in most deployed situations, fully integrated. DADT is a policy which flies in the face of the fact that where it's ignored, units are doing very well - better than where it's observed.
I still can't for the life of me figure out why any self-respecting gay person would want to join the military. I mean to risk your life for a hateful society-a large portion of which would just love for you to just go away and never be heard from again-is downright ludicrous. When American society accepts their gay brethren fully and unconditionally and homophobia comes to an end, then maybe I'll change my mind. But until then, I don't want any of my gay brothers and sisters to risk their lives for a society that's unwilling to treat us as equals.
So I guess African-Americans shouldn't have bothered (willingly) enlisting in the armed forces until about 20 or 30 years ago? *rolls eyes*
African Americans were discriminated against because of the color of their skin and that was and is a tragedy. A flaw on the very fabric of the character of this country. Gays on the other hand is an issue of behavior. The military code of conduct does not permit behavior that is acceptable in civilian life.
Yes, Yes please don't join!!!!
The opportunity for an education, improve your lot in life, just as straight people do?
Yes--and sometimes even patriotism is a factor--even though gay soldiers *still* don't even have equal rights in the society they sign up to protect.
It's easy, you're gay, you come from a pentecostal family in a tiny town in Mississippi who don't have the inclination or the money to send you away to college and they are pushing you to get married...
I find it hard to believe that you don't see that gays love this country as much as anyone. I'm sure a lot of gays go forward with their lives not worrying about what ignorant people think. I'm Jewish. When I was growing up in the 70's, there were anti-semites in my school who said despicable things about some of my friends and I. I didn't care. I did what I wanted to do and some of them who said those things now know they were dumb and some are my friends. Granted being gay has carried a lot more baggage in this society than being Jewish but its the same idea.
The armed forces are made up of volunteers. I would agree with all the gays here if the draft was in place.
If you don't agree with "don't ask don't tell" then just DON'T try to join the military.
Sex acts are a private matter. Keep it private.
Isn't that the point? Sex acts are a private matter. DADT was the dumbest policy thing Clinton did. Just plain dumb. Why should we single out one group to exclude from military service? The only reason ever provided is that hetero male soldiers were "afraid" that gays would be looking at them in the shower, or somesuch. All the while they same male hetero soldiers tolerate women soldiers being raped and otherwise abused. Sorry, but DADT is unconstitutional. And just plain stupid when we are desperate for enlistees.
By your logic, anyone in the military may not bring their significant others up in any way. No talk of their families, girlfriends, boyfriends weddings, engagements or children.
People like you will only think about sex acts. We cannot have that. It needs to be kept private.
Yessir!!!
and how do you who is gay here? I'm not, and I'm appalled at DADT.
IE, if you're gay and don't want to live a lie, then don't make the ultimate sacrifice for your country.
You're not good enough for that.
You are defending employment discrimination, you know.
I think MyOwnThoughts is saying that perhaps its better to challenge the policy (backed up by current US code ) from the outside rather than the inside.
We should keep in mind that DA/DT/DP was a compromise that, unsurprisingly, made nobody terribly happy. For gays, it said, you can join but not be yourself. For opponents, it said, it's still illegal but as long as you don't advertise, you can join.
And after all, the military does discriminate (as do other employers). It discriminates against both sexes, intelligence level, phsical and mental handicaps, age, height, weight, athletic ability, medical history, and, of course, sexual orientation.
We have an all-volunteer military being called on to do more than ever given the situation of the world and US foreign policy over the past few years. So, if a gay man or a lesbian volunteers to be in the military -- active duty, reserves, national guard or some support role -- we should turn them away? I always thought the conservative take on things was to put the best man or woman in the job leaving aside race, ethnicity, religion, etc. So if someone wants to join the military, why should sexual orientation be an issue at all!?!
its not hence DADT
DADT MAKES it an issue. One can be cashiered for the offense of being DISCOVERED to be gay. DADT forbids a person speaking of being gay, or of doing or saying anything that could lead to their being discovered as being gay.
Reality check. Many, many, many people in America are not accustomed to being friends, or acquaintances with openly gay people. I would go so far as to say that a significant amount of the male 18-32 american population, if heterosexual, are closet homophobes. it will take many, many years for heterosexual men to view gay men as equals and 'normal'.
the folks who join the military are not the most progressive folk. it will not happen, and it shouldn't. even though of course gay men who love their country can be just as good a soldier as anyone else. At the end of the day, when you are in a tense situation, will your colleague view you as a homo, probably not, as in combat situations the soldier is a professional. it is the times when you are in more routine situations, openly gay men will be looked at differently by the colleagues, that is a fact
Tell that to the British military, the Israeli military--or any of the number of other European countries (read "civlized") who openly allow gays in their troops.
Guess what? No problems. Does this mean that they are *smarter* than American soldiers? Is that what you're trying to tell me--that the American soldier is *dumb?* My guess is that they're nowhere near as dumb as your statement implies you are, rvines--nowhere near as dumb.
Analogous to Governor Ed Rendell's comments about racism... if you're drowning you don't care what color the person is who throws you a life raft.
No, it's just that our military culture, top to bottom, is very rabidly anti-gay compared to Britain and Israel. I agree that it's ridiculous to keep gays out of the military. But the WAY this gets handled is important. Bill Clinton made enemies of the military by forcing the issue when he did, and he never was able tor recover that relationship. There needs to be education of the military, not just a "gays are coming in, so deal with it" attitude, because I guarantee you that it won't work. Obama needs the military on his side, so he needs to handle this situation with an abundance of caution.
Be aware, you have stereotyped military folk as "not the most progressiv
You say "Many, many, many people in America", but aren't you really referring to yourself?
"Many, many, many people..." means "I feel very, very, very strongly about this, so surely I can't be alone..."
Openly gay members didn't seem to hurt the fighting discipline of the ancient Spartans, the fiercest and most feared military of it's day.
But hey - perhaps American soldiers can't live up to the standards of a bunch of long-dead Greek pansies.
For those of you who weren't active duty in the military during the "don't ask, don't tell" let me give you a perspective. All AD military know there are gays serving. It's really not an issue for unit cohesiveness because, off duty, people associate with whoever they like, on duty, we're professional soldiers/a
What I didn't care for most about it-I, as a doc, was severely limited in what I could ask people about when they came into sick call with a problem. Civil rights do not extend to anyone actively serving and we are not allowed to have an official opinion about anything-keep that in mind the next time you see a service member asked about his feelings about the current deployments.
My fav moment was getting lectured by Phil Gramm R TX about how we should be upset about gays in the military. He was speaking at the base theater and got booed off the stage.
As for real change with society's attitudes about homosexual
You dont' sound like a soldier or marine. You must've been a sailor.
So the heroic wounded gay Marines and Army Rangers who were supported by their comrades in arms in Afghanistan and Iraq were figments of the imagination I guess.
Dillweed.
you must have been a deferment.
I am a black woman, and I believe in God and His Bible. Most Black peopl are God-fearing, and most of them link their belief in God with the Bible. How could you not? It's common sense to find out how God thinks and what He wants you to do by reading His Bible. It's 66 books, and He put a lot of effort into it, don't you think?
It's like cooking a new recipe but never looking at the recipe. That's silliness, so with that being said, God wants to be known. Blind faith is not logical. God is very logical. So, in the Bible, God clearly makes it known that sexual relations between two people of the same sex is despicable. God is a loving God, absolutely, but there are many things he despises. People need to research what those things are through the Bible.
Barack Obama is a Black, Christian man. He may get rid of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but he will never ever be a part of legalizing same sex marriages. Our country is made up of mostly Christians, and none of us Christians who share the same beliefs of God could, with a clear conscious, vote in favor of it if it is presented in our faces. Never.
People can choose to be homosexuals, that's fine for them. But if presented with a choice to legalize it, neither I, nor Obama, would be a proponent of it.
People cannot choose whether to be homosexual.
Your views are yours, but this article was about letting individuals who chose to join our ALL-VOLUNTEER military being able to serve their country. Once in the military, one's rights are restricted according to the Military Code of Justice. Turning away qualified individuals -- who may be exemplary in their service, have rare skills (such as being translators of critical languages) -- is diminishing our security.
People at one time also used the bible to justify slavery back in the day. I'm sure they felt that the bible spelled this out clearly for them as well.
20swoman read the part about slaves in the Bible. She chooses to pass over that, though. She's just picking and choosing what she wants to believe in.
Being gay is not a choice
Other than that your post was the funnies thing I have read in ages.
Wow. You DO know, don't you, that racists used the same lame arguments against African-Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries? (Substitute "black" for "gay" in most of your post.) You can believe that your god has spoken to you in 66 books (BTW, I assume you don't eat shellfish? or pork?) but under the Founders' intent and the Constitution, that should have no effect on other citizens. So long as marriage is a state-sanctioned action, then it must be available to gay couples. Your church is free to perform religious marriage rites on whomever it chooses, but the government cannot exercise that bias. And being gay is as much of a "choice" as you're being black or me having blue eyes.
If this is on Obama's top-ten list, something is very wrong.
Let's take care of everything else, shall we? This can wait a couple of years.
Yes, Rosa, you just keep on sitting in the back of that bus--things will be better in a few years. You just wait. Your time will come. Just be patient.
Sorry, time's up.
There is always time for justice, and fair treatment Beachrunner.
Always. DADT goes now.
wrong. wrong. wrong. politically speaking, pushing this issue before he worked on the economy as his central focus would DESTROY his support in the military. don't believe me? fine, keep thinking in those melodramatic 'justice' 1960s tye-died ways.
Why? It couldn't be simpler. Not like figuring out what to do about the economy or health care. Repeal DADT. Done.
I totally support gay rights across the board, from the right to marry to the right to openly serve in the military. However, I hope the gay community will wait just a little longer on these issues. Their full rights are just within their grasps if they allow Obama to concentrate on the critical issues facing all Americans, gay and straight.
As you pointed out, John, going from the Clinton campaign theme, "It's the economy stupid," to gays in the military right out of the gate in '93, hurt Clinton and didn't help the gay community one bit.
Americans, thankfully, are changing, and predjudice is breaking down. Yet their are still huge masses of ignorant people out there that the Republican far right wing can whip into a homophobic frenzy. Obama doesn't need that kind of distraction right now, and it could result in a re-takeover of Congress by the Repubs in 2010, ala '94.
Let's, all of us, put our personal agenda's aside, and let Obama get the country moving towards employment, energy independence, universal healthcare and all the other critical issues facing our nation at this desperate time.
If Obama succeeds in getting us out of the ditch we're in, he will have the political capitol to move decisively on gay rights and many other issues that have been stalled for too long.
"I totally support gay rights across the board, from the right to marry to the right to openly serve in the military. However, I hope the gay community will wait just a little longer on these issues."
What a courageous statement, coming from a straight person. Ethical, too.
But listen to me, prattling on about things you can't be bothered with. How are *you* doing? Not taking your basic civil rights for granted, I'm sure.
there you go again- ridiculing potential supporters because they aren't as nuts as you are about implementing the new policy. nope, you want what you want and you want it now, consequences be darned, right?
let me know how that goes for you. hopefully, president obama doesn't pay a political price for acquiescing to your screeching and threats.
Who said I can't be bothered? I take no rights for granted, that's why I want to keep the repubs out of power. As stated above, I'm all for full equality for gays. The question is, how best to achieve that goal?
The Repubs left this country in one hell of a mess. Obama wasn't elected to move on gay rights. He was elected because people felt he was best qualified to solve our economic problems.
57 million people voted for Sarah Palin. 57 million!!! Prop 8 was a disaster for gays ... in California!!! Add those people to the people who will be pissed if Obama takes on a gay right agenda before solving our financial crisis, and you've got a replay of 1994. Back to square one, and another loss for gay rights.
Maybe I'm wrong, but is it really worth taking the chance? Give Obama a year or so to prove himself, and gays will get full eqality. Don't risk letting the Repubs get their intollerance agenda back on track, when the prize is just within reach.
Wait...wai
1993 is not 2009.
100 former general officers (Generals of the Army, Airforce, Marines, and Navy Admirals) have stated this is a bad policy.
DADT has to go, and it has to go now. The fight you are predicting is not going to happen.
"going from the Clinton campaign theme, "It's the economy stupid," to gays in the military right out of the gate in '93, hurt Clinton and didn't help the gay community one bit."
During his campaign Bill Clinton promised the Gay community that he would get rid of the ban on gays in the military. But it was not Bill Clinton who made this the first issue to be brought up. It was the Republicans who did it in order to embarrass the new President.
Exactly! The Repubs brought it up first, and sent Clinton reeling in his first days in office. I don't want a repeat of that political contest fiasco. All gays received from that distraction, was 15 more years of intollerance, and the country inherited Newt Gingrich as a consolation prize.
I think you have a real point here. In all cultures throughout history, bad times have meant scapegoating and oppressing groups in order to concentrate the scant wealth with the oppressors. Getting ALL Americans more employed, wealthy, healthy, and secure is probably the most pragmatic way of creating a climate in which a lasting, uncomprimising legislative change can be made, whether Obama chooses to spend his political capitol advocating for it or not.
Dont ask don't tell was one of Bill Clinton's brilliant moves toward having gays in the military. We are talking the U.S. Military. A organization in which women are still not safe from physical attack, intimidation and discrimination to this very day. That was the right first step for that time 16 years ago. Now it's time to move forward, and give gays full freedom from discrimination within the military. Anybody brave enough to serve, should have that right.
Too bad that dismissals of gay GIs actually INCREASED under DADT.
Yeah. Drag. Usedta was, you'd get bounced for being gay - but not that often. After DADT, guys were bounced for violating DADT, rather than for the offense of being gay, but much MORE often.
"Alright. We don't care if you're gay. But if you mention it, you're out of here!"
I actually think most people are not that "anti-gay" and they will accept new policies. It is only the issue of marriage that drives crazy the religious communities.
I disagree. It is the Republicans who don't want their children to be exposed to homosexuality when they serve in the military.
It's not just republicans. Lots of dems are against the gay agenda
I have news for you. Any new policies that would benefit us gays will always be opposed by the "Religious Communities", a nicer name for the Religious Nutcases.
I believe the answer is a governement who becomes more and more transparent on the web. I know Obama will be more outspoken in regard to gay rights. He is a constitutional attorney, and understands bigotry from personal experience.
I will continue to express my need for a focus on, "human rights," the Constiution, Declaration, and our founding fathers.
What we have in common as a secular America is greater than our differences.
I have a question. The article says this:
a moral imperative: the obligation of the government to fight discrimination which, obviously, includes the institutio
But Obama supports civil unions. Are they not separate but equal?
I look forward to an Obama presidency, I do feel that it will be the most progressive towards civil rights for all, than any presidency ever, but I still often see a disconnect in the words, when people talk about what is going on. So Obama knows the institutio
He wouldn't be President-elect Obama if he had supported gay marriage. Sad but true....
My son sent me the link to Olbermann's commentary on Prop 8. I love KO.
Nonsense! He would have won the election anyway.
True. It probably was wiser from Obama to sell LGBT people up the river than to stand by his values. Because we all know there's no such thing as honor in defeat.
But at least I all know I have you're an ally because, although you support compromising my civil rights to get your candidate elected, you and Keith Olbermann *strongly* disagree with people who take away those civil rights.
Geez, with friends like you, I really don't need enemies.
Obama won't need to directly do anything: Obama Supreme Court will end this decisively and finally outlaw this final roadblock of discrimination against gay couples. Look, let's be realistic, Obama has to earn the country's trust first, he's a constitutional law expert, he knows separate but equal is anything but equal, just give him a minute---damn he' hasn't even been sworn in yet. As a black person, I can sympathize with gay saying "why should we wait one second longer"--I do. I'm not saying they are wrong, I"m saying let Obama set up his pieces on the chessboard so that he can make it a certain success rather than a losing battle. I'm telling you, those Prop 8 proponents helped ring the deathknell on this "marriage between man and woman only" crap b/c it's going right back to the Supreme Court, Cal's Supreme Court will hear it (and maintain their position that it's legal for gays to marry and strike down Prop8) in 2010 and the Supreme Court should hear it shortly after that. The Supreme Court I think will feel more comfortable doing the right thing (the Constitutional thing by the way) now that it is very clear the country is on a different swing---they watched the primaries and general election too! To my fellow Americans being treated like 2nd class citizens---keep your head up,!!!!!!!
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
