You Don't Ask, Don't Tell, What Do You Do? / 5-25-10

Let's combine two stories here. And I think I now owe royalties to the Adam And the Ants or something.

Story One: Dude who claims homosexuals can be cured of the disease of being gay, and who once charged taxpayers $120,000 for an appearance in court to serve as an expert witness, goes on 10-day vacation to Europe with gay male escort he found online. Good story all on its own. Juicy and everything. Follow the links. They're great. But wait. There's more.

Story Two: Same dude's activist group, the Family Research Council (co-founded with fellow gay-hater James Dobson), placed an ad in Politico Tuesday, asking oh so rhetorically, "What do Kagan, Levin and Pelosi have in common? Using the military to advance their radical social agenda." (It's nice they answered their own question. I was worried they'd just let it sit out there, lonely and ambiguous.)

Superfluous But Fun Background: Elena Kagan is President Obama's most recent Supreme Court nominee. Carl Levin is the chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee. Nancy Pelosi, you may have heard, is the Speaker of the House. Her district is in San Francisco, so she's automatically evil and is to be opposed as a matter of principle, no matter what.

Combo Story: The FRC is worried that Congress might repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the law that gives gays the distinct privilege of being dishonorably discharged from the military for being, well, you know, GAY. Which has happened to 13,000 homosexuals since the policy's implementation. Rekers may have conveniently "left" the FRC and its subsidiaries, but that doesn't stop them from continuing to try and deny equal rights to gay citizens. (Wonder how Rekers feels about their efforts now.)

Congress is in fact considering a repeal, which would take effect Dec. 1 if approved by important people such as the President, the SecDef and the Joint Chiefs. Gays would be allowed to serve openly, as they do in places like Israel, Russia, and Great Britain. I should mention, however, that those nations have been tragically invaded by non-gay armies in recent years and will soon cease to exist entirely.

My unsolicited advice to gay-rights opponents, in Congress or otherwise: Don't get in the way of this repeal. It's hateful and you're on the wrong side of history. Oh, and the wrong side of public opinion, too, but that's kind of inconsequential here, as far as the ethics of the situation go. As far as your re-election efforts go, that's up to you. Yes, I'm speaking to you, Scott Brown.

One way I've been considering the validity of DADT is by framing it through the lens of equal opportunity employment practices. Ask yourself if you agree with the statement: "Should the U.S. military be allowed to not hire gay men and women?" Then, for fun, substitute the military for Microsoft. Or Jamba Juice. Or Wal-Mart.

I realize the job description of "armed forces operative" isn't exactly equivalent to that of "superstore greeter." (There may be plenty of crossover. I've never been either of those things, so feel free to enlighten me.) Bottom line: discrimination is discrimination, no matter its professional location. And I don't think that's what I want my country to be about.