“I may be straight, but not narrow” said Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) at a heated review of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy before the House Armed Services Committee, Military Personnel Subcommittee. This was the first time in 15 years that the policy had been revisited since its creation in 1993.

Retired Marine Corps. Staff Sgt. and first wounded soldier during the Iraq War Eric Alva, stated that trust was the most important bond he shared with his fellow soldiers, and that when he admitted to them that he was gay, trust and cohesion in the group only strengthened.

Joan Darrah, a retired Navy Captain, echoed Alva’s sentiments, saying that she was constantly forced to live a double life while serving. After leaving a room in the Pentagon that was destoryed only minutes later on the morning of 9/11, Darrah realized that her partner of 11 years would have been the last to know, had she been killed. Due to the policy, she said that she was very secretive about her life as a lesbian, not even listing her partner as an emergency contact. In addition, Darrah said that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy actually hurts troop cohesion by mandating the immediate removal of soldiers who are found to be gay.

Brian Jones, a former Army Special Operations and current business owner and Chief Financial Officer defended Don’t Ask Don’t Tell by saying that certain military situations require a closeness that could be uncomfortable for heterosexual soldiers, pointing to communal showers and even the need to huddle together for warmth, which he stated can result in the sexual arousal of gay soldiers.

Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness said that by removing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, heterosexual soldiers would be pushed into a situation she called “forced cohabitation”. She also stated that by allowing openly gay soliders to fight alongside straight soldiers, the government would be putting an unfair burden on Americans with religious convictions.

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), a member of congress who has served in the US military, exressed sharp criticism of Donnelly for remarks that he said implied that the US Army was not professional enough to to work alongside gay soldiers.

The fact that the U.S. government covers the travel cost of a family pet yet does not cover that of a domestic partner was brought up at a discussion held at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Unlike spouses of married foreign service personnel, domestic partners are ineligible for medical benefits, life insurance and are not even permitted to attend a two-day safety training course which the State Department offers to spouses.

Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, spoke during the discussion, recollecting when James Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador appointed by President Clinton to Luxembourg in 1999. Albright also considered former ambassador Michael Guest’s resignation as ambassador to Romania a big loss to U.S. foreign policy. Guest resigned from his post because his partner was unable to receive the same benefits that spouses of his straight colleagues were offered. Albright wondered how America could expect itself to be a leader in promoting civil liberties when it still discriminated its own people.

Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), also speaking at the discussion, pointed out that to an employee, health benefits are second in importance only to salary. Smith described how, in order to keep the best and brightest Americans working in the public sector, equal health benefits should be afforded to all. Also, Smith discussed his theory that a key to reducing health care costs is to widen the pool of those eligible, even if the “paradigms of families get shifted”.

In a conference call today, the Human Rights Campaign spoke about Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) record of opposing the interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Americans. While McCain touts himself as a maverick and independent, a uniter not a divider, his record with the GLBT community shows that he will be a strong opponent of their issues, said David Smith, vice president for HRC.

McCain has promised to act and vote against civil rights for GLBT’s in the community at home and at work, said Lara Schwartz HRC legal director. McCain has said in no uncertain terms that he opposes same sex marriage, supports the defensive marriage act, and opposes same sex partners adopting children, according to Schwartz. Many concerns of the HRC are about working discrimination, and John McCain opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on employees based on sexual oreintation.

Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona State legislator, said that McCain has shifted his views and in 1994 stated support of the gay community but has back away from that stance. In 2006, McCain was the face of a campaign using television commercials and mailing pamphlets to ban same sex marriage from the Arizona state constitution, which refused minimal legal protection like health benefits and rights to visit in hospitals from the gay community. All in all, McCain would not be supportive of the civil rights of the GLBT, despite his claim of being independent, said Sinema. (12:01)

 

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This morning the Gay, Lesbian, Allied Senate Staff (GLASS) Caucus held a forum on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual (LGBT) public policy agenda at the Russell Senate Office building.

Participants at the forum included both Democrats and Republicans, with a fully engaged crowd consisting of equally diverse members. Black and white, male and female, many people came out to discuss the future of gay rights.

The caucus focused on uniting its often philosophically different participants. Issues covered included the HIV/AIDS epidemic, hate crimes, and the forthcoming presidential election. “We are a truly united LGBT community,” said hopeful public policy advocate David Stacy. As the forum concluded, messages such as these suggest a hopeful future for the LGBT.