Obama to Gay Rights Activists: Keep Waiting
President Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign last night and re-declared his opposition to "don't ask, don't tell." But wait a minute: he's commander in chief. If he's opposed, why doesn't he actually do something about it?
Here's one issue where conservatives with their traditional concern for the military can outbid the all-talk president.
As former JCS Chairman General John Shalikashvili pointed out in the Washington Post, scant evidence exists that allowing openly gay enlistment would harm unit cohesion or spark mass resignations from our fighting men and women. Other countries, including the Israeli Defense Forces, have allowed homosexuals to serve, with no serious adverse effects. It's tough to argue that the ban on open gay service is much different from the Briggs Initiative from 1970's California which sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers from the classroom. Ronald Reagan was against kicking out gay teachers, and his intellectual heirs ought to be against kicking out gay soldiers.
Besides, I can think of only a few things more fitting than for a homophobic radical Islamist in Afghanistan to discover that his latest plans for a terrorist attack were foiled because of the quick work of a gay member of our armed forces.
Increasing numbers of Americans are embracing gay marriages and civil unions. Earlier this year, I wrote that younger voters of all colors are embracing a society that is more tolerant of gay rights, and I have no doubt that an anti-gay stigma dissuades many younger voters from supporting Republican candidates, particularly those who are solidly on the anti-gay marriage side. Additionally, as FF editor David Frum continues to point out, there are more college educated Americans in this country than ever before. A recent Pew survey returned disheartening results for advocates of a traditional marriage only policy: high school graduates and dropouts oppose gay marriage 59-32, but college grads support marriage equality by a margin of 49-43. (Another reason why President Bush was wise to leave out anti-gay marriage rhetoric from a college commencement address.)
Obama speaks. Republicans can do.