A week ago, gays and lesbians in New York State were growling about how hard they were going to take Harold Ford Jr. down, in his bid to win the Democrat nomination for Hillary Clinton's former Senate Seat.
It was a mistake to call the GLBT snarling chihuahuas. A Chihuahua can actually inflict a nasty bite, gays and lesbians are politically toothless these days.
HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii lawmakers declined to vote Friday on a bill that would have allowed same-sex civil unions, effectively doing away with the measure.State House leaders said a narrow majority of representatives would have voted for civil unions, but they decided to indefinitely postpone a decision on whether to grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights and benefits the state provides to married couples.
Civil union supporters in the crowded House gallery on Friday shouted, "Shame on you!" while opponents cheered.
"It's an election year, and they're more concerned about keeping their seats than doing what's right," said Stephen Nagle of Kaaawa, wearing a rainbow lei in support of civil unions.
Hawaii currently has a Republican governor--the first since 1962. Democrats have controlled the legislature since 1954.
Although Barack Obama threw down on Don't Ask Don't Tell as part of his overall demeanor of defiance during the State of the Union address, its highly unlikely that the political goodwill exists to force the issue.
On a personal note, I can't think of any objections I would have to homosexuals serving in the military, and I don't recall ever hearing a cogent argument about why they shouldn't, except the rather ambiguous statement that it would be "bad for morale". If a gay guy is giving me cover fire, my morale would be great...
Comments (1)
Well homosexuals do serve in the military, but are required to be discreet for the sake of morale. Seems reasonable to me. Sex and fighting don't mix. The last thing a unit under stress needs is sexual attraction as a real or perceived factor in behaviour. Same applies with men and women. Moreover I would be repelled by a sexual advance, even a mild advance, by a man. That might affect my thinking in combat.
In today's pc military, there's the issue of introducing another protected class whose grievances get prioritized. A homosexual who pleads discrimination creates a world of pain for his commander who is incentivised to discriminate positively as in the case of the Fort Hood murderer. As well as the injustice, that's terrible for morale.
Posted by mark adams | January 30, 2010 1:35 PM
Posted on January 30, 2010 13:35