Before folks get all up in arms (no pun intended), let me be clear: I am not calling every citizen who slaps a Support Our Troops sticker on their bumper a creep. Far from it.
Americans For The Military, a project of the conservative Center for Military Readiness, is a specific organization with a specific anti-gay agenda.
That agenda? To make sure Don't Ask Don't Tell stays in place. In other words, to keep gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
At the Americans For The Military Web site, visitors can sign and send a petition TO: The President and Members of Congress. SUBJECT: Support for Military Men and Women.
Except the gay ones. But in their world, there aren't any gay ones. Here's the petition text:
"I am proud of our troops and respect their mission at home and overseas. Our nation's military should not be used as a tool to advance the goals of gay activist groups. Forcing a sexual agenda on the armed forces would hurt discipline and morale. Congress passed a law confirming that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. As an American, I ask that you uphold this law to help to protect and preserve our military."
Sounds reasonable enough. Forcing a sexual agenda on the armed forces would be a really messed up thing to do. As far as I can tell, however, no one's trying. What the folks who want to repeal DADT want is for gays and lesbians to be able to serve their country without having to live in fear that someone's going to discover they're homos and boot them out. That's worlds away from whatever perversity Americans For The Military has dreamed up.
Meanwhile, more and more people who know something about the military are calling for DADT's repeal. "I know many stellar lesbian and gay troops who also served proudly, but who could not serve openly about their lives and their loved ones. Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are," Colonel Daniel Tepfer, USAF (Ret.), said recently.
Not so, claims Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, during a brief video that appears on the Web site alongside the petition.
"In 1993, President Bill Clinton tried to impose the gay agenda on our military men and women," Donnelly says over images of uniformed soldiers. "Americans insisted that congress protect our military from this attack."
She reiterates the petition's language about "forcing a sexual agenda" and hurting "discipline and morale." There's a close up of a soldier's tired face. "It's as simple as that," she says.
Ah yes, Congress, at the behest of Donnelly's Americans, put the smack down on the gays in 1993. It was a kinder, gentler time.
"But now the gay activists are back!" Donnelly warns. "This time they're using the Internet to organize and push hard for repeal of the law. We cannot allow them to win."
Gays using the Internet? Is there nothing they won't stoop to?
"We need an online army to support the troops. The time to fight is now and together we will win," Donnelly says, because army metaphors are so cute, especially since there's an actual war and actual troops dying daily. Yes, what our troops need is a stronger ban on gays. That'll solve all of our problems in Iraq.
