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More to do after DADT repeal

Compiled by Howard Israel

S/he said

"The end of 'don't ask, don't tell' will finally allow our brave women and men in uniform to defend their country without having to defend or hide their true identity, and will eliminate their fear of being fired from our nation's largest employer based solely upon who they are. But this measure will not alleviate that fear for millions of other Americans who worry daily that they will lose their jobs if someone discovers – or even thinks – they are LGBT. Even as this historic repeal becomes law, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would federally prohibit discrimination in employment based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, still languishes in the halls of the U.S. House, dead without discussion as the lame duck session ends."
– Chris Hartman, director of Fairness Campaign, an LGBT rights organization in Louisville, Ky., in his column titled "Barriers have fallen in military, but others remain," http://www.courier-journal.com, Dec. 26.

"President Obama can sign a bill into law. The judicial system can enforce it. But only everyday people can breathe life into the greater, cultural and personal significance behind the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal. And that is, we don't have to hide."
– L.Z. Granderson, in his column titled " 'Don't ask' repeal frees up everybody," http://edition.cnn.com, Dec. 22.

"President Obama said that repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' will strengthen our national security. I cannot think of anything more dangerous to our national security and the ongoing strength of our nation than the collapse of our sense that there are objective rights and wrongs. When we sanction ourselves to make everything up, who can the God that our Declaration of Independence refers to possibly be? Why should Americans take the words of our constitution, that are a few hundred years old, seriously when we dismiss the truths of words that are thousands of years old?"
– Star Parker, in her column titled " 'Don't ask, don't tell' Repeal a Mistake," http://townhall.com, Dec. 27.

"'Don't ask, don't tell' was not about men and women serving in the military. Men and women who are gays and lesbians can serve in the military right now. That's not the issue. This is about a larger issue of the secularization of our society. It's a larger issue about the left just, you know, trying to, you know, put government in control of this country, and trying to move faith, trying to move any people of faith and religion out of the public square, out of America, trying to transform what America's all about."
– Rick Santorum, chairman of America's Foundation, a political action committee committed to conservative principles, in a discussion about the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' on Fox News Channel's The Sean Hannity Show, http://www.newshounds.us, Dec. 23.

"Given the president's support of gay rights in other contexts, his opposition to marriage equality raises the question of whether the struggle Obama referred to is between politics and principle. If so, we hope principle will prevail. The president could spare himself that struggle if he would analyze the issue logically. Civil unions, while a vast improvement over the absence of any recognition of same-sex relationships, are almost by definition second-class arrangements. What should determine his position is logic and the fact that same-sex couples across America, not just those in his circle, yearn for recognition of their relationships. Enough agonizing, Mr. President. Support marriage equality."
– In a Los Angeles Times editorial about President Obama's statement that he is "struggling" with whether to endorse same-sex marriage, http://www.latimes.com, Dec. 30, 2010.

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Topics: Opinions
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