Gays are no worse as people than straights simply because their orientation is different. I wonder when people will realize this.
"But gays are bad!" Oh, really? How many of you say this, without ever having met one gay person? Quite a few of you, I'm sure. If you could look past the superficial, and got to know someone who was gay, you could find a very good friend.
Unfortunately, the American government, supposed to protect its citizens and allow everyone equal opportunities, sees fit to do otherwise. Laws in place prevent homosexuals from legally marrying, and as such, are ineligible to receive the benefits accorded to heterosexual couples: Hospital visitation, exemption from the "death tax," survivor benefits, etc. In fact, much research has proven that marriage gives a person social and mental stability, not only for straights, one would assume, but gays as well. In 1996, President Clinton, the living symbol of social and marital stability, signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act. Among other things, DOMA's wording prevents homosexual marriage. It also stipulates that if a state does allow it, it does not have to be recognized by other states. Doesn't this basically nullify the Full Faith & Credit clause of the United States Constitution?
From The West Wing, "Let Bartlet be Bartlet":
MAJOR TATE
Sir, we're not prejudiced toward homosexuals.
FITZWALLACE (chairman of the Joint Chiefs)
You just don't want to see them serving in the Armed Forces?
MAJOR TATE
No sir, I don't.
FITZWALLACE
Because they oppose a threat to unit discipline and cohesion.
MAJOR TATE
Yes sir.
FITZWALLACE
That's what I think too. I also think the military wasn't designed to be an instrument of social change.
MAJOR TATE
Yes sir.
FITZWALLACE
The problem with that is that what they were saying to me 50 years ago. Blacks shouldn't serve with Whites. It would disrupt the unit. You know what? It did disrupt the unit. The unit got over it. The unit changed. I'm an admiral in the U.S. Navy and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...Beat that with a stick.
a few scenes later...
OFFICER 1
I'd like to go on record saying that I have no objection to what somebody does in the privacy of their own home. But when we're talking about schools, when we're talking about the boy scouts, when we're talking about an army barracks?
SAM
You know, Ken. There's something I've always wanted to ask you. What does being gay mean you can't keep your hands to yourself? Over what kind of gentlemanly pride of the Armed Forces willing to lay claim the restraint in that area? You want me to get the file on sexual harassment on the D.O.D.? Do you want me to ask these guys about Tailhook?