American Military Used Again for Social Experiments

Just as the military was the experimental laboratory for the integration of America's Armed Forces in regards to race, skin color, and national origin in 1948, so is it again being used to experiment with integration based on sexual orientation.

Just as the racial integration of the military was good for the country, let's work towards using the undoubted success of this orientation experiment to make sure we citizens get a Congress that will pass, and a president who will sign, a bill addressing gay/lesbian discrimination that exists in employment, namely the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

And the next law that needs repealing is DOMA, the Defense (sic) of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The passage of ENDA and the repealing of DOMA will incorporate all of us gay and lesbian citizens fully into the fabric of American life. These accomplishments will be even more encompassing of our inherent rights of citizenship than the repeal of DADT.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank recently spoke on the House floor regarding the repeal of DADT:

Mr. Speaker, we have a history in this country of prejudice being enacted; and through the efforts of many people, the policy embodying that prejudice can be overcome. And as we debate any single effort to overcome prejudice, we are told that the effect of diminishing that prejudice, the effect of repealing that rule will be chaos, will be disorder, will be social unrest; and it is never true.

Seven years ago, the State I am privileged to represent in this House established same-sex marriage; and there were predictions of doom, predictions that this would be a terribly upsetting factor. None of those predictions have come true. Not a one. As we debated last year the repeal of the unfortunate statute which said that brave and patriotic gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender members of the armed services would have to lie about who they were, would have to hide who they were or else lose the right to serve their country, a right which some evade but for which they were prepared to fight, we once again heard predictions that this would be disruptive, that it would cause diminution of the ability of our brave men and women to serve their purposes.

Let me predict today, Mr. Speaker, that every one of those prejudices 3 and 4 years from now will be proven as wrong as the predictions that same-sex marriage would be disorganizing. We will now see gay men and lesbians serving this country openly and proudly as they have been serving this country proudly, but unfortunately not openly, for some time. I hope people are making note of the predictions that were made on the floor of this House, in the Senate, and in the country about the negative consequences of ``don't ask don't tell,'' because they will soon be shown to have been wholly false.

Text of Rep. Frank's remarks taken from the Congressional Record:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r112:8:./temp/~r112ZRNWWH::