A wonderful essay this morning by Sally Quinn makes some good points about how difficult it is for Washington to make a move on social issues. Being a political town, it’s impossible here to admit what you really think for fear of losing your job, both elected and appointed. Gee, you’d think that the politicians would be more empathetic toward gay people just on that one point!
She also rightly makes mention of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” — what happens to this ridiculous rule if same-sex marriage does eventually become common?
At the beginning of the Clinton administration, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was instituted in the military. My father, a retired general, was discussing the issue one night with several other generals. They all agreed that allowing gays in the military was out of the question. Pounding the table, they decried the specter of gays in foxholes and proclaimed that gays would destroy American military might and leave us defenseless against our enemies. All the while, dinner was being served by two gay corporals who could barely contain themselves.
Today gay linguists in Arabic are being discharged from the military because of their sexual preference as a sop toward conservative constituents of Washington officials. Doesn’t the president keep reminding us that we’re at war? Meanwhile, women soldiers are being raped by their colleagues and women cadets by their classmates.
I’ll bet this isn’t going to be the case much longer. For one thing, young people see gay marriage as a non-issue. “What’s the big deal?” is their general response. For another, the gay issue hits close to home for everyone, young or old. Everybody is related to, or at least knows, someone who’s gay. Now that gays are not forced to be invisible, the issue has become one of civil rights. Said one recent college graduate: “How does Washington tell the American people they have to accept gay marriage? Simple. The same way Abraham Lincoln told them they don’t get to have slaves.”
There’s also a great quote from Barney Frank:
Says Barney Frank: “I believe once it has happened it will be a non-issue very soon. Three years after civil unions in Vermont, nobody cares. It’s boring.”
In the end, he says, “It will help a lot of people and hurt nobody. Same-sex marriage doesn’t alter anything for anybody but the participants.”
