Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Favor Repealing Gay Military Ban
November 5, 2003
Gfn.com News
dg> This is a very dangerous road for Wesley Clark to travel
At the Rock the Vote/ CNN-sponsored debate at Boston's Faneuil Hall Tuesday night, an audience of twentysomethings tossed questions at eight of the nine 2004 Democratic presidential candidates.
Among the other issues discussed, several candidates for the nomination indicated their support for allowing lesbian and gay Americans to serve in the United States armed forces.
Prompted by a question from a member of the Rock the Vote audience, retired General Wesley Clark said, "I think everybody deserves the right to serve. And when I'm president, I'm going to make sure that we treat every man, woman and child in America with dignity and respect. And that includes the opportunities to serve in the United States armed forces."
Gen. Clark told the crowd he would ask military leaders to review the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
"I get a lot of reports where it doesn't work," Clark said, adding "I think the policy . . . needs to be reviewed because there are so many indications that it's not working. I think you start with a review with the presumption that it isn't. And let the armed forces leadership go back through it and give us a better policy so that every American who desires to serve can."
When later questioned by CNN's Paula Zahn, Gen. Clark said that military investigators "go and look at gay bars, they look at what they're doing in their off-duty time, which they really are not supposed to be doing. That's what needs to be reviewed and either fixed, or the policy needs to be changed."
When presented with a similar question, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said, "There is a cemetery, the congressional cemetery in Washington, D.C., where there is a tombstone. And the tombstone says, 'My country gave me a medal for killing a man and gave me a dishonorable discharge for loving one.'" Kerry also noted he was "one of only four people who testified before . . . the Armed Services Committee on the right and ability of anybody to serve in the armed forces of the United States."
On the issue of lesbian and gay service members, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun said: "(A)t the end of the day, it really is about discrimination and allowing people to contribute to the whole of society based on . . . the content of their character, the capacity of their intellect, the energy that they have to bring to bear."
The other Democratic presidential candidates have indicated that they support repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members.
Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., was campaigning in Iowa Tuesday and did not participate in the debate.
President Bush indicated in 2000 that he fully supports the current ban.
Tuesday's debate was sponsored by CNN and Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 1990 to get young people engaged in the political process.
The Democratic field has gathered for six debates, starting in May in South Carolina. The next debate is scheduled for Nov. 24 in Des Moines.
One of the nine Democrats will face President Bush in the November 2004 election. |
