The Civil Rights Test of Our Generation

[BigBearJohn]

Received in my email from change.org:

The only form of institutionalized discrimination still permitted in the United States is discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

So begins Congressman Joe Sestak, who wrote a guest post on Change.org this week arguing that the battle for gay rights is the struggle of our generation. We couldn't agree more.

Rep. Sestak is the highest-ranking U.S. military officer currently serving in the U.S. Congress. After spending 31 years serving in the U.S. Navy, and has a particular passion for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the law that prevents openly gay soldiers from serving in the military, and fires those soldiers that do come out of the closet.

For Rep. Sestak, that's intolerable.

"Over the last 16 years we've lost 12,500 good servicemembers to this policy. In a time of war, our national security cannot afford to lose these troops, especially high-value specialists and linguists. But more so, our military cohesion depends on honesty and integrity," Rep. Sestak writes.

"How can we demand that the 65,000 of our troops who are estimated to be gay act dishonestly and conceal information from their comrades and commanders? No one who serves in defense of liberty should be forced to live a lie."

As President Obama gets ready to address the largest gay rights group in the country this weekend, he might do well to heed the words of Rep. Joe Sestak – not only on the issue of Don't Ask Don't Tell, but also on the many other ways in which gay and lesbian Americans are discriminated against by their own government. To not do so would be to pass up an opportunity to address what could very well be the civil rights struggle of our time.

(emphasis added)

[ccharles000]

1. k/r

[BigBearJohn]

2. kick for the Sunday folks