Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

Huckabee’s Free Pass?

The Iowa Independent has an interesting op-ed column, posted online here, regarding the GOP presidential hopefuls' stances (or, maybe, stance since they essentially share the same view) on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." On Duncan Hunter: Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), in expressing why he supports excluding gay troops, recently said their straight co-workers "have conservative values, and they have Judeo-Christian values. To force those people to work in a small tight unit with somebody who is openly homosexual goes against what they believe to be their principles, and it is their principles, is I think a disservice to them." The Independent points out the obvious problem with Hunter's statement. "Is Hunter suggesting the military segregate soldiers based on ideology to maintain unit cohesion?," the Independent wonders. "The military has a history of being one of the first governmental institutions to implement desegregation policies, yet Hunter wants to reverse this trend, which his fellow Republican President Harry S. Truman initiated in 1950." "In an attempt to appeal to his conservative base, Hunter opened up a new vein of discrimination against moderates and liberals serving in the military," the paper says. "The big question is, if elected, would Hunter expand DADT to include anyone whose ideology isn't consistent with the conservatives?" On Mike Huckabee: "Huckabee did manage to undermine the premise of Hunter's argument about protecting conservative principles," the Independent writes. "The Uniform Code of Military Justice is probably the best rule, and it has to do with conduct. People have a right to have whatever feelings, whatever attitudes they wish," Huckabee said at the same debate where Hunter made his Judeo-Christian remarks. "But when their conduct could put at risk the morale, I think that's what is at issue. And that's why our policy is what it is." "Here, Huckabee argues that it's a homosexual's conduct that jeopardizes morale, and by conduct [we] assume he's referring to sexual conduct," the paper says. "However, no other soldier's sexual conduct is put under the morality microscope, so under a Huckabee administration, soldiers who indulge in pre-marital sex or adultery are given a free pass." Huckabee, who has been gaining significant attention in recent weeks as he also gains in polls, seems to be suggesting a "separate but equal" policy for LGBT troops. While he acknowledges that the UCMJ prohibits certain conduct, he neglects to point out that those rules & regulations apply to every service member, gay or straight. So, in fact, there are already rules about conduct that gay troops must follow. Huckabee and other GOP contenders have been fond of talking (un-necessarily, because of the UCMJ rules mentioned here) about the behavior of gay service members. But they haven't been called out, until now, on the fact that their remarks indicate they would, as the Independent notes, give a pass to all of our other uniformed personnel who violate the regulations, if they aren't lesbian or gay. We know that "separate but equal" has never worked in our country before, and it won't this time either. And, the argument Huckabee wants to make is about behavior, and that's not what the ban on gay troops is about. It never has been. And it's not about free passes, either. In reality, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is about who you are, and not what you do. It's sheer discrimination applied to every LGBT service member regardless of how closely they adhere to UCMJ rules. That's a point Governor Huckabee missed in his remarks, and one he should be called out on. And we're glad The Iowa Independent has done just that. - Steve Ralls

Labels: 2008, Duncan Hunter, in the news, Mike Huckabee, republicans

-----

12-11-07