More 2008 Hopefuls Call for End to Sodomy Ban
We told you earlier this week that Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama declared his support for repeal of Article 125, the military's ban on consensual sodomy. At the time, Obama joined Dennis Kucinich, Christopher Dodd, Joe Biden and Mike Gravel in calling for an end to the law.
Today, Gay City News reports that two other candidates in the '08 field have also indicated their support for repealing Article 125:
"In the wake of Gay City News' story last week reporting that four of the Democratic presidential hopefuls had gone on the record in opposition to the ban on sodomy in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the party's current frontrunners, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards told this newspaper that they too believe the policy must change.
Seven of the eight contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination have in the past two weeks stepped up in support of the privacy rights of gay military personnel."
The paper goes on to report that, "Jin Chon, a Clinton campaign spokesperson, wrote, also via e-mail, 'During Senator Clinton's recent remarks to the Human Rights Campaign, she agreed with Justice [Anthony] Kennedy, who wrote in Lawrence v. Texas, that 'times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.' Therefore, Sen. Clinton believes that the Lawrence decision should be extended to the military as well.'
An April 18 e-mail from Kate Bedingfield, an Edwards spokeswoman, stated that the 2004 vice presidential nominee 'believes that the treatment of all service members should be based on their role in maintaining national security, not their sexual orientation. The Uniform Code of Military Justice should conform to the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas.'"
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, according to Gay City News, did not directly answer questions about the sodomy provision.
Among Republicans, only two candidates, Tom Tancredo and John McCain, responded to the sodomy question. Both indicated they support keeping the law as-is.
Full coverage from Gay City News is online here.
- Steve RallsLabels: 2008, Article 125, in the news
-----04-19-07
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