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Not Cool, Mr. Secretary, Not Cool
By Allyson Robinson
I recognize that there are big items on the agenda for our Department of Defense and specifically, for Secretary Chuck Hagel. Budget cuts. An historic draw down of troops. Mounting concerns in Syria. So it's understandable why the Pentagon's leadership may have felt this week that a controversial pastor leading its Day of Prayer event was just not at the top of the list to receive its attention. But here's why it should have been.
In the run-up to his February confirmation hearing, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel positioned himself unequivocally as an advocate for LGBT members of the armed forces. Setting aside questions about his motivations for doing so for a moment, it's fair to say that pragmatically, he had little choice. His soon-to-be boss, President Obama, counted the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as one of his most important first-term successes, and the former Nebraska senator had anti-gay sins in his past that he needed to atone for before he could be considered a viable candidate for the job.
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