There is a right-wing blog called Thisainthell.us that purports to support the troops. In this blog he laments that DOMA will somehow lead to "his" benefits being lessened. I present to you my reaction which he was too cowardly to allow to appear on his blog:
Jonn Lilyea writes:
So, you didn’t really think that the Defense of Marriage Act would stand up under the scrutiny of this court, did you? The is the Supreme Court that gave us Obamacare, for Pete’s sake. But anyway, as soon as the decision was announced, Chuck Hagel rushed out a statement that would give benefits to same-sex couples, you know, because they’ve kept their promises so well to, well, regular couples. From Stars & Stripes;
Considering how much those on the right claim to love the Constitution, they do not understand it. The Supreme Court did not "give" us the Affordable Care Act it was passed by a Supermajority in both houses of Congress. While I realize that SCOTUS has done the bidding of the GOP in Bush V. Gore, Citizens United, and yesterday's awful ruling on voting rights, the right should not expect such subservience at all times.
But here is the crux of his argument:
Last year, they wanted to strike down the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy so they could openly serve. That’s all they wanted – to be able to serve without hiding who they are. So, the camel got his nose under the tent, and voila!
Honestly, I don’t care about gays serving in the military, I just don’t like being lied to about their intentions. Oh, just so you same-sex couples know, when it comes to those benefits that you get promised, they break their promises all of the time. They tell us that, as retirees, we’re unsustainable and then they pile a bunch new people into the system, so enjoy it while you can.
The fact is that
Andrew Wilfahrt a gay soldier killed in Afghanistan earned his benefits:
And Eric Alva who lost his leg in Iraq earned his benefits:
The entire premise of your post- that gays our pulling some kind of misdirection- is a lie. One of the main points against DOMA and DADT has always been that it is unjust that gays are receiving less for doing the same work. If it comes as a surprise that we’re asking for the same benefits it’s because you didn’t bother to look up until we were eligible for those benefit.
And if you knew anything about the history of Civil Rights you’d know that economic matters have always been part of the demand for rights. It’s true that in the 1950s when Civil Rights began in earnest they wanted to integrate the schools and sit wherever they wanted to on busses. But they ALSO wanted to end employment discrimination and do something about the fact that over 90% of blacks were living below the poverty line.
If you read your history you'd also know that the standard reaction to minorities winning rights is “that if they get this, they’re going to demand that”. It was made in the 1860s when the argument was that if we end slavery they’re going to want “our” jobs. It was made again in the 1930s when they declared that if we let them ride wherever they want in the boxcar they’re going to want to go to “our” schools, It was made again in the 1950s when it was argued that if we let them go to “our” schools they’re going to teach in “our” schools. And it was argued in 1967 that if we let them vote they’ll want to run for office and may even want to become President of “our” country. And it was argued in 1972 that if we let “them” intermarry soon gays will want to marry too.
And you know what? They were right. Minorities DID want all those things. Not only did they want all those things they marched, they voted and they did all they could to get all those things. And they had every right to.
And history recognizes that ALL those people that were arguing encroachment were racist then. Just as history will someday- soon- acknowledge your bigotry.
If a black person can go to a “White” University, pass and get a degree he’s earned that degree. Just as he’s earned the right to live in a “white” neighborhood if he can afford the mortgage and he's earned the right to be President of the United States if he can get more votes than the other guy.
Because the school was never "yours" the job was never "yours" and the country was never "yours". The right to have these things was always as much his as "yours". It's just that the law finally got around to recognizing that they had these rights.
Likewise if a gay man serves his country honorably and is entitle to benefits, He's earned them. He’s not taking them from you. They merely received the blessings of liberty that they should of been entitled to since our countries founding.
I agree that it is horrible that service members- gay or straight- aren't getting their earned benefits. However there our better solutions than discriminating against gay soldiers.