I know that there are many proud and openly gay members of dailyKos who might have liked to take ownership of this issue, but too bad... I got here first. I'm an entirely straight male, using his first-ever diary to trumpet what has got to be a red-letter day for gay rights in America. Here are the opening paragraphs from
Salon (must view a brief commercial to receive a "day pass"), on the flip:
An Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq wants a chance to remain in the military as an openly gay soldier, a desire that's bringing him into conflict with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Sgt. Robert Stout, 23, says he has not encountered trouble from fellow soldiers and would like to stay if not for the policy that permits gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret.
"I know a ton of gay men that would be more than willing to stay in the Army if they could just be open," Stout said in an interview with The Associated Press. "But if we have to stay here and hide our lives all the time, it's just not worth it."
Stout, of Utica, Ohio, was awarded the Purple Heart after a grenade sent pieces of shrapnel into his arm, face and legs while he was operating a machine gun on an armored Humvee last May.
He is believed to be the first gay soldier wounded in Iraq to publicly discuss his sexuality, said Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California-Santa Barbara.
In retrospect (only a couple hours, now), this statement by Sergeant Stout was a long time in coming. This is a brave man, folks, a hero in every sense of the word -- on a par with Rosa Parks -- for his courage in speaking out for the equality of gays in the military, and in America. I'm not gay myself, but I've had two gay best friends and a gay roommate, so I have at least a surface understanding of what it means to have to hide your sexual orientation for fear of ridicule, scorn, or worse. I'm proud of Sergeant Stout's service to our country, and the risk he's taken for equality in the military.
Stout's statement comes at a time when military recruitment is facing severe challenges. All branches of the service (except the Navy) are missing their recruitment goals by a third or more, which is to be expected in an era when military health benefits are being cut, backdoor drafts are extending tours of duty way beyond sustainable limits, and the Bush Administration hasn't even the slightest hint of an "exit strategery." That's what makes Sgt. Stout's admission all the more heroic: here is a man -- a gay man, no less -- already wounded in action and awarded the Purple Heart, who is willing to reenlist, despite the inherent prejudices against him as a matter of the military's standard operating procedure.
Read my tagline, and you'll know that I'm a former (and present) "Deaniac." One of the things I'm proudest of from my former Presidential pick was Howard Dean's principled stance on gay rights in Vermont. He signed the Civil Unions Bill despite being uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage. So it is with me. I have a difficult time relating to, or understanding, the "gay impulse," but I know that more than anything, I want everyone -- regardless of sexual orientation -- to have the same rights as an American that I have. Especially brave soldiers like Sgt. Stout.
To quote Senator Martinez's Schiavo memo, "this is a great political issue" for Democrats. What can George Bush possibly say to Iraq-war veteran Sgt. Robert Stout without sounding like an out-of-touch, homophobic ass? "I'm sorry, you can't fight Iraqi insurgents any more, because you're one of those... um, fairies?" NO. It's time for the unConstitutional "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the American military to come to an end. NOW.
Thank you, Sargeant Robert Stout -- for your service, and your bravery.