Eric Alva was the first soldier to be seriously injured in Iraq, losing his leg after stepping on a land mine. After retiring from the military, Alva began
speaking out against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the U.S. military:
Alva says that losing his leg forced him out of the closet.
"It made me realize everything that I had to actually speak up for," Alva said to ABC News in an exclusive TV interview, "basically the rights and privileges of what I as an individual have earned in this country."
He imagines conversations with the political opponents he knows he will now face.
"'OK buddy,'" he said, "'you pick up a gun and you go fight in Iraq or Afghanistan for a while, then you could come back and we can have a talk because I've actually sacrificed, I've actually done duty and served in this country for your rights and freedom.'"
On Tuesday, he was speaking to the San Antonio City Council to voice his support for a non-discrimination ordinance before the council.
Cue the bigoted protestors:
“Let them vote ‘no’ to this ordinance, and ‘yes’ to the reign of the kingdom of God,” Pastor Charles Flowers said at the rally.
About 200 people signed up to speak at the City Council meeting for and against the ordinance.
Alva, a Marine staff sergeant who became the first U.S. soldier injured in Iraq when he stepped on a landmine, was booed by the crowd when he spoke in favor of the ordinance. Alva lives in San Antonio.
“To all you people that preach the word of God, shame on you because God loves me, like the day I laid bleeding on the sands of Iraq and that’s why he saved me,” Alva said before he left the podium.
We're with you, Sergeant Alva. Keep fighting!
UPDATE: BlackSheep1 noted in the comments that a Pastor Charles Flowers in San Antonio was arrested and accused of dragging a girl behind his van at a Christian boot camp:
A San Antonio pastor and an employee of his Christian boot camp were arrested Friday on aggravated assault charges, accused of dragging a girl behind a van after she failed to keep up during a running exercise.
Investigators with the Nueces County Sheriff’s Office arrested Charles E. Flowers, 46, shortly before noon at the Faith Outreach Center in northwest San Antonio, said Brad E. Bailey, a spokesman for the Schertz Police Department.
Bailey said boot camp trainer Stephanie Bassitt, 20, was later arrested without incident at her home in Kirby.