Though President Obama and Congress
repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2010, gay and lesbian soldiers
still face many daily social struggles. Because of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex couples can’t be recognized by any government. This causes great
obstacles for any same-sex couple dependent on government benefits.
Sgt. Karen Alexander and her wife Pvt.
Allison Hanson can’t live together on base, as Fort Bragg can’t recognize them
as a married couple. They choose to live off base, so they can be together, but
this causes more problems as they struggle to get enough money to survive.
Alexander even had to resort to sending her son to live with other family
because they couldn’t afford to care for him properly. In another case, Ashley
Broadway, wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack, was denied full membership to the
officers’ spouses club just because she was a woman. Later on, Fort Bragg gave
her a guest “caregiver” pass, as Broadway and Mack have a son, but this puts
Broadway on the same level as other nannies and not as other wives.
The Pentagon refuses to change their stance
as they are bound by the Defense of Marriage Act. The Supreme Court is said to make a decision on the constitutionally of DOMA in June, but there is no guarantee that the ruling will be in favor of same-sex couples. Many also say that is
too far away for same-sex couples who are struggling now.
Though free to be who they are, gay and
lesbian soldiers still face opposition from society. Unless we repeal those
laws, these couples will never truly be equal and free. Those soldiers fight
for others to have the chance to be free, so why can’t they? Is it unconstitutional? How can Congress protect these couples' rights? What do you think?
3 comments:
It saddens me that discrimination still manages to find a way to poke its ugly head into our society. To me, it seems blatantly obvious that DOMA is unconstitutional. One would think that the terms "equal protection" are pretty self explanatory. However, House Republicans have already agreed to spend $3 million, in taxpayer dollars no less, to preserve the law. According to this Huff Post article, House Democrats have voiced their disapproval of these Republican efforts, arguing that they contradict Republican calls for "fiscal responsibility." So far, the attempt to defend DOMA in the circuit courts has failed. Hopefully, that trend will continue once the case gets to the Supreme Court.
I agree with Paniz. Discriminating against same sex couples, as seen in DOMA, should be unconstitutional. However, it somehow still is prevalent in today's society. Both heterosexual couples and homosexual couples follow the same rules of society and in the military and thus, they should have the same rights. I think in order to give same sex couples the same rights in the military, they should have the same rights in the rest of society. We can start by legalizing same sex marriages. Once homosexual couples are equal in society, they can be equal in the military.
I think the problem with changing the mindset of others plays a big role. It has been the norm to discriminate against gays and lesbians for such a long time, and the conservative population isn't going to just suddenly accept something totally against its morals even when provided with logical arguments. People like to hold on to their beliefs because they want to be right, and the people holding onto the belief that homosexuality is wrong happen to be in the generation that controls our government today. It's almost like a waiting game. Are we not the future leaders of America? When we grow up and people from our generation will enter the government system, and I'm betting civil discrimination like this probably won't exist anymore. But then again, our generation is not fully ready to play a prominent role in government (with some exceptions), and our generation is not homogeneously pro-LGBT. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure which way the legal battle will sway in this situation.
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