The Minister of Agriculture - obstreperous again

Well, the Maximum Leader can only shoot me once, so here goes:

The Washington Post today had an article that provides another illustration of official discrimination. This one perhaps might even influence Conservatives who purport to be “100% behind the troops.” Does their “100% support of veterans” need to be rewritten to “100% behind straight troops?”

The full article, by Garance Burke, is here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6680-2003Sep13.html

Here are some highlights:

According to a study by the Urban Institute released this summer, 1.3 million of the 25.1 million living veterans of U.S. wars are gay men or lesbians.

So this isn’t a small problem. Veterans of World II are dying. People tend to want to list their accomplishments on their headstone. Veteran. Father. Husband. Farmer. Teacher. Artist. Poet. But the U.S. government won’t let you mention other elements of your life:

The VA's standing policy on appropriate headstone vocabulary was formulated more than a decade ago, when one veteran requested that the words "gay" and "proud" be inscribed on his headstone.

The crucial point to observe here is that the policy to limit did not exist UNTIL a gay man wanted to write his own tombstone. The policy was specifically created to deny a veteran the right to choose his own epitaph.

But wait, there’s more. It’s not just about the tombstone. It’s about the kind of memorial service a man’s family and friends can have:

Today, if decorated service members desire a full-honor military funeral at Arlington -- which was modeled after Congressional Cemetery -- they may make no reference to their domestic partners, even if they are their closest survivors.

If you want the military honors, you can’t even make reference to your loved one during the service when no one but friends and family are around? One of the most touching moments of my Uncle’s recent funeral was when the VFW commander passed the American flag to my aunt. If my aunt had been my “uncle,” the government would have prohibited giving him a place of honor at the graveside. This is not just legal discrimination. This is -- and I choose my words carefully here – mean-spirited, rank horseshit. A man who took fire for his country, risking his life, can’t even bequeath a flag to his partner. Horseshit, pure and simple.

“They can use personal inscriptions such as 'beloved brother and son' or 'loving wife and mother,' something that's respectful and in good taste," said Willie Alexander, spokesman for the VA, which decides protocol for headstones and memorials at Arlington. "The headstones or markers that carry any reference to sexual orientation will not be inscribed, because the headstone commemorates their service to country, and it is not a forum for a political statement."

If it were just about political statements, the ban would not include the nature of the service. Why should being gay or mentioning your family situation be a political statement? I tell people about my wife and child all the time. I’m not making a political statement. It is only a political statement for gays because the bigots have made it one.

A side discussion with the MWO’s Poet Laureate tells me that I should polish the part of my earlier response that I missed cutting and pasting into my earlier post – my take on why gay marriage does not threaten traditional marriage. However, the Redskins are on. More later.