Under the Clinton era law, people could be kicked out of the military just because of who they choose to sleep with. This is a law that ruined careers, thereby increasing the odds that a person would turn to crime to achieve their goals (think "strain theory" for those of you who know about criminology). It is also a law that lead to well qualified translators being fired (including those few who could translate languages needed to disrupt potential terrorist plots), meaning it put our country at greater risk of terrorism. The law also was discriminatory in violation of the US Constitution.
In short, this was a bad and dangerous law. Some would even call it criminal in the sense that it was morally wrong.
Not all will agree, but today is a good day for America.
Despite some small gains, aqnd a mostly disappointing two years, it is encouraging to see that this ridiculous law was finally repealed. It will be interesting to see how history treats this period of time when gays were so vilified and discriminated against.
ReplyDeleteMy belief, Richard, is that people 10, 20, 50, or 100 years will look back on this law and shake their heads. They will simply not understand how such a law could have been in place.
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