Despite the fact that gay marriage advocates lost a heartbreaking vote in Maine last week, there was one individual whose story emerged from the election that has managed to not only go viral throughout the Internet, but has captured the hearts and minds of equality advocates. That man is Philip Spooner, and he's a World War II vet who talked publicly about what the idea of gay marriage and equal rights meant to him.
"A woman at my polling place asked me, 'Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?'" Spooner said. "I asked her, 'What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach?' I haven't seen so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for." Photo
Spooner's comments get at the heart of what Veterans Day -- being celebrated today -- is all about. Yes, it's certainly about remembering fallen soldiers and those that served this country. But it's also about the promise of equality and freedom, values that are supposed to apply to everyone in this country, regardless of sexual orientation.
It's on that note that yesterday, the American Medical Association passed a resolution to become the latest professional organization calling for a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the discriminatory military policy that has to this date thrown out 13,000 soldiers from the U.S. military simply for being gay or lesbian.
Dr. Paul Wertsch, a Wisconsin doctor who wrote the resolution calling for a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," said he did so because the currently policy forces doctors to lie... Read complete article - BY MICHAEL A. JONES
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