Kentucky's U.S. Senate Delegation Opposed Repeal of Don’t Ask Don't Tell (DADT); U.S. Senate Passes the Bill!

In a move being hailed as a milestone victory in the campaign for homosexual rights, the Senate acted Saturday to repeal the 17-year-old law that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military.

The 65-31 vote, which came after a charged and sometimes vitriolic debate, was surprisingly bipartisan. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting to repeal the policy.

Conservative organizations said the vote didn't reflect the sentiments of rank-and-file military members and should not have taken place so close to the end of the current session of Congress. The Massachusetts Family Institute blasted their U.S. Senate Republicans, including U.S. Senator Scott Brown, who broke rank with their party on the vote.

"The American military exists for only one purpose — to fight and win wars. Yet it has now been hijacked and turned into a tool for imposing on the country a radical social agenda," said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council.

Implementation of the law remains at least a couple of months off. Both U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mike Mullen, who wanted the law repealed, must first certify that policies are in place to conduct the repeal "consistent with military standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention."

U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky), did not vote.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) opposed the move, and characterized the move as "ill-considered," adding that the move "is harmful during a time of war."

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), disagreed, cited a Pentagon study that said the change would cause little disruption within the ranks of the military. Admiral Mullen made it clear that he supports repeal. "From my personal perspective, absolutely."

Admiral Mullen continued: "We value integrity as an institution, asking individuals to come in and lie about who they are every day goes counter to who we are as an institution."

Kentucky's Congressional Delegation in the U.S. Senate are an embarrassment the entire Commonwealth.

When states such as the United Kingdom, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Commonwealth of Australia, the State of Israel, Argentina, Canada, Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of the Netherlands, all member states of the European Union and every original NATO signatory except Turkey and the United States, allow homosexuals to service openly, what does that say about the people we have elected to represent Kentucky in the United States Congress?

In the area of gay rights, and in human rights, the United States has fallen behind other States, we are no longer the world leader in liberty and freedoms.

The United States recently had to answer to the United Nations for human rights violations.

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