Yesterday, Kailie Joy Gray front paged this story and joined many Kossacks in giving well-deserved raspberries to the odious Virginia Foxx (R-Haterville, NC) and her homo-bashing amendment to the House Defense Appropriations Bill.
Today it passed the House, opposed by 6 Republicans and with the help of 19 Democrats.
We're taking names after the fold.
In truth, the amendment is toothless and accomplishes nothing. It is merely a statement that the DOD should spend no money on gay troops' lawfully wedded husbands and wives, which the DOD had no intention of doing anyway. (Isn't that kind? They can die for our country, but the Army shouldn't spring for a meal or a cot for their families. Whatever...)
Joe Solomnese of Human Rights Campaign sums it up well.
“This amendment is completely unnecessary and only serves to cloud the debate over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal by pointlessly injecting the issue of marriage equality into the conversation," Solmonese said. "Since Pentagon officials have made it clear that they are bound by DOMA like every other federal agency, it’s puzzling why Rep. Foxx would question whether our military leaders understand this point."
It also was not included in the Senate version of the bill. It is for all intents and purposes a paper tiger, to both the troops and LGBT Americans. It is merely grandstanding to the gay bigot crowd.
There was no point to voting for this amendment except to express your faithful allegiance to Virginia Foxx and the gay-bashing agenda of the Republican party.
So, I encourage you to see if your rep is part of the gay-bashing cabal of the United States House of Representative. From Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade, here are the 19 Democrats voted who in favor of the amendment:
Jason Altmire (D-Pa.)
John Barrow (D-Ga.)
Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.)
Dan Boren (D-Okla.)
Ben Chandler (D-Ky.)
Jerry Costello (D-Ill.)
Mark Critz (D-Pa.)
Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)
Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Gene Green (D-Texas)
Tim Holden (D-Pa.)
Larry Kissell (D-N.C.)
Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.)
Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.)
James Matheson (D-Utah)
Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
Nich Rahall (D-W.V.)
Mike Ross (D-Ark.)
Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).
So, if they represent you, congratulations! Your rep is more regressive on LGBT rights than these 6 Republican who voted against it. They are:
Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.)
Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.)
Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Coincidentally, Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog just posted a piece about the key role a united Democratic front played in winning marriage equality in New York State last month. The national party leaders might take a look at it if they ever intend to make good on their promises to deliver DOMA repeal or ENDA.
PS: Homo-bashers? How does this bill make jobs? Don't you have more important things to do?