While Republicans were busy trying to manufacture a scandal around President Obama’s decision not to visit Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day, the mayor of Yuma, Arizona, felt it more respectful of the dead to use the day to launch an attack on gay service members. Speaking at Desert Lawn Cemetery in Yuma, Mayor Al Krieger decided to honor fallen troops by speaking out against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But it wasn’t enough for Krieger to simply state his opposition to repealing the law and keep his homophobia subtle (like many Republicans and even some Democrats have done). No, he decided that if he was going to gay-bash, he was going to gay-bash the old-fashioned way. And so the people of Yuma who gathered to honor dead military men and women were treated to this jewel of a quote:
I cannot believe that a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people could do what those men have done in the past.
Watch:
He went on to say that “we need solid, strong men to fight those battles.” It’s hard to say how many gays and lesbians have fallen in the line of duty over the years doing just what this homophobic piece of shit claims can’t be done by gay people, but my guess is “a lot.” And for him to use Memorial Day, of all days, to denigrate the service of these brave men and women is beyond outrageous.
But it gets better.
Over a week after Krieger made those offensive comments, he said in an interview with the local NBC affiliate that the sentiment reflected in his remarks remains the same. He then proceeded to compare himself to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln:
I'm reluctant to compare myself to George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, but I did get some feedback, and I don't think I said anything different than what they would have said.
He continued (below comments can also be found in above video):
There is an issue currently in the military with homosexuals serving on the battlefield and I think it's going to be detrimental to men on the battlefield to have that conflict with sexual preference. There's no place for that. There's no place for that. We're in a battle here in America. We're in a war, here in America, and we've been involved in many wars. And we need solid, strong men, not pacifists, to fight those battles.
[…]
It was men that landed on Omaha Beach and men that fought in World War One and men who traditionally and historically that did all the fighting in all the wars, women had a supporting role and I don't mean to diminish that, but those men thought fought were a man's man. They had nerves of steel and a back bone and they knew they were fighting for a cause greater than themselves.
So there you have it. Way to go, Yuma. Your mayor believes that all gays are "limp-wristed" and pacifists and that women only play a "supporting role" to men in the military (homophobic and misogynistic, but I guess that's not really a surprise)...and, to top it off, he thinks that the spirits of Washington and Lincoln (which he has apparently successfully channeled) agree with him.
Gay Marine veteran Eric Alva (who I’m sure is anything but “lacy-drawered” and “limp-wristed”) responded to Krieger’s hate speech on HRC Back Story. Alva, by the way, was the very first service member to take an injury in the Iraq War. I think it's fitting to end with his response, because he says it much better than I can:
These hateful words are absolutely inconsistent with the unbending physical and mental courage that I encountered among all of the men and women with whom I served, whether gay or straight. Many members in my unit knew I was gay — and this simple truth never once came in the way of our ability to do our job. It didn’t stop Navy corpsman Brian Alaniz from heroically coming to my aid after I stepped on a landmine, earning me the dubious distinction of being the first casualty in the Iraq War. Minutes later, he would become the second casualty of the war. Since then, we have stood by each other — literally — as we learned to walk again with our new prosthetic legs.
Because of my injuries, my wrist might not be as strong as it once was, but my fidelity to this country and its founding ideals has never once wavered. Gay and lesbian service members have always fought to defend this country — soon, we will be able to do so as equals. On the next Memorial Day, I ask Al Krieger to remember our sacrifices, too.