Senator Arlen Spectoer: Time to Repeal DOMA

In a somewhat surprising column at Huffington Post, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter writes that it is time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act - AND to move forward on passage of ENDA and the repeal of DADT. I am not sure of Specter's motivations, but personally, I agree that NOW IS the time to move on these items and that Obama needs to use the bully pulpit of the presidency to make strong arguments like those made by many of the speakers at the National Equality March. Until such time as GLBT Americans have fully equality under the CIVIL laws, the USA will be a fraud and not live up fully to the image that it likes to projects of itself around the world. Here are some highlights from Specter's column:

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The time has come to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Enacted 13 years ago when the idea of same sex marriage was struggling for acceptance, the Act is a relic of a more tradition-bound time and culture. Connecticut, Iowa, and Massachusetts have already passed laws recognizing same sex marriage and other states are moving in that direction. The states are the proper forum to address this divisive social and moral issue, not the Federal Government with a law that attempts to set one national standard for marriage.
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The repeal of DOMA is one step among several designed to fully integrate and protect the rights of gays and lesbians in American society. Recently enacted hate crimes legislation is another. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S 909), which I sponsored with the late Senator Kennedy, makes it a federal crime to target victims on the basis of disability, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. President Obama has said he will sign the measure.

Nothing in the Act impedes the lawful expression of one's political or religious beliefs. All Americans are entitled to hold and express their own beliefs, no matter how provocative. At the same time, no person has the right to engage in violent acts of hate or incite to violence. Protecting Americans against such hate crimes does not inhibit free speech but rather serves us all by halting and penalizing those who carry out those acts of cruelty.
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Measures to combat discrimination against gays and transgendered people in the workplace are another needed measure. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, of which I am an original cosponsor, was introduced on August 5, 2009 and is currently before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Finally, the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is outdated, and should be rescinded entirely. A person's sexual orientation has no bearing on their ability to serve their country in the armed services. Countless studies and the experiences of gays who have served in the military have borne out these findings.
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Specter's views are welcomed and, if followed, would put the USA on a par with a growing number of advanced nations that have given GLBT citizens full civil rights. As a number of foreign readers have noted in comments to this blog, the USA continues to have feet of clay in t heir view if it doesn't grant Constitutionally guaranteed rights to ALL citizens.

Will the GOP Get the Message?

For a long time now I have been saying that the Republican Party seems to have a death wish in terms of do its best to cease being a viable national party. It seems with each passing day that the GOP party base is more controlled by far right extremists and religious fanatics, leaving less and less room for moderate - and in my view, rational - members of the Party. I, like many gay former Republicans, exited the party a number of years ago as gay bashing and infusing religion into the party platform began in earnest. This last national election all of my extended family members - many of whom were formerly Republicans - voted a Democrat ticket out of disgust for what has happened to the GOP. While Arlen Specter's change of parties to join the Democrats was most certainly motivated by some level of self interest, but what he had to say about what has happened to the GOP is all too true. The GOP is fast headed towards being a regional, religion based party. Thinking, rational people see it happening, yet the Kool-Aid drinking GOP base remain oblivious. Will Specter's departure wake them up? I doubt it. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post on Specter's change of parties:

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How much more can the Republicans take? Demoralized, shrinking and seemingly lacking an agenda beyond the word "no," Republicans today saw their ranks further thinned with the stunning news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is switching parties and will run for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat. Specter is worried about his own survival -- and particularly a primary challenge from the right. Many in the GOP might say good riddance.

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But his defection is a reminder that the Republican Party continues to contract, especially outside the South, and that it appears increasingly less welcome to politicians and voters who do not consider themselves solidly conservative. Northeast Republicans have gone from an endangered species to a nearly extinct species. Republicans lost ground in the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest in the last two elections. That's no way to build a national party.

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The Republicans have many demographic challenges as they plot their comeback. Obama has attracted strong support from young voters and Latinos -- two keys to the future for both parties and once part of the GOP's calculation for sustaining themselves in power. Suburban voters have moved toward the Democrats. Specter can see that problem acutely in the suburbs around his home in Philadelphia

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Reihan Salam, co-author of "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save America," said this week that the danger for Republicans is to believe they now represent a vast, silent majority that is waiting to reassert itself. A louder voice from a smaller cadre of supporters is not the answer, he warned. That will just prevent Republicans from, reassessing their old agenda, developing new ideas and once again learning to reach out broadly.