News

By Patrick B. Craine

PITTSBURGH, PA, August 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who has come under criticism by gay and left-wing activists for signing into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) Policy during his tenure as president, last Friday called for the laws to be repealed at a Pittsburgh 'progressive' politics conference.

DOMA, which Clinton signed into law in 1996, defines marriage at the federal level as exclusively between one man and one woman. Accordingly the homosexual 'spouse' of a homosexual federal employee cannot receive spousal benefits.  Further, under DOMA no state is required to recognize the same-sex 'marriage' of a couple who was 'married' in a state where it is allowed.

The DADT policy, approved by Clinton in 1993, prohibits homosexuals from revealing their sexual orientation or discussing homosexual relationships, while also protecting them from undue investigation from superiors regarding their sexual preference.

Clinton's comments were sparked when he was interrupted by an audience member while giving his keynote at the Netroots Nation conference. The man shouted, “Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell right now? Please.”

Clinton responded, “I'll be glad to talk about that.”

Regarding DADT, he claimed that it was his hope and intention to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, but he blamed people such as those at the conference for not giving him the support he needed at the time.  “I'll tell you exactly what happened,” he said. “You couldn't deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military, and the media supported them. … All most of you did was to attack me instead of getting me some support in the Congress. Now that's the truth.”

“The public opinion now is more strongly in our favor than it was 16 years ago,” he continued.  “This is a different world. That's the point I'm trying to make.”

Clinton said that he did not think he had a choice at the time if progress in advancing the homosexualist cause was to be made. The way General Colin Powell presented the policy to the former president was much different than how it was implemented, he said. Clinton stated that Powell told him that under the DADT policy homosexuals would be free to be open in their private lives without fear of dismissal.  However, “It all turned out to be a fraud because of the enormous reaction against it among the middle-level officers and down after it was promulgated and Colin was gone,” he said. “So nobody regrets how this was implemented any more than I do.”

Regarding DOMA, Clinton said that he was trying to keep Congress from banning same-sex 'marriage' outright.  “I thought the question of whether gays should marry should be left up to states and to religious organizations, and if any church or other religious body wanted to recognize gay marriage, they ought to,” he said.  “We were attempting at the time, in a very reactionary Congress, to head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states.”

“I didn't like signing DOMA,” he says, “and I certainly didn't like the constraints that were put on benefits, and I've done everything I could—and I am proud to say that the State Department was the first federal department to restore benefits to gay partners in the Obama administration, and I think we are going forward in the right direction now for federal employees.”

Though perhaps not moving as quickly as some homosexual activists would like, current President Barack Obama has pushed the homosexualist agenda strongly since he took over at the White House.  He has been clear about his intention to repeal DOMAas well as DADT.