By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C. May 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement yesterday urging the United States military drop its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexuals in the military.
“The nation’s commitment to human rights requires that lawmakers revisit ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the current policy that prevents lesbians, gays and bisexuals from serving openly in our armed forces,” Carter said in an exclusive statement to the homosexual activist group, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).
Carter told the SLDN that the current prohibition “regulates a group of citizens then prohibits them from identifying themselves and speaking up on their own behalf.”
Carter also added, “The estimated 65,000 gay men and women who currently are serving our country honorably deserve respect” and mentioned that over 11,000 homosexual servicemen have been dismissed since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative agency for Congress, has reported far more servicemen had been discharged for drug offenses, pregnancy, and failing weight requirements than for being homosexual. Over 80% of those dismissed voluntarily admit to “homosexuality,” leading to speculations that some dismissals may be motivated by escaping military service.
The Department of Defense has long defended its policy against permitting homosexuals in the military, arguing that permitting homosexuals in the armed forces would disrupt vital cohesion, discipline, and morale in military units and “seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission.”
The military has persistently fought detrimental social experimentation on the basis of its the need to allocate vital resources the to its mission of national defense, instead of constructing special berths and barracks suggested by social engineers.
Former President Jimmy Carter has been a recent outspoken advocate of homosexual “rights”, supporting homosexual civil unions and has indicated an openness to same-sex “marriage.” In 1992 he agreed to serve as honorary co-chair of a fund-raising dinner for one of the nation’s leading homosexual advocacy groups, the Human Rights Campaign. In doing so, Carter became the first president of the United States to associate himself with a fund-raising effort in the homosexual “community”.
Carter separated his ties from the Southern Baptist Convention and plans to lure 20,000 Baptists to embrace a less “negative and judgemental” image at a Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2008 convocation at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Homosexuals Howl at Military Policy Banning Them from Service
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081604.html
Homosexuality a Psychological Disorder: Pentagon Document https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062008.html
Clinton, Carter to Lead Faction of Baptists Away from Biblical Truth on Life and Family
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011104.html
President Jimmy Carter signed the CEDAW Convention in 1980
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07012508.html