You blew it on “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Republicans

Republicans constantly claim to be the party that defends the Constitution. We have no legitimate right to that claim until we get right on gay rights. Sometime in the not too distant future, denying gays the right to marry will be viewed as historically corrupt—as corrupt as denying slaves their freedom.

It’s way past time for the GOP to get out of the Dark Ages on this fundamental issue. While many in our party are waking up, we are still nominating people like Christine O’Donnell, the Republican Senate primary winner in Delaware. In a 2006 interview, O’Donnell said: “Homosexuality is an identity adopted through societal factors. It’s an identity disorder.”

And this week, we discover the Montana Republican Party platform supports “keeping homosexual acts illegal.” The policy was originally adopted in 1997, after the Montana Supreme Court struck down laws that would make homosexual acts a crime, but according to Montana GOP director Bowen Greenwood, the policy remains because “nobody has ever taken the initiative to change it.” Thankfully, common sense still exists, as shown by Sen. John Brueggeman (R-MT), who said: “I looked at that and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Should it get taken out? Absolutely. Does anybody think we should be arresting homosexual people? If you take that stand, you really probably shouldn’t be in the Republican Party.”