Bill Maher on Scaring the Hell Out of Right-Wing Homophobes

by Michael Jones · 2009-10-10 06:08:00 UTC
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Bill Maher

Today marks Day 1 of the National Equality March weekend, and in honor of the weekend of action, training and marching for equal rights, Bill Maher is out with a column that will likely provide fits for the anti-LGBT right-wing. His message for LGBT activists in D.C. this weekend is simple: scare the hell of out right-wing homophobes, and tell our President that everyone deserves equal rights.

Maher especially goes after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," calling on President Obama to sign an executive order -- much like President Harry Truman did in the late 1940s to integrate the U.S. military -- ending the discriminatory policy that keeps gays out of the military (or kicks them out when they're discovered). While the legality of such an executive order is questioned by some groups, Maher's point echoes what Rep. Joe Sestak wrote here yesterday. Rep. Sestak said that as a former Navy officer, he lost good soldiers because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and that hurt America's national security.

Maher doesn't put it quite so elegantly, but his comments are still pretty effective.

"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has always been bad policy that was made out of a bullshit political compromise. You know, like [we're] doing now with health care. It never made sense to begin with," writes Maher. Ouch. Take that, moderate Democrats who slow progress down.

Will Obama touch on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" tonight in his Human Rights Campaign speech? A few leaks coming out of the White House suggest that maybe he will, albeit in a measured tone. He certainly owes it to the more than 200 soldiers discharged for being gay under his watch to say something.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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