Rep. Ike Skelton Doesn't Want Your Children To Know About Gays

Rep. Ike Skelton carries quite a bit of clout inside the halls of Congress. He's one of Missouri's most senior politicians, and has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1978. After three decades of service in the U.S. House, Rep. Skelton was named chair of the U.S. House Armed Services committee.

It's on this committee where Rep. Skelton has become a thorn in the side of advocates who want to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the U.S. military's ban on gays and lesbians serving in the Armed Forces. Two weeks ago, when the U.S. House cast an historic vote moving forward a repeal of the discriminatory policy, Rep. Skelton was one of only 28 Democrats to vote in favor of keeping gays and lesbians out of the military.

And now we know why. Rep. Skelton told CBS News yesterday that he wants to keep "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in place because repealing it will require parents, including parents in the U.S. military, to talk to their children about homosexuality. And that, frankly, is a subject that Rep. Skelton wants to keep (pun intended) in the closet.

"What do mommies and daddies say to their 7-year-old child?" Rep. Skelton asked, suggesting that allowing openly gay and lesbian troops to serve in the military would just cause confusion among the nation's population of second graders.

Huh ... well, since Rep. Skelton is asking, I can think of a few things that mommies and daddies can say to their 7-year-old children about why repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is in the best interests of the U.S.

First and foremost, I'd tell those seven-year-olds that because politicians like Rep. Skelton would rather discriminate against gays and lesbians, nearly 14,000 well qualified troops have been kicked out of the U.S. military, and prevented from defending this country. "Imagine how much safer we'd be with 14,000 extra bodies helping keep our country safe?" I'd say to the children.

Then I'd tell these seven-year-olds to think of their aunt Cindy, or their cousin Joseph, or their uncle Mike (that's me!), or any of the other gay and lesbian relatives that these kids already have. I'd ask them whether they'd feel comfortable with these close relatives serving in the U.S. military. And I'm pretty sure that 9 out of 10 seven-year-olds will be pretty darn OK with it.

Lastly, I'd ask these seven-year-olds whether they believed that everyone deserved to be treated with equality. Truthfully, I'm pretty sure the answer from a pool of seven-year-olds will be a whole lot better than the answer one might get from asking, say, an entire wing of the U.S. Congress. Kids say the darndest things, for sure, but they also have a knack (save for the kids being raised inside the Westboro Baptist Church, perhaps) for knowing what's right or wrong. Much like this kid, who realizes that husbands and husbands can love each other just as much as mommy and daddy.

Perhaps Rep. Skelton doesn't know what to say to seven-year-olds about homosexuality. But his job isn't to guard over the nation's population of seven-year-olds and monitor what information gets handed down to them. That job is for parents and guardians and families.

Rep. Skelton's job, of course, is to make sure that U.S. policy adheres to the principles of equality set forth in American law. And on this front, it might be time for Rep. Skelton to go back in time and take a civics class.

Funny enough, while Rep. Skelton is on one hand chastising people who want to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for hurting children, he's with the other hand acknowledging that most of his constituents back in Missouri don't really have the time to think about banning gays from the military. It's because they're worried about jobs, the giant crude monster overtaking the Gulf of Mexico, and whether America's economy will ever be great again.

Maybe Rep. Skelton should go back to focusing on those things, too, instead of wondering whether the minds of seven-year-olds can comprehend openly gay people serving in the U.S. military.

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