This WWII Veteran Fought for the Rights of Gays and Lesbians to Marry

by Michael Jones · 2009-10-22 10:48:00 UTC
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World War II Memorial

Sometimes a touching narrative is the most powerful weapon for a social justice campaign. Case in point, the story of Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old WWII veteran who made remarks earlier this year before the Maine State Legislature on why he's a gay marriage supporter. The clip of those remarks is reverberating across the blogosphere, peaking at an important time as voters in both Maine and Washington prepare to deal with ballot measures that could repeal civil rights for gays and lesbians.

Spooner's words tell the story itself. But it's worth noting that Spooner believes that the soldiers who fought at the Battles of Buna-Gona, Bismarck Sea, Mindanao, Iwo Jima, the Normandy Campaign and all of the battles of World War II fought and died so that everyone could be entitled to civil rights. In Spooner's words, "What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach? I haven't seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for."

Hard to put it any more authentic than that. Check out the video below.

(Photo courtesy of Bernt Rostad's photostream on Flickr.)

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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