Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

Those words, written by Martin Luther King Jr while he was jailed in Birmingham for his role in the protests against racial segregation at the time, serves to remind me that each of us has the responsibility to help build a just world. Ultimately, it's about what is right and what is wrong. Passing any type of legislation that separates, classifies or strips anyone of equal rights is simply wrong. Yesterday President Obama met with gay leaders to mark the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event many consider to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. We've seen much progress since then, especially in the last few years, but there's still much to be done. That able service members are being dismissed due to their sexual orientation is a complete embarrassment (and the fact that gay Arabic translaters are still being fired while we are fighting two wars is beyond stupid). The Washington Post's Richard Cohen has an excellent column on the subject today. A taste:

The admirals and generals who oppose repealing "don't ask, don't tell" are out of touch with American society. They live in a cloistered world that has not changed while much of America has. What's more, they ignore or dismiss the lesson of other countries. Britain, Denmark and Israel, among other nations, allow openly gay men to serve in their armed forces. You can dismiss Britain and Denmark if you want to, but Israel is a different matter. Its army does not play games.

History speaks volumes here. It was much harder to integrate blacks into the armed forces than it will ever be to have gays come out of the military closet. Of course, there will be resistance to changing "don't ask, don't tell." So what? It's the right thing to do and the military, of all institutions, knows how to enforce discipline. Will there be incidents? You bet. Will a gay man hit on one who is not? Again, you bet. But does this happen all the time with heterosexual women and heterosexual men? Of course. Come-ons are part of life. Same sex or opposite sex, they are not fatal.

I'll cut President Obama some slack for the lack of progress for now (after all, we're fighting 2 wars and dealing with a terrible economic crisis; he's also the first president to celebrate gay pride in the White House), but I fully expect to see the repealment of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell during his first term. Obama might want to remember another quote from MLK, "A right delayed is a right denied."