Iraq Veteran-who happens to be straight-2 Term Dem From PA-Leads 'Don't Ask' Push

* FEBRUARY 2, 2010, 9:42 A.M. ET

Iraq Veteran-who happens to be straight-2 Term Dem From PA-Leads 'Don't Ask' Push



By YOCHI J. DREAZEN

The Obama administration's staunchest ally in the uphill fight to allow gays to openly serve in the nation's military is a little-known Democratic congressman named Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran who has written the only legislation that would repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" restrictions.

Mr. Murphy, a two-term Democrat from Pennsylvania, served in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and was the first Iraq veteran elected to Congress. His bill has 187 co-sponsors, leaving it just 31 votes short of the 218 needed to ensure passage.

"The momentum is clearly on our side," he said in an interview. "It's time for Congress to have the guts to stop turning its back on talented and professional soldiers just because they're gay."

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates heading to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to lay out the Pentagon's preparations for a possible repeal of the 16-year-old ban, the long-dormant political battle over the "don't ask, don't tell" provisions is heating up.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703422904575039623844520834.html?mod=rss_US_News

It's insulting to suggest that it's somehow heroic for straight people to champion "gay causes". DADT affects ALL Americans in that it keeps us less safe. Why should it matter one way or the other what sexual orientation Murphy has?