Honoring (gay) war dead

FOR 142 years, the United States has set aside Memorial Day so that Americans would not forget the courageous men and women who died in defense of liberty and are buried in cemeteries around the world. There could be no better time for Congress to discover its own courage and lift the ban that requires homosexuals in the military to hide who they are even as they make the ultimate sacrifice.

On this day, surviving veterans place flags on graves without thought to the race, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin of the hero resting beneath that soil. They do not ask whether their fallen comrade was gay, lesbian, or bisexual. When one has made the ultimate sacrifice, none of that matters. Nor should it.

Gays have served in America's wars since Lexington and Concord. They froze at Valley Forge, fell at Gettysburg, lie beneath Flanders' poppied fields, shed their blood from the beaches of Normandy to the rice paddies of Vietnam, and continue to give "the last full measure of devotion" in Iraq and Afghanistan. It wasn't until World War II that the military services began to weed out male recruits with supposedly feminine characteristics.

In 1993, Congress passed what's called "don't ask, don't tell," which allowed gays to serve as long as they hid their sexuality. That didn't stop military leaders from looking for gays and discharging them. Since 1994, some 12,000 service members have been drummed out of the military because of their sexual orientation.

Despite the overt and covert prejudice gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in the military face, a UCLA study estimates that there are about 66,000 in uniform today. Most of the time, their straight comrades in arms know who they are and do not care.

Neither does the broader U.S. population. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, three-quarters of Americans favor allowing openly gay people to serve in the military.

Last week, the Obama Administration, the Defense Department, and lawmakers worked out a deal that would repeal "don't ask, don't tell" but not offend homophobes because actual implementation would be delayed - for months if not years - until the military decided the time was right. Despite approval by the full House and the Senate Armed Services Committee, the deal remains in doubt because of Republican opposition in the Senate.

"Don't ask, don't tell" stopped the worst of the witch hunts for gays in uniform, while beginning to prepare the ground for the day when they could come out of the military closet. This latest compromise would be a small but necessary step forward.

As Americans go about their business on Memorial Day - whether barbecuing in the back yard or attending solemn ceremonies honoring the nation's war dead - they should consider the fact that Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, South Africa, and about 20 other nations allow gays to serve openly in the military.

For the United States to do less dishonors the service of those who have fought and died for liberties they did not fully share.