WE’VE
HEARD
THE
argument
frequently
made
during
the
struggle
for
non-discrimination
and
civil
marriage
equality:
“We
don’t
want
to
be
treated
as
second-class
citizens.”
But
are
we
really
considered
second-class
citizens?
I
always
thought
that
second-class
status
is
a
category
that
encompassed
society’s
outcasts,
like
criminals.
You
know,
murderers,
rapists,
drug
dealers,
armed
robbers,
child
molesters,
thieves,
terrorists,
illegal
immigrants
and
so
on.
As
disdained
as
that
group
is
by
America’s
“first
class”
citizenry,
those
pariahs
may
take
for
granted
rights
that
gays
and
lesbians
haven’t
yet
achieved.
You
see,
such
people
have
the
right
to
marry
whom
they
choose.
As
an
example,
the
loathsome
Menendez
brothers,
who
riddled
their
parents
in
cold
blood
with
a
barrage
of
bullets,
were
legally
permitted
to
marry
their
sweethearts
while
incarcerated.
One
such
“ceremony”
took
place
over
the
telephone,
no
less,
which
hardly
conforms
to
traditional
marriage
that
equality
opponents
love
to
tout.
So
if
these
vile
people
—
second-class
citizens,
if
you
will
—
can
get
hitched
and
we
cannot
legally
marry
our
partners,
where
does
that
leave
us?
And
it
doesn’t
stop
at
marriage
equality
and
its
attendant
benefits.
Our
standing
in
the
military
relegates
us
to
third-class
status,
as
well.
Under
the
nefarious
and
ineffective
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy,
gays
and
lesbians
may
serve
our
country
but
to
do
so,
they
must
conceal
the
essence
of
their
sexual
identity.
And
should
they
be
uncovered,
the
military
is
compelled
to
discharge
them.
The
exit
doors
of
the
barracks
continue
to
swing
wide
open
for
gays
and
lesbians
during
a
time
of
war
depriving
the
armed
forces
of
critical
skills
and
personnel
thereby
compromising
national
security.
At
the
same
time,
the
entrance
portals
are
allowing
some
of
those
very
folks
who
are
members
of
the
second-class
coterie,
not
to
mention
non-U.S.
citizens,
to
report
for
duty.
Leading
publications
like
the
New
York
Times
have
noted
that
dire
recruitment
needs
by
the
military
are
resulting
in
the
lowering
of
moral
and
intellectual
eligibility
standards
to
beef
up
the
ranks.
THIS,
OF
COURSE,
is
ludicrous.
The
Defense
Department
is
playing
games
with
our
national
security
by
compromising
the
quality
of
our
troops
to
reach
desired
numeric
goals.
The
Pentagon
chiefs
are
dead-set
on
keeping
openly
gay
and
lesbian
volunteers
from
serving
under
the
guise
of
maintaining
unit
cohesion.
Yet
they
basically
gloss
over
straight
sexual
assaults
originating
in
the
barracks
as
well
as
recruitment
stations,
of
all
places.
THE
MAIN
ARGUMENT
against
allowing
openly
gay
and
lesbian
people
to
serve
in
the
military
is
that
it
would
negatively
impact
troop
morale.
No
legitimate
survey
of
the
troops,
to
my
knowledge,
has
ever
been
conducted
to
confirm
that
theory.
But
if
the
troops
would
have
a
problem
with
a
gay
soldier
in
the
ranks,
imagine
how
good
the
morale
will
be
with
an
influx
of
drug
addicts,
arsonists
and
thieves.
Clearly
gays
and
lesbians
are
on
the
bottom
rung.
Our
assignment
to
third-class
status
is
evident
beyond
the
institutions
of
marriage
and
military.
Felons,
drug
abusers
and
adulterers
may
participate
with
aplomb
in
the
world
of
sports
and
make
piles
of
money
from
it.
But
an
out
gay
or
lesbian
athlete
in
a
major
sports
league?
Forget
about
it.
So
bad
is
the
environment
for
a
gay
man
in
sports
that
on
those
rare
occasions
that
one
comes
out
of
the
closet,
the
disclosure
takes
place
well
after
his
retirement.
They
talk
of
the
homophobia
that
exists
within
the
locker
rooms
and
team
offices
and
how
they
would
be
shunned
by
their
teammates,
fans
and
potential
corporate
sponsors.
And
while
an
ex-con
can
blithely
walk
down
the
street
holding
the
hand
of
his
or
her
loved
one,
a
member
of
a
gay
or
lesbian
couple
doing
the
same
must
be
mindful
of
a
baseball
bat
being
struck
on
the
back
of
the
head.
Despite
the
fact
that
most
gay
folks
work
hard,
pay
taxes,
abide
by
the
law,
make
positive
contributions
to
the
community,
even
help
revitalize
declining
neighborhoods,
we
are
still
viewed
as
third-class
citizens.
We
must
continue
to
fight
to
by
pass
the
second
rung
and
get
to
the
top
where
we
belong.
