Sen. John McCain stakes out an unequivocally anti-gay position
Sen. John McCain told George Stephanopoulos on
ABC's "This Week with G. S." that he opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions,
supports the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and opposes laws that
ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace.
McCain said flat out, "I just want to point out
again. I believe that gay marriage should not be
legal."
Stephanopoulos said, "You voted
for an initiative in Arizona that went beyond that [marriage] and actually
denied any government benefits to civil unions or domestic partnerships. Are
you against civil unions for gay couples?" When he finally got around to
answering the question, McCain said he was opposed to civil unions, "[b]ut I do
believe that people ought to be able to enter into contracts, exchange powers of
attorney, other ways that people who have relationships can enter into." Of
course, LGBT people can already enter into those kinds of contracts, but they do
not come close to providing the legal benefits of marriage or civil
unions.
When asked about the "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy, McCain said, "I do believe the don't ask, don't tell
policy has been very effective. We've got the best military we've ever had
[...]" Even if it's true that we have the best military we've ever had, it's
not because of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The military would be better
if it didn't discriminate against gay people. A recent article from the
Associated Press noted, "A report in 2005 by the investigative arm of Congress
estimated it cost the Pentagon nearly $200 million to recruit and train
replacements for the nearly 9,500 troops that had to leave the military because
of the policy. The losses included hundreds of highly skilled troops, including
translators, between 1994 through
2003."
When asked whether there should
be a law banning workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians, McCain
said, "I don't think we need specific laws that would apply necessarily to
people who are gay." He's a Senator; he can't be so out of touch with legal
realities as to think that existing laws already provide
protection.
McCain said, "I don't
believe that we should discriminate against any American," but it's obvious that
he doesn't really believe that because he supports marriage discrimination,
opposes civil unions, supports discrimination in the military, and doesn't
approve of laws to protect gay Americans from workplace
discrimination.
Posted: Saturday - November 25, 2006 at 12:32 PM