The absurdity of it all
The military has the "DADT" (don't ask, don't tell) policy and state and federal governments have DOMA amendments and laws (DOMA for the federal government, signed, as DADT, by President Clinton). Anyway, these have lead to some sad and frustrating inequalities for military heroes who die in battle and same-sex couples trying to live their lives.
But isn't it getting just a bit absurd (well, as if inequality is ever not absurd) when the Pentagon feels it necessary to not allow the same-sex partner of a House Representative Tammy Baldwin on a flight because well.. she's of the same gender, and "the Pentagon appears to be self-conscious about transporting gay domestic partners at a time when it continues to enforce a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in its own ranks." An intersection of both DADT and DOMA inequalities to create an absurdity...
Under House guidelines, members of Congress may take their spouses with them on military flights if there is room for them and when it is “necessary for protocol purposes.” Although Baldwin, the only openly gay woman elected to Congress, exchanged wedding vows with Lauren Azar in 1998, her home state of Wisconsin does not officially recognize same-sex marriages, and military officials were apparently unwilling to consider Azar a “spouse” within the meaning of the House guidelines.
It took Nancy Pelosi's intervention to allow it. When even our national legislators are subjected to the humility of inequality, can anyone really doubt that the rest of us are subjected to such inequality on a regular basis? It's time to repeal both DADT and DOMA laws.
