On gays in the military, McCain's position unpopular

Gay and lesbian members of the military must hide every aspect of their lives in order to serve their country thanks to a Clinton-era law called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That law has resulted in the discharge of thousands of gay and lesbian military members since it's inception in 1993 -- and has become a wildly unpopular law.

A poll released this weekend found that a striking majority of Americans, 75 percent, support the right for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. An even more surprising? Fifty-seven percent of evangelicals said the same thing. Sixty-four percent of Republicans support allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly and over 80 percent of Democrats said the same.

Sen. Barack Obama has called for a repeal of the discriminatory law throughout the campaign, putting him squarely in line with American thought on the subject. Sen. John McCain, however, has been vicious in his opposition to allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve their country.

In April, he told the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that defends gays and lesbians discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, that he “unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline,” and that the Supreme Court “has ruled that the military may constitutionally discharge a service member for overt homosexual behavior.”

Despite McCain's assertion, the Supreme Court has declined to hear cases involving Don't Ask, Don't Tell, instead leaving it to the lower courts.

McCain continued, “Most importantly, the national security of the United States, not to mention the lives of our men and women in uniform, are put at grave risk by policies detrimental to the good order and discipline which so distinguish America’s Armed Services.”

Speaking of "intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline," a 2006 Zogby poll found that 73 percent of military members have no problem serving with openly gay or lesbian people, and 23 percent actually know a gay or lesbian person in their unit.

The Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee will hold it's first hearing on the issue of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in more than 15 years on Wednesday, July 23.