News & Views

The hypocrisy was palpable during last night's Republican presidential debate, but wouldn't you know one of the worst moments had nothing to do with the candidates at all? The people who demeaned Stephen Hill, a soldier proudly serving our country in Iraq, weren't onstage but in the audience. With loud boos, the crowd at last night's debate made one thing clear: there are people in this country who believe support our troops ends the moment a member of our military says that he's gay.

Hill was shown in his Army t-shirt, in a short clip, admitting he's a gay soldier who suffered under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He asked the candidates what they'd change about the way homosexuals serve if they were to become commander in chief. And people in the audience booed. Loudly. What a pity.

Yes, Stephen Hill bats for the other team, but when it came to love of man or country, he put the former on the back burner in order to walk into a war zone. He put his life on the line for a cause he believed in. He could separate the two. Why can't these Republicans?

I can tell you that it's not that hard. I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in war. I hate that we're sending our men and women off to die. And yet, I support our troops with my whole heart. They do what many of us can't or are too afraid to do. They do what they believe is right. And frankly, someone has to be in our military. Someone has to make that sacrifice.

I can set aside my disgust with the concept of war to support the men and women who fight on my behalf. Some are members of my family. Some are childhood friends. But regardless, I am behind them all because that's what they deserve. Support. From the people they serve.

That's the real impetus behind the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It wasn't, as candidate Rick Santorum said during the debate, to inject some sort of "social engineering" into our military or to make sexual activity part of the armed forces. These gay people are still subject to the same conditions as any other soldier. Stephen Hill is still in Iraq, far away from his loved ones, just like every other guy or girl out there. What the end of the decades-old rule did was simply put them on a level playing field. They're the same soldier, but they don't have to lie about who they are anymore. That's it.

They're the same soldier. The same people that you, I, were supporting last week. They're still putting their lives on the line. They're still proud to live in the land of the free and fight for the home of the brave.

If you support our troops, you support all of them. You can't cherry-pick which brave soldier deserves your support. None of them deserves this kind of treatment:

Do you think Stephen Hill deserves the same respect as every other man and woman risking their lives for our country?

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