I have to wonder think hope that Log Cabin Republicans helped get Senator Warner (R-VA) to make this strong statement of support for gays and lesbians serving in the military.

The ranking Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee sharply rebuked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Tuesday, taking issue with General Peter Pace’s view that homosexual acts are immoral.

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), a former Secretary of the Navy, said, “I respectfully but strongly disagree with the chairman’s view that homosexuality is immoral. In keeping with my longstanding respect for the Armed Services committee hearing process, I will decline to comment on the current policy until after such hearings are held.”

The power to schedule hearings rests with the current chairman, Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

But Warner’s comments suggest that he may be willing to revisit U.S. military policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which was crafted under President Clinton and backed by Pace. A spokesman said Warner has not discussed his view of the policy in past years.

By the way, why hasn’t Senator Levin come out to support gays in the military after Pace’s comments Monday?  I thought the Democrat Party was the one carrying the gay water for all of us???   (*cough*)

Meantime, General Pace has backtracked.

A statement Tuesday by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on remarks he made in an interview on gays in the military:Yesterday, during a wide-ranging interview with the Chicago Tribune editorial board, I was asked if I think the current policy as codified in U.S. Code, generally referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” should still hold.

People have a wide range of opinions on this sensitive subject.

The important thing to remember is that we have a policy in effect, and the Department of Defense has a statutory responsibility to implement that policy.

I made two points in support of the policy during the interview. One, “don’t ask, don’t tell” allows individuals to serve this nation; and two, it does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts.

In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct. I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views.

While I strongly disagree with Pace’s comments and his assessment of homosexual acts (as he puts it), I do dread the thought police coming after him to the point that the message in America these days is that you cannot express your personal opinion unless it is shared by those in the media and the liberal elite.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Perhaps I shouldn’t have referenced Matt Sanchez in my recent post on (Gay) Sex and Morality. For as I — and some of my defenders — recognized (in the comments section), our critics used that reference to focus on that man’s alleged hypocrisy while ignoring the overall point of the post.

I merely used Sanchez as a jumping off point for his story caused me to reconsider the question of sexual morality. But, except for his comment on porn (that it “flattens the soul“), I don’t really find that he himself has contributed to the conversation on this important topic, the point is — and let me repeat it for blog readers ever eager to criticize gay conservatives, even if their criticism is based not on what we said, but what they think we had said — the point is that Sanchez’s story caused to me to think about sex and morality.

And on that very topic too, some readers totally missed the point of what I was trying to say. One reader even claimed that I “berate[d] gay men for not living up to a very particular standard of sexual morality.” I did no such thing. The closest I came to berating was to say that our culture does not promote sexual restraint.

I proposed instead putting forward a vision of morality which is not judgmental, but instead transformational — where we see that our sexuality can transcend the physical. Instead of berating, I wanted to inspire, to draw from the lessons I learned in my various experiences and begin a conversation about the potential of our sexuality to foster spiritual intimacy.

And if I fault gay men at all, it’s for not being willing to engage in this important conversation.

I believe sexuality is a very individual thing — and each person should be free to decide how to act on his desires. But, I also believe that our sexuality can nourish us spiritually (as well as satisfy us physically) if we see it as more than a means of physical pleasure, but also as a means of human connection.

Hey, do you like the catchy headline?  Get it?  General Pace’s comments about homosexuality… and “the military keeping pace”?  Heh heh.

Anyway, my apologies for not putting up a posting on this earlier.  My real job — the one that pays the mortgage and feeds the puppies — has a lot of my attention this week.

Here are Pace’s comments via the Chicago Tribune:

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts “are immoral,” akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member.  

Responding to a question about a Clinton-era policy that is coming under renewed scrutiny amid fears of future U.S. troop shortages, Pace said the Pentagon should not “condone” immoral behavior by allowing gay soldiers to serve openly. He said his views were based on his personal “upbringing,” in which he was taught that certain types of conduct are immoral.

At the very least, you have to wonder who was advising General Pace for his testimony.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network demands an apology.

“General Pace’s comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces,” said C. Dixon Osburn, the group’s executive director. “Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices for our country, and deserve General Pace’s praise, not his condemnation. As a Marine and a military leader, General Pace knows that prejudice should not dictate policy. It is inappropriate for the Chairman to condemn those who serve our country because of his own personal bias. He should immediately apologize for his remarks.”

General Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, The Tribune reported on its Web site. He also announced his opposition to Congressional legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The Williams Project at the University of California-Los Angeles estimates at least 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans are currently serving on active duty and the reserves. Another 1 million gay Americans, the group has estimated, are veterans of the armed forces.

Obviously, General Pace’s comments are out of touch and disrespectful.  But one also has to realize that he is reflecting the views of a lot, if not the majority of our fellow Americans.  I thought the comments of Tribune blogger Frank James were very good about this whole controversy.

Pace also attributed his views on homosexuality to his “upbringing.” But what if the lessons he learned and internalized as a youth included a dislike of blacks or Hispanics? Or the army? (Pace is a Marine.) It’s doubtful that citing his “upbringing” would be an acceptable explanation for holding such views.

By citing his upbringing, Pace appears to be saying his views are so foundational, of such long-standing that he can’t or won’t change them. But surely he has revised other views he was taught as a youth just as most of us have. So clearly he has some choice about the views he holds as an adult.

This isn’t meant as a criticism of Pace. It’s meant to use Pace as an example of how confounding the issue of homosexuality is when one makes black-and-white moral arguments about it.

I’m sure we will hear a lot more about the backlash to Pace’s comments in the coming days.  It seems like there is a “gay firestorm” story covered by the mainstream media nearly every week now!

[RELATED STORY: Gay Advocates Demand Apology from Pace - 365gay.com (h/t - Michigan-Matt)]

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I have become aware of two new blogs that I thought would be of interest to everyone.

First, ThatGayConservative has launched TheDailyFoz.

So this is a blog I decided to do for fun. Sorta a tribute to Fozzie, I guess you could say.

***** 

Kermit: Where did you learn to drive?

Fozzie: I took a correspondence course.

And second, a fellow gay patriot hails over at Reality Mugged Me.

“A neoconservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality.” – Irving Kristol

Reality Mugged Me is the personal soapbox of one Nate Nelson, a 22-year-old undergrad poli sci major at Ohio University. A former Democrat, Nate is now a proud neoconservative Republican. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that Nate gave up his lucrative career as a gay porn star to pursue blogging as a self-hating hypocrite, his true passion.

I’m pretty sure he’s joking about the gay porn star part…. but hey, we are a big tent!

Please give them some readership love today!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)