I consider myself a pretty open minded person. There are only 2 subjects I will NOT budge on. One is The Death Penalty (DISAGREE) the other is Gay Rights (AGREE!!)

I have been an advocate for Gay Rights for as long as I can remember. The fact that America calls our country a free one stuck me as odd. Free to what?

In this country we are told what to think, what to hear, what to do believe, and who to be with.

We are taught that Homosexuality is a sin, which I never understood because according to the Bible, so is eating Shrimp.

The fact that the Bible has statements like these,- along with ones that say your children should be stoned to death for disobeying- tells me that it’s time for CHANGE. We are living in a different age. As Americans, we don’t follow a great deal of the Bible in this day and age, so why the views on Homosexuality?

Last night, President Obama addressed the fact that the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in the military should be repealed. The U.S.Military’s Policy of discrimination was placed in 1993 – and hopefully, 2010 will be the year of change for the Gay Community.

This policy- although many Americans have said the policy “works” , it discriminates against gay soldiers who are fighting for our country the same as their fellow soldiers are. But exposing who they are will cause them to lose their job. Freedom? Really?

General John Shalikashvili, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says that the military’s policy on discharging gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers from the ranks of the U.S. military is bad policy.

“Studies have shown that three-quarters of service members say they are personally comfortable around gays and lesbians.  Two-thirds say they already know or suspect gay people in their units. This raises important questions about the assertion that openly gay service would impair the military. In fact, it shows that gays and lesbians in the military have already been accepted by the average soldier,” Shalikashvili says.

But not accepted by America….Let Freedom Ring.

Facts:

***Nearly 800 specialists with critical skills have been fired from the U.S. military under DADT, including more than 300 linguists, at least 60 of whom specialized in Arabic.

***More than 65,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are already protecting our homeland (Urban Institute report). More than 13,000 have been discharged under DADT since the policy was implemented in 1993

***American taxpayers have paid between $250 million and $1.2 billion to investigate, eliminate and replace qualified, patriotic service members who want to serve their country but can’t, because expressing their sexual orientation violates DADT