Perry’s anti-gay ad in Iowa
What does gays serving in the military have to do with prayer in schools or your faith, Gov. Perry? Shamelessly pandering to voters of faith by conflating two unrelated issues is not a recipe for success. Gov. Perry’s attack on service men and women regardless of their sexual orientation is unprecedented. Mr. Perry has stated that he would re-instate “don’t ask, don’t tell,” even though a survey conducted and released by the Pentagon shows that 70 percent of service members have positive reactions or no problem with the repeal of the policy.

Stonewall Democrats of Dallas honors and is thankful for our service men and women and their sacrifices for our freedoms. Stonewall Democrats of Dallas condemns this opportunistic ad released by the Rick Perry campaign.

Sadly, Mr. Perry has decided to release this anti-LGBT attack ad a day after President Obama issued a memorandum to federal agencies to address LGBT inequality abroad. The memo directs all federal government agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons” and establishes a working group to monitor the progress of the initiative.

In addition, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva to commemorate the signing of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and devoted most of speech to discussing this new measure. This is the first strategy put forth by any U.S. administration to combat discrimination toward LGBT people outside the United States.

President Obama’s dedication to LGBT equality within the United States has had a major impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. No other president has expressed the kind of deep commitment to improving the lives of LGBT people and certainly no other president has attempted to project such a promise around the world.

Stonewall Democrats of Dallas applauds President Obama and Secretary Clinton for their steadfast leadership on these issues, as well as all of our service men and women.

Omar F Narvaez,
president,
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas,
via Instant Tea