Chan Lowe: DADT repeal and the home front
Last summer, I stayed in a motel in southern Vermont, right across the street from a VFW hall.
Actually, the “hall” was more of a shack, and had one of those portable plastic signs out near the street that said, “Thurs nite bingo.”
I think of this place now, because I know it is a sacred repository of true American values, values that are so cherished they were fought for in faraway lands.
I also think of it because I wonder how the first openly gay or lesbian veteran who goes in there and asks for a beer is going to be received. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that after some initial discomfort, that gay or lesbian vet and the others in the hall are going to discover that they have a lot more connecting them than separating them.
They’re going to find out that they share the same priorities, the same gut feelings about the country they served, and the same willingness to back those sentiments up by laying their lives on the line.
And maybe, just maybe, treating gay people exactly like everyone else will enter the pantheon of true American values worth fighting to protect.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
A right on point cartoon with key commentary, Chan, that we all have a lot more in common than we do apart.
Posted by: Norm Kent | December 22, 2010 11:10 AM
Chan. You are wrong, big time on this one.
Posted by: Jazz Drummer | December 22, 2010 4:32 PM