Responding to the State of the Union

With the war in Iraq raging on, and our military stretched thin, President Bush again missed an opportunity to strengthen our armed forces and renew our commitment to equality by welcoming the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. It is unfortunate that the commander-in-chief has neglected, over the past six years, to even mention the service and sacrifice of the LGBT community. While the President rightly salutes our nation’s service men and women, he continues to implicitly push gay service personnel into the shadows by supporting a policy of silence and exclusion. The State of our Union is strongest when our country lives up to its ideals of inclusion and when every American can bring his or her contributions to the table. Until gay Americans are welcomed in our fighting forces neither our military, nor our nation, is a strong as it could be.

- Steve Ralls