What can Brown do for Massachusetts?

By Kara Suffredini -

Two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown scored a zero on the most recent version of the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard. He’s the only United States Senator from New England to fail to have supported even one of the pro-LGBT equality measures taken up in the Senate this year. Even New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg earned a higher score (29 percent) than Brown. Brown’s goose egg puts him on par with senators like Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss, who in October fired a staffer who had commented that "All fags must die" on a Joe.My.God blog post about "Don’t ask, don’t tell."

Nice.

Brown could make up for some of his intransigence on LGBT issues this week by voting in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act. Included in the bill, which authorizes pay raises for servicemembers, new equipment for National Guard and Reserves units, and equipment to protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a provision that would repeal "Don’t ask, don’t tell."

Last May, Brown said it would be "premature" to lift the ban, and added that he wants to wait for the results of a Pentagon study on how to repeal "Don’t ask, don’t tell." Early reports about the study’s results show that a majority of troops surveyed do not care if their colleagues are gay, lesbian, or bisexual; they care about whether or not their colleagues can do their jobs.

Since the law was passed in 1993, more than 13,500 women and men have been discharged from the U.S. military because of their sexual orientation, including 59 Arabic and nine Farsi linguists, and nearly 800 other service members in critical occupational fields. The law has resulted in a staggering waste of talent and treasure, as Brown, a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, surely knows. And as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocate General Corps, Brown understands better than most that repeal of the ban will not lead to chaos. The military, after all, has a strong culture, to put it mildly, of strict adherence to rules and regulations. If the Pentagon orders the open integration of gay, lesbian, and bisexual troops into the military, it will happen, and it will happen without incident.

It’s hard to imagine Brown’s refusal to support repeal of the ban as rooted in anything other than anti-LGBT animus. His opposition is not supportive of the troops, who care only about the professional competence of those with whom they serve. His opposition weakens our national security: any policy that results in the loss of talented Arabic linguists when the country is fighting two wars for which this skill is critical is one that runs counter to our national interests. And his opposition puts him at odds with the people of Massachusetts. A poll taken last May found that 77 percent of Massachusetts voters support repeal of the discriminatory law, with only 19 percent believing the law should remain in place. Massachusetts voters living in military households favor repeal by a 58 percent to 36 percent margin. Even 62 percent of those who voted for Senator Brown support repeal of this law.

If Brown votes against the National Defense Authorization Act, the response of Massachusetts voters, quite frankly, should be to vote him out of office. Brown ran on the promise that he would represent all of Massachusetts’ citizens, and that includes gay, lesbian and bisexual veterans. He also promised that he would be an independent thinker. Independent thinkers do not march in lockstep with the most radical elements of the Republican Party, who are blocking action on something that 80 percent of Americans support.

What can Brown do for Massachusetts? He can take his place in history as having helped his country put an end to a senseless law and permit openly gay, lesbian and bisexual patriots to serve the country they love.

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