“I’ve been a public supporter of maintaining ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and I would support reinstating it as well," he said. It is rumored that he may run for president in 2012, a thought that reasonably causes many an LGBT voter to shudder. Then again, Pawlenty may also open a margarita bar instead, as he has repeatedly joked. Doesn't he know Jimmy Buffet is so passe?
"I'm not just a fiscal conservative, I'm a social conservative," T-Paw, as Pawlenty has been nicknamed, relayed on the radio show. When asked how he would treat "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" if elected president, he said, "I believe strongly in traditional marriage. I don't believe all other domestic relationships should be on the same platform as traditional marriage. I just don't buy that." He went on to reinforce that he believes strongly in a "conservative interpretation" of the law.
Pawlenty claimed that reports from combat divisions of the armed forces tell a different story than the other facets of the military when it comes to whether "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should have been repealed. He doesn't offer any qualifying data to that end aside from this superficial mention.
Pawlenty's website, tagged "Freedom First," includes only broad-stroke hints at this political stance on any platform, let alone "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and mentions only that, "Tim’s leadership style is rooted in his family." Frankly, the site is more reminiscent of a soccer mom (Palin reference unintended) than a political candidate, with mentions of family events and hockey and feel-good middle-America stories.
In addition to hosting the right-wing radio show, Fischer blogs for the American Family Association, another thinly veiled "pro-family" organizations that spews homophobic venom all over the world wide web.
Watch the interview below and tell Pawlenty the country has already spoken on Don't Ask Don't Tell!
Allison Hope is a writer and multimedia artist living in New York City.
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