Senate Approves Repeal of Military Ban on Sodomy, Also Striking Ban on Bestiality
Conservative critics argue that the U.S. Senate’s decision to repeal the law banning sodomy in the military serves as just another example of President Barack Obama’s aggressive attempt to push an LGBT agenda.
On Dec. 1, the Senate approved in a 93-7 vote to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867). The bill includes a provision which repeals Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Article 125 made sodomy and bestiality illegal in the Armed Forces, stating: “Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense,” adding in the second section that violation of these rules may result in punishment by court marshal.
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White House Press Secretary Jay Carney implied during a Monday press briefing that perhaps the bestiality aspect of the repeal does not spark particular concern to White House officials.
“Let's get to something more serious,” Carney said, when reporter Lester Kinsolving asked if the Commander in Chief approves of bestiality in the U.S. military.
The animal rights organization, PETA, is one activist group which is taking the bestiality section of the repeal quite seriously, arguing that allowing bestiality in the Armed Forces puts vulnerable animals in danger of sexual abuse.
“In watching last night's news briefing, we were upset to note that you flippantly addressed the recently approved repeal of the military ban on bestiality,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote in a letter to Carney, arguing that animal abuse does not “affect animals only -- it is also a matter of public safety, as people who abuse animals very often go on to abuse human beings.”
To many conservative critics, the problem with the repeal is not necessarily the bestiality aspect, but the fact that there is now no military law specifically condemning sodomy.
This legislation comes just three months after the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy that prohibited homosexuals from serving openly in the military.
As the Family Research Council contends, PETA’s involvement sheds light on the deeper implications of such a bill.
The FRC contends that this bill, along with the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” is just the beginning of a long and controversial debate regarding the legal boundaries of homosexuality.
On Dec. 6, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech to the United Nations urging the importance of plurality regarding sexual orientation.
Clinton's address came the same day the White House issued a Presidential Memorandum urging all countries to observe and respect LGBT rights.
“The President is elevating homosexuality at the same time he is de-emphasizing religious liberty (another legitimate human right),” wrote the FRC. “Now, rather than improving relations with our global neighbors, Obama is imposing an alien agenda on other nations.”
FRC president Tony Perkins told CNSNews.com that the repeal of Article 125 serves as just another method of pushing the LGBT agenda.
“It’s all about using the military to advance this administration’s radical social agenda,” Perkins said.
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