Remarks by former U.S. Army Sergeant José M. Zuniga ( Currently President/CEO of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care—IAPAC ) ) at 'A Salute to America's LGBT Veterans' June 22, 2004, Daley Plaza, Chicago.
When I was invited to speak today at this salute to America's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered veterans, I was taken by the event's title: With Liberty and Justice for All … a phrase each of us has recited at one point or another in saying the 'Pledge of Allegiance.'
Those history buffs among us know that at the end of the 19th century, millions of immigrants poured into a country beset with social unrest. Many people believed America needed some symbol to tie the nation's peoples together.
In 1892, Francis Bellamy, an ordained Baptist minister who had been booted out of his Boston church because of his fiery socialist sermons, composed a pledge that expressed loyalty not only to a nation but to an ideal: 'Liberty and justice for all.'
'I pledge Allegiance to my Flag, the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
Francis Bellamy wanted to add the word 'equality' to the Pledge but was mindful of the social climate regarding women and minorities.
As we take part in this salute, the word 'equality' must be front-and-center in our thoughts and future actions. It is the inequality with which our LGBT veterans have been treated by our country's military and civilian leaders that is at the heart of the great disservice that has been advanced by witch-hunts and anti-gay harassment—a disservice committed against our great country and against those lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell has deprived our country's military of the skills, talent, experience, and commitment of more than 10,000 men and women discharged under the law.
Indeed, even as concerns grow about military troop strength as our country mounts a global 'War on Terror,' the exodus of soldiers continues under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In the middle of a war, some 700-plus men and women were discharged for homosexuality last year … . As a combat veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, I can see no justification for a policy that revokes the right of volunteer soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors to fight for their country.
Our short-term goal must be to demand that the Pentagon address an epidemic of anti-gay harassment in the ranks that is fueled by homophobia—harassment that ranges from withering hazing to barbaric acts, such as PFC Barry Winchell's brutal murder at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Our long-term goal must be the repeal of a failed policy that has led to too many years of intensified witch-hunts, harassment, and violence against gay and lesbian servicemembers—all left unchecked by leaders up and down the military and civilian chains of command.
We must remind our elected officials in Washington, D.C., that they represent the people, not the forces of bigotry and hatred whose vision of the world is one divided along ideological lines.
There is no better way to do so than on Nov. 2—Election Day. Each of us must exercise the right to vote—a right defended by consecutive generations of men and women in uniform who have fought, struggled, and died for the ideals of liberty, justice, and equality that make up the social fabric of our great nation.