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Martin's Comments an Attack on all Americans; Congress Must Repeal 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'
December 28, 2009
Jacob Meister, candidate for U.S. Senate, issued the following statement in response to Andy Martin’s egregious and disgusting attacks on the alleged sexual orientation of Mark Kirk, and his hi-jacking of the Chicago media-market to infuse hate into the race for U.S. Senate.
“Today, Andy Martin, one of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, launched an insidious attack on the sexual orientation of his opponent, Mark Kirk. The use of sexual orientation in this race, whether overt or by innuendo can no longer be tolerated. Mr. Martin’s statements are clear attempts to use sexual orientation as a political weapon and are criminal in their perpetuation of ignorance and prejudice.
As the only openly gay candidate for the U.S. Senate, I have experienced firsthand the bigotry and prejudice that the sexual orientation issue evokes. The subtle innuendo of the ‘family values’ issue, used by politicians such as Sarah Palin, Andy Martin and my opponent, David Hoffman, to infer that people who are lawfully refused the right to marry or begin a family are somehow less ‘qualified’ and relegated to second-class citizen status, must stop.
This is nothing less than an assault on the civil rights of all Americans, including the tens of millions of gay and lesbian people living in this country. It is appalling that we live in an America that still allows one’s sexual orientation to be used as fodder for political attacks and, worse yet, as an obstacle to the civil rights availed to all of us through the constitution of the United States.
During the course of this campaign, my sexual orientation has been the source of underhanded remarks from my opponent, David Hoffman; the catalyst for verbal and threatened physical attacks toward members of my staff; and the justification for one online suburban publication to accuse me of treason. Despite the enormous economic, national security and domestic policy challenges on which I have tried to focus my campaign – some think it more important to question someone’s sexual orientation than to propose their own ideas on how to confront the many problems that desperately need our attention.
Under the current circumstances, and in accordance with the very laws that he has whole heartedly advocated, Mark Kirk is subject to being removed from military service. I vehemently oppose the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Maybe now that a member of Congress may fall victim to the unfair treatment of gay and lesbian soldiers in our military, we will be able to defeat this civil rights barrier that keeps good men and women from fighting on behalf of our country.
Whether you’re a candidate for the United States Senate, a soldier in the U.S. military or an average American fighting for domestic partnership benefits, equal tax treatment, Social Security benefits or the simple right to visit a loved one in the hospital – the fact remains that American society is still one that legally discriminates against its citizens for any reason. Thomas Jefferson stated clearly that the constitution was created ‘so we may form a more perfect union,’ and our work will never be finished, our ideals never upheld and our responsibility as the global leader of free societies never fulfilled if we continue to allow the legal discrimination of any one of our citizens.
I got into this race to talk about creating jobs, rebuilding our economy and protecting our nation from terrorism. But it is clear that now is the time to break this barrier once and for all, and to win cleanly, the social and legal equality all gay Americans deserve. This kind of McCarthy era witch hunt has no place in American society. This is a perennial attack that cowardly politicians use every election cycle.
I call on all politicians, elected officials and my opponents in this race to stand up for civil rights in this critical moment, and pledge that the United States government will no longer pursue any policy that withholds essential freedoms from gay Americans. And I call on Congress to immediately repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, so the brave men and women of our armed forces who are gay, no longer have to live in fear of being outed and can continue to serve our country with honor as they always have.
Now Illinois has an opportunity to continue our tradition of breaking barriers. We are responsible for sending the first African American female to the United States Senate, elevating the first African American to the office of President of the United States, and now we can be the first state to send an openly gay man to the United States Senate. Illinois should be proud to continue this tradition, and help break one of the final civil rights barriers that continue to hold our country back.”
