The Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry
campaign on Sunday, Veterans Day, released a video highlighting how
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) hurts gay couples in the military.
In the 90-second video, titled Same
Skin, a gay soldier and a straight soldier show off their
military wounds. Captions read: “Gay and straight service members
scar in the same way. But the military is forced to treat them, and
their families, differently because of the Defense of Marriage Act.”
(The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The campaign is a joint effort between
Freedom to Marry, the nation's largest advocate for the legalization
of gay nuptials, and OutServe-SLDN, the leading group advocating on
behalf of LGBT troops.
“Today, we remember all who have
served our nation so honorably; but we reserve a special remembrance
for all those who have provided the same service, taken the same
risks, and made the same sacrifices to keep us safe, yet are treated
as second-class citizens by the country they are sworn to protect,”
OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson said in a
statement.
“The video we are releasing today
depicts that stark reality painfully well,” she added.
Federal agencies, including the
Pentagon, are not allowed to recognized the legal marriages of gay
couples under DOMA, which was approved by Congress in 1996.
The law is under attack in Congress,
where Democrats are pushing for repeal, and the courts, which have
consistently declared it unconstitutional. Four DOMA-related cases
have been appealed to the Supreme Court.
“This is a two-front war,” Robinson
said. “Together, we will continue to fight in the courts and on
Capitol Hill, and we will reach a day when the families of brave gay
and lesbian servicemembers and veterans are treated as equals. There
cannot be two classes of service members.”