Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank on
Tuesday said the fears of opponents concerning the repeal of 'Don't
Ask, Don't Tell' won't materialize.
The military policy that banned gay and
bisexual troops from serving openly ended on Tuesday, nearly 18 years
after its implementation and 9 months after Congress authorized its
repeal. More than 13,000 service members were drummed out of the
military for violating the policy.
Frank, who is openly gay, hailed the
move during a speech on the House floor.
“We have a history in this country of
prejudice being enacted, and through the efforts of many people, the
policy embodying that prejudice can be overcome. And, as we debate
any single effort to overcome prejudice, we are told that the effect
of diminishing that prejudice, the effect of repealing that rule,
will be chaos, will be disorder, will be social unrest, and it is
never true.”
“Seven years ago the state I am
privileged to represent in this House established same-sex marriage
and there were predictions of doom, predictions that this would be a
terribly upsetting factor. None of those predictions have come true,
not one,” Frank said.
“Let me predict today … that every
single one of those prejudices will, three and four years from now,
will have been proven as wrong as the predictions that same-sex
marriage would be disorganizing.”
“And, I hope that people are now
making note of the predictions that were made before this House, in
the Senate, and in the country about the negative consequences of
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' because they will soon be shown to have been
wholly false,” he added.