Fresh off his endorsement of a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, Texas Governor Rick Perry suggested that gay and lesbian veterans returning from the war in Iraq should go elsewhere if they are unhappy with the anti-gay legislation.
Perry: “Texans made a decision about marriage and if there’s a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that’s a better place for them to live.”
Perry’s remarks were immediately condemned by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, who cited the more than 66,000 gay and lesbian veterans living in Texas. Colonel Paul W. Dodd, a retired Army chaplain said, “Gays and lesbians have defended our country since the American Revolution. Governor Perry’s remarks were outrageous and offensive and do not reflect the views of fair-minded Texans who value the service of our men and women in uniform. It is past time that those who fight for freedom abroad be afforded those same liberties here at home.”
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