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Virginia Delegate Wants To Keep Ban On Gay Service For Virginia National Guard

12/20/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Virginia Delegate Robert Marshall is drafting a bill to ban lesbians and gays from serving in the Virginia National Guard despite the fact that this would be illegal. This follows the vote in the Senate lifting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He is taking his idiotic reasoning from Tony Perkins, who has claimed all sorts of erroneous things, and in the process gotten his group, the Family Research Council, labeled a hate group.

Marshall said:

“This policy will weaken military recruitment and retention, and will increase pressure for a military draft. After 232 years of prohibiting active, open homosexuals from enlisting in our military, President Obama and a majority in Congress are conducting a social experiment with our troops and our national security…In countries where religions and cultures find homosexual acts immoral, the Obama administration’s repeal policy will work to the detriment of all American troops in securing local cooperation with our nation’s foreign policy goals.”

Which is a lot of Perkins brand baloney. Of course, to throw in a bit of Tea Party logic here, he cites as his authority for this bill Article 1, Section 8, Clause 16 of the Constitution which he believes gives his state the authority to continue the ban by “reserving to the sttes respectively, the appointment of officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disciple prescribed by Congress.”

He even went on to say “The Constitution never would have been ratified if states were not reserved unqualified control of the militia, now called the National Guard.”

The National Guard is far more of a Federal militia now, and the Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15 gives the national government authority over the state militias when it said “To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” The National Guard’s standards are those determined by the United States military and Congress.

Claire Guthrie Gastanga, the general and legislative council for Equality Virginia, pointed out that the National Guard is subject to the same rules as the rest of the military noting:

“Any state statute seeking to set different standards for the Virginia National Guard would be a nullity with no effect. It is a shame that Delegate Marshall would dishonor the brave men and women serving in our National Guard by seeking to make political points at their expense and waste the time of his colleagues in the Virginia General Assembly who have pressing matters to attend to like balancing the budget and finding solutions to the traffic problems that are the real and present concern of his constituents.”

Marshall’s contact information for those wishing inform him that he cannot go against the law:

Marshal, Robert G. District 13. Capital Office (804) 698-1013 District Office (703) 853-4213

General Assembly Building
P.O. Box 406
Richmond, Virginia 23218
Phone: (804) 698-1013
Fax: (804) 698-6713
Email: DelBMarshall@house.virginia.gov