Hillary Clinton is quoted in the Des Moines Register today stating clearly that gay troops should be able to serve in the U.S. Military.

Hillary Clinton states: "Right now, we are discharging soldiers - at a time when we don't have enough people to do the missions we need around the world - because they're gay. Not because they've done anything, but just because they're gay."

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Published April 23, 2007

Clinton: Allow gays to serve openly

By TONY LEYS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Decorah, Ia. - Gay troops should be able to serve in the U.S. military
without hiding their sexual identity, Sen. Hillary Clinton said here
Sunday.

Clinton said it's time to drop the "don't ask, don't tell" policy,
which began when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. The policy
says that gays may serve in the military if they keep their
homosexuality secret but that they can be tossed out if they don't.

"Right now, we are discharging soldiers - at a time when we don't have
enough people to do the missions we need around the world - because
they're gay. Not because they've done anything, but just because
they're gay," she said.

Clinton, one of the Democrats' leading presidential candidates, quoted
the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, a conservative Republican who supported
the rights of gay troops: "I think the question should be not whether
you are straight, but whether you shoot straight."

Clinton spoke about the issue in response to a question from the
audience during a campaign visit to Luther College. She also said she
supported the right of gay Americans to join in civil unions, though
she did not mention the more controversial idea of gay marriage.

The New York senator touched on numerous topics during a "town hall"
talk before about 1,000 people in northeast Iowa.

Clinton noted Sunday was Earth Day, and she said Americans need to
move quickly to stop global warming.

"Some of the damage that has been done, we didn't know about. We
didn't understand," she said. "But now we do, and we have no excuses
left." She said she favors capping greenhouse-gas emissions and
financing alternative-energy research with money now going to
subsidize oil companies.

Clinton criticized the Bush administration on numerous fronts,
including education, taxation and the Iraq war. She described "a
heartbreaking development," in which former allies have turned away
from the United States because of President Bush's overbearing
approach to diplomacy.

She also spoke about the need for universal health care, noting that
she led an effort to create such a system when her husband was
president.

Audience member Rita Tejada brought her daughters - Lara, 9, and Rita
Marie, 11 - to see someone who might become the nation's first female
president. Tejada said Clinton should stress the health care issue
more. The Luther College Spanish teacher said that the subject will be
among the most crucial in the election and that Clinton has the best
chance of achieving universal health care. "She has the experience
from before," Tejada said.

Dick Guilgot of Decorah said he probably will support Clinton. "I
think she's the best, common-sense, moderate Democrat," he said.

Guilgot believes Clinton could win both the nomination and the general
election, although he acknowledged some Democrats' fears that she
would turn off too many independents. "I think it's going to be a
challenge," he said. "There's a negative factor she can't deny."

Reporter Tony Leys can be reached at (515) 284-8449 or tleys@dmreg.com