Call To Appoint Openly Gay William White As Secretary Of The Navy Grows Louder

Joe.My.God.: Equal Rep, a grassroots group founded by Join The Impact co-founder Paul Sousa, is calling for support in their bid to get Barack Obama to nominate William White as the first openly gay Secretary of the Navy.

In a short amount of time, White has already earned some impressive endorsements. Retired general Hugh Shelton, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White "would be phenomenal." He added that White's extensive background as a fund-raiser for veterans' and military causes would be helpful in the job. Congressman Jerrold Nadler said White is "very capable" on the basis of observing his work at the Intrepid, located on the Hudson River, which is in Nadler's district. Nadler added that White has been a friend of service members and their families through his work with the museum and philanthropic efforts, according to The Washington Times."

With the whole Rick Warren fiasco ensuing and the fact that gay Americans were completely shut out of Obama's cabinet, this is the perfect opportunity for our President-elect to show gay Americans they have not been forgotten and he truly is committed to equal representation." said Paul Sousa, Equal Rep founder. "William White is not only the most qualified candidate, but appointing him would also send a strong message that change is coming and the antiquated, discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be repealed soon."

The vile Elaine Donnelly of the Center For Military Readiness allows that William White has done "admirable good work" in raising millions of dollars for the temporary housing and support of the families of injured soldiers. She also concedes that there is no law against civilian homosexuals working for the Pentagon and that White would not be the first Naval Secretary without prior military experience. But then she reverts to form and raises the straw man of predatory homos in the showers:

Civilian service secretaries do not have to live in the same conditions of what the law describes as “forced intimacy” offering little or no privacy. Congress should protect the interests of surface sailors, Navy SEALS, and submariners who do accept these living conditions, and not pass legislation that would make military life even more difficult. But instead of considering the harmful consequences of repealing the 1993 law, Mr. White’s perceived status as a “poster man” for the cause of gays in the military would distract attention from the serious consequences of repealing the 1993 law. Such an appointment would call into question the judgment of President Obama, the next Commander-in-Chief. Despite his personal views, President Obama should put the needs of the military above the demands of homosexualists who want to use government power to impose their agenda on military men and women.

Donnelly goes on to predict that White's appointment would not only hasten the end of DADT (hooray!) but that its repeal would "increase threefold" the number of sexual harassment incidents in the military. (Donnelly points to her ass as the source of that statistic.)

The Facebook action page for William White is here.