NATIONAL NEWS

Clark vows to lead on gays & AIDS
Ex-general says vets ‘ashamed’ of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, January 16, 2004

Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark said in an interview this week that if elected president, he would push for the passage of a gay civil rights bill and would order military leaders to “fix” the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which he called “discriminatory.”

In a telephone interview last week from New Hampshire, Clark told the Blade that voters have been raising the issue of gay civil rights with him “at least every other stop” on the campaign trail and he expressed support for an array of pro-gay measures pending in Congress.

Clark, a retired general, discussed his views on gay rights issues and AIDS at a time when polls show he has emerged as the closest rival to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clark’s gay supporters say Clark is also emerging as Dean’s strongest rival for the gay vote.

Gay supporters of Dean and other Democratic presidential contenders say their candidates have spoken out on gay issues for years while Clark remained silent. But Clark’s gay backers say his 38-year career as a military officer and his status as a Vietnam War hero give him the best chance to beat President Bush in the November election and put him in a unique position to prod Congress into advancing gay rights measures.

Clark, who grew up in Little Rock, Ark., graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1966 as the first in his class. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University from 1966 to 1968, and entered the military in 1969, where he served in Vietnam as a captain.

In February 1970, after suffering multiple gunshot wounds in an ambush, Clark led his unit in a counter attack on enemy positions, holding off Viet Cong fighters until American reinforcements arrived, according to a military account. Clark’s action led to his receiving a Silver Star award.

During the next two decades, Clark moved up the ranks in a variety of key positions, earning praise from noted military leaders, including former generals Alexander Haig and Colin Powell. Clark served as Supreme Allied Commander of Europe and head of NATO forces from 1997 to 2000, playing a key role in negotiating a peace settlement in the war in Bosnia and helping coordinate U.S. and European efforts in the air war against Serbia in the 1999 Kosovo conflict.

Military observers say President Clinton and his Defense Secretary, William Cohen, boosted Clark’s career by orchestrating his top appointments, but they removed Clark from his NATO post in 2000, effectively ending Clark’s military career, following heated policy disagreements over Kosovo and other issues.

Despite these disagreements, key figures in the Clinton administration reportedly encouraged Clark to run for president and are expected to give him strong backing if he wins the nomination.

Clark served as managing director of a Little Rock brokerage firm from 2000 to 2002 and headed his own consulting firm, Wesley K. Clark & Associates, which he used to become a corporate lobbyist, from 2002 until he entered the presidential race last year. During this time, he also served as a consultant to CNN, providing television commentary and analysis of the U.S. war in Iraq.

Blade: The U.S. military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been criticized by gay civil rights activists. If you are elected president, what would you do with that policy?

Wesley Clark: Well, I’ll call in the United States military’s uniformed leaders and the Department of Defense leadership and tell them that we need to get a policy that represents America. I don’t want the armed forces to be the last institution in America that discriminates against people. I believe people should have equal rights.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is not working, at least that’s all the indications I get, and furthermore, it’s still discriminatory. So they’ll have to look at policies elsewhere and find other ways to do it. I won’t tell them how to do it. I want them to fix it in a way that’s right for America.

Blade: If there’s a resistance like there was under the Clinton administration, would you intervene or just leave it up to the military?

Clark: No, you have to lead. You cannot leave it up to the military people. But it’s up to the uniformed military to come up and address the issue, and they’ll have to do it to my satisfaction.

Blade: Do you have any thoughts on why there’s more resistance to this change here than in militaries in other places such as Europe, including Great Britain?

Clark: Because it’s been politicized in America. One party has attempted to exploit this situation for political advantage.

Blade: Do you feel you can remove it from the political arena?

Clark: I think I can.

Gay rights ‘very high priority’
Blade: There has been legislation stalled in Congress for more than 20 years that seeks to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA. Do you support that legislation and, if so, do you have a plan to shepherd it through Congress?

Clark: I do support that legislation and if I were elected I would have a plan to shepherd it through and get it through Congress.

Blade: The Republican Party platform, as of four years ago, strongly opposed the legislation. How would you go about persuading those who don’t agree with it to support it?

Clark: You have to build coalitions and you have to work through issues. It’s just a matter of leadership and priorities. I think equal rights is a very high priority in the United States.

Blade: One of the impediments to passing this has been conservative Christian groups, such as the Family Research Council, who have said gay civil rights laws should not be passed because they would legitimize homosexuality and threaten family values. What would you say to someone who would urge you to oppose the bill on those grounds?

Clark: I’d say that my administration will address real family values: jobs, education, health care, the environment and treating each person equally.

Blade: The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has issued a decision that many believe requires the state of Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriage. What is your position on that issue?

Clark: I believe people should have equality and full rights under the law, including the rights to a pension, health insurance, medical leave, bereavement leave, visitation in hospitals, survivor benefits, etc.

Blade: Do you have a view on whether this should be part of same-sex marriage?

Clark: I think whether it’s called marriage or not is a separate matter. If the state wants to call it marriage, the state should vote on that. If the church wants to call it marriage — or a synagogue — they should vote on that or make that decision. But the important point for me is, legally, people must have equal and full rights under the law.

Blade: Do you have a position on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage?

Clark: I’m against that.

Blade: Do you think this will be used as a wedge issue in the presidential campaign?

Clark: Of course it probably will be a wedge issue. We just have to argue against things like that.

Blade: Some states have laws that ban lesbians and gay men from adopting children. What is your position on gay adoption?

Clark: I think the most important consideration in adoption is to be in a loving home. So I don’t think there should be any bans for adoption based on sexual orientation.

Blade: There’s legislation pending in Congress that would provide Social Security survivor benefits for partners in same-sex relationships. Would you support that legislation?

Clark: Yes, I support that.

Blade: Another bill pending in Congress, the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, would allow American citizens to sponsor a same-sex partner from another country seeking immigration rights, in the same way that a married partner can. Do you have a position on this legislation?

Clark: I support that.

Supports ‘frank’ HIV talk
Blade: President Bush has called for greater U.S. funding for global AIDS programs, but some have said the increased international funds have come at the expense of AIDS programs in the U.S. How would you balance treating the AIDS epidemic at home and abroad?

Clark: We’re going to, abroad, double the AIDS funding to $30 billion. We’re going to go through the Global Fund rather than doing it on a bilateral basis. We’re going to apply it to all nations that have AIDS problems, not just the states in southern Africa. And we’re going to invite, using the Global Fund, we will actually promote the full development of effective health care systems in those countries.

At home, we’re going to increase funding for the Ryan White CARE Act, increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research, and we’re going to make sure low income Americans are not required to become disabled before they’re eligible for Medicaid.

Finally, we’re going to make sure we have comprehensive, age appropriate sex education for American students that includes science-based prevention methods.

Blade: Some critics in Congress have called for prohibiting federal funds for AIDS prevention programs that discuss gay sexual activity, saying such programs promote homosexuality. Supporters of these programs say frank discussion on this subject is needed to achieve the most effective prevention results. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Clark: Exactly. You can’t not talk about a problem you’re trying to correct. We’re not going to gag people, either at home or abroad, on talking about how to do the best job of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. It’s that simple.

Blade: President Clinton created a full-time White House staff liaison position to the gay community and issued an annual presidential proclamation commemorating Gay & Lesbian Pride Week. President Bush abolished this staff position and discontinued issuing the Gay Pride proclamations. What would you do concerning a gay liaison position and the Pride proclamations?

Clark: We’ll find some appropriate way— I haven’t really looked at the White House staff. Yes, I will find some appropriate way to make sure we have continuous effective liaison with the gay and lesbian, bisexual and transsexual community.
We’ll also recognize the Gay Pride activities in the appropriate ways.

Blade: Do you have any message for gays on why they should vote for you rather than one of the other Democratic presidential candidates, who have also expressed support for gay civil rights?

Clark: Well, I want to bring a higher standard of leadership to America. Leadership is directed at America as a whole, not for special interests, leadership that looks to the next generation, not just the next election cycle, leadership that gives specific, measurable goals to be held accountable and leadership that works to pull people together in this country.

Blade: Has the issue of gay rights come up much in the campaign other than in the official debates?

Clark: It comes up relatively frequently. I’d say at least every other stop someone will ask about it. It’s an important issue.
People are concerned about it.

They’re concerned about it, obviously, if they’re part of the GLBT community. But they’re also concerned if they’re not, because it indicates attitudes and how people are treated and respected in America. And I think certainly everybody in the Democratic Party, but I think people across the spectrum, want to see other people treated with dignity and respect, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else. It hurts us all when that doesn’t happen.

Vets ‘ashamed’ of gay ban
Blade: Since you’ve articulated your views on the issue of gays in the military on the campaign trail, have you received any feedback on this from your former military colleagues and, if so, would you consider sharing what they said?

Clark: Well, I’m not really talking to my former military colleagues. I can’t. I mean the people that are still in the military.
The retirees— no, I haven’t gotten any feedback on it. I haven’t asked for it. I haven’t sought it.

I think that most of them, when they’re out, the retired generals and colonels that I know, when they get out and they reflect back on it, I think most of them are ashamed that our military hasn’t done a better job of standing up for the rights of every single serving soldier.

Blade: What about the argument that military leaders have used to support the current policy — that allowing gays to serve openly would destroy unit cohesion in the military, which they say is so necessary?

Clark: I think there was some of that out there. I had soldiers tell me that. But I also think that a lot of the resistance was drummed up by the politics. And I think that over the last eight years attitudes have changed.

How much the politics of it are going to stir up trouble, I don’t know, I can’t be sure. But this is a military that is already under profound stress. This campaign in Iraq, especially for the United States Army, is exerting — this is the greatest stress in the history of the volunteer force. And we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

Blade: Is there anything else you’d like to talk about that we haven’t discussed?

Clark: I’m very happy to talk with you and appreciate the questions you’ve asked. I’m running for a stronger, higher standard of leadership for America. That’s what I’d like you to convey to your readers.

MORE INFO
Clark for President
P.O. Box 2959
Little Rock, AR 72203
501-537-2004
www.clark04.com

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