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There are a lot of people to thank for the legislative repeal of DADT, but near the top of the list is Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA), whose leadership on this issue never wavered — and he lost his seat in the political tsunami of the 2010 midterms, but kept on fighting for equality.
A reminder of the Iraq war veteran’s leadership — watch the classic takedown of the doyenne of DADT discrimination, Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness during House hearings.
He’s a real profile in courage — you’ll recall that in the days leading up to the elections a number of folks in the movement urged people to support Rep. Murphy in a video because of his efforts toward DADT repeal.
Murphy, unlike many pols, is quite accessible. In 2009, I interviewed him at Netroots Nation (video and transcript here), and he came over to the Blend in October to discuss progress on DADT in a liveblog. We need more members of Congress with backbones like Murphy’s.
Thank you, Congressman. If you plan to run for office again, you know where you can find support.
Here is a tribute to Patrick Murphy from the good folks at SLDN:
4 Comments
I’m having a lot of troublewith Murphy’s NO vote on the DREAM Act.
I won’t disagree with you on thatIt’s unfortunate that he could not be moved on DREAM. I see it as the same dilemma I face with my Dem Senator here, Kay Hagan, who also voted for repeal and against DREAM. I expressed my sentiments and viewpoint in an earlier post.
and Good Riddance to Elaine Donnelly,I hope I never have to hear her lies in front of Congress again.
The thing about this “certification” rubbishis that it gives the antigay forces, certainly including Elaine, more time to spew their venom. There will be a concerted effort to persuade the new congress to stop integration before certification (and actual, real repeal) happens. And I’m sure our pals Louie Gohmert et al will go along with it, and the media will give them every platform they want. There may even be formal hearings. It will most likely come to nothing, but when did being on the losing side ever stop the religious right?