Cindy and John McCain at odds over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
November 12, 2010
Cindy McCain, the wife of Arizona Republican Sen. and former GOP presidential nominee John McCain, is again publicly at odds with her famous husband, this time appearing in a web video advocating for the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future,” Mrs. McCain says in the video,”They can’t serve our country openly.” The video is sponsored by the NOH8 campaign and features several celebrities, including actress Denise Richards, musician Dave Navarro and reality star and tattoo artist Kat Von D, along with Mrs. McCain.
Her comments are in contrast to the position Sen. McCain has taken on the controversial military policy that currently forbids homosexuals from openly serving in uniform. McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, pledged last spring to filibuster any defense authorization bill that included language repealing the policy.
McCain said that he was against repealing the policy until a full Pentagon Review on the matter was conducted, and characterized the White House- backed measure as part of a “political agenda.”
The language was ultimately dropped from the bill. McCain’s Senate office has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the web video. This is the second time Mrs. McCain has lent her efforts to the pro-LGBT group; last January, she appeared in an ad in support of same-sex marriage — another position her husband opposed during the 2008 presidential campaign.
NOH8 was created in the wake of California’s 2008 Proposition 8, a ballot measure that successfully banned same-sex marriage in the state.