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03/17/07-03/19/07

New Mexico governor, presidential candidate Bill Richardson calls for end to "don't ask, don't tell"

New Mexico governor, presidential candidate Bill Richardson calls for end to

Bill Richardson, the Democratic governor of New Mexico and 2008 presidential candidate, announced Thursday that he believes "don't ask, don't tell" should be repealed. Responding to Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Peter Pace's antigay comments earlier this week, the onetime congressman said he doesn't agree that homosexuality is immoral, instead saying discrimination against gay people in the U.S. military should end, the Associated Press reports.

"I voted against it when I served in Congress," Richardson told the AP in Santa Fe, referring to the ban on openly gay service members, signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton in the 1990s. "People should not be judged based on their sexual orientation. Throughout my entire career I have fought for equal rights and against discrimination of any kind."

Richardson added that Pace's remarks were "unfortunate" and called on President Bush to condemn them. In his interview with the AP he also pointed to his own pro-gay record: his support of civil unions and his signing into law a state measure that provides civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.

Two of his competitors for the Democratic presidential nod, senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, also disavowed Pace's comment's Thursday, according to the AP, finally saying that they disagree that homosexuality is immoral after avoiding the issue earlier in the week. (The Advocate)

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