Very Unlikely That Aaron Schock Or Patrick McHenry Will Be Gay Marrying Tim Huelskamp On A Military Base... Or In Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens

If Aaron Shock (R-IL, the one with the lavender belt on the right) decides to wed a soldier boy, it may have to be on Polk St. rather than at Fort Polk

Thursday Denmark became the 8th country in the European Union-- following Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden-- to pass a full-in marriage equality law. (Non-EU countries with it include Canada, South Africa, Argentina and Nepal. It passed the Danish Parliament 85-24. Members of the LGBT community can start marrying each other legally in lovely Copenhagen starting Friday (June 15).

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, to which 80 percent of the Danish population belongs, will be able to perform marriage ceremonies under the new laws. New rites were written up by ten of the Church’s eleven bishops in a spirit of “good cooperation,” Bishop Kjeld Holm said.

Gay couples will be able to marry in churches of their choice but priests will not be obliged to perform weddings. They would, however, need to help the couple find a priest who would marry them at the church under the new laws.

Kim Klaus Wyon-Sergeant, an editor living in Denmark told PinkNews.co.uk: “Members of the Christian Democrats (a party that is not represented in parliament) plan to sue the state, believing that the law infringes on their freedom of religion. However experts say they don't have much of a chance since the law specifically allows ministers of the church to abstain from presiding over same-sex marriages.”

Denmark’s current system of registered partnerships for gay couples was the first of its kind in the world when it was enacted in 1989.

Denmark is moving forward. That isn't always the case in the U.S., where the equality movement, so despised by conservatives, is bumping along... haltingly. After Don't Ask, Don't Tell was finally repealed, the Pentagon announced that in states that have legalized same sex marriage members of the military could get married on bases. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has been threatening to defund the Pentagon if they went forward with that.

McKeon isn't just a garden variety homophobe. A militant Mormon bigot, what he's doing is threatening to defund the entire U.S. military-- endangering U.S. troops in the field and our national security-- unless the Pentagon takes the anti-gay action that he sees as coinciding with his own religious beliefs. Remember, even The Hill is reporting that McKeon "said that he would rather go without a defense spending bill this year than compromise on allowing military chaplains to conduct gay marriages."

Retired military chaplains have been aghast at McKeon's ugly, naked bigotry-- and are speaking out.

The Forum on the Military Chaplaincy is far from happy about the actions of House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon of California. McKeon wants desperately to impose his religious beliefs upon the military and the military’s chaplains. He has even threatened to kill the Defense Appropriations Bill if his ban on chaplains conducting same-sex marriages is not left in that bill.

Retired US Army Chaplain Colonel Paul Dodd stated “Many chaplains-– Episcopal, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and Unitarian Universalist Chaplains, among others-– would be prevented from performing weddings or commitment ceremonies allowed by their denominations if Chairman McKeon gets his way. We stand for the rights of chaplains from all faiths to conduct services in accordance with that faith.”

This week, three of McKeon's most right-wing allies, Todd Akin (R-MO), John Fleming (R-LA) and suspiciously hysterical-- no straight men are as obsessed with homophobia as he is and he's probably either closeted or in deep denial-- Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), went ballistic when a military chaplain performed a commitment ceremony for two lesbians at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Think Progress caught the 3 deranged homophobes combusting:

HUELSKAMP: "Americans should be outraged at what happened at Ft. Polk. Not only is it a clear violation of the State of Louisiana’s law to allow this 'ceremony' to go forward, but this happened despite last year’s assurances from the Department of Defense that state law recognizing only traditional marriage would be respected and upheld. They clearly lied."

FLEMING: "The liberal social experiment with our military continues. My frustration is compounded by the fact that a social agenda, which has nothing to do with military readiness or our national defense, is being imposed on our men and women in uniform."

AKIN: "This appears to be a case where political agenda has trumped the rule of law, which is absolutely unacceptable."

These congressman have confirmed what has long been suspected: the GOP is against not only gay marriage in the military, but the very existence of gay people in the military. Pentagon officials, as well as troops themselves, have said that repealing DADT has had no harmful effect on the military. Many members of the military have said it makes them more comfortable to work in an open environment.

Blue America has a page dedicated solely to defeating extreme homophobes and replacing them with candidates who aren't driven by hatred and bigotry. McKeon's opponent, Lee Rogers, is on the page. Alas, neither Huelskamp nor Fleming even has an opponent in November and Akin is giving up his House seat to run in the GOP primary for Claire McCaskill's Senate seat. (He's running third in the right-wing free-for-all: Sarah Steelman 28%, John Brunner 25% and Akin 23%.) According to ProgressivePunch there are 232 incumbents with ZERO scores on lifetime crucial rollcalls on issues involving the LGBT community! Of the 232 all are Republicans except Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC) and Mark Critz (PA). Pictured on the left is North Carolina closet case Patrick McHenry (R), who opposes gay equality with a vengeance. You'll find his opponent, state Rep. Patsy Keever of Asheville, on our page-- and with an entirely live-and-let-live, neighborly approach.