Monday, July 4, 2011

GAY SOLDIER'S PARENTS FIGHT MARRIAGE BAN



The death of Andrew Wilfahrt in Afghanistan moved his parents, Lori and Jeff, to advocate for marriage equality.

H/T to MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong... where I first saw the video.

UPDATE: Thanks to Murdoch Matthew in the comments for the link to an article about Andrew in Stars and Stripes.
Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt, Andrew’s parents, have the milquetoast looks of middle-age Midwesterners: gray hair, rimmed glasses, apple-pie ordinary. Yet make no mistake: These lifelong Minnesotans might be the most powerful force to join the same-sex marriage movement.

In a state that has produced GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty -- who have made careers fighting gay marriage -- these parents of an American hero present a major challenge to the establishment.

They'll take their battle to the Supreme Court, if that's what it takes. To the Wilfahrts, denying gays the right to marry is discrimination against a group to which their son belonged.
Lori and Jeff look like giants next to the likes of Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.

UPDATE 2: From Mike in Texas in the comments comes a link to a moving story about Andrew at CNN:
A lover of literature, Jeff always brings a collection of William Wordsworth. He flips the pages to "Expostulation and Reply." He sits on the marble stone commemorating his son and reads aloud. Lori sits on the ground nearby.

He gets to the last verse and chokes up:
"Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old grey stone,
And dream my time away."
Jeff stands quickly, touching the grey stone with his hand, as if reaching out to his beloved son from beyond the grave. He trembles and cries. "I can never get through the last paragraph," he says. "What the hell's wrong with me?"

Lori stands, too. The two stare at the headstone. Tears still streaming down his face, Jeff says, "It's just the shits." He whispers again, "It's just the shits."

They want people to know their son wasn't a "gay soldier." He was a great soldier who happened to be gay. Above all, he was a citizen.

A remarkable man, his epitaph reads.

5 comments:

  1. Nothing like a Monday morning cry--can you imagine if the ABC y York had the manliness to make the final statement we just heard on the video? Of course, those twurps in gowns haven´t a clue as to what ¨relgious¨ LGBTI Anglicans deserve in terms of inclusiveness at Church or anywhere else (Africa comes to mind)...our leaders aren´t courageous like the man who spoke plain simple fact at the end of this tape...our Fathers at Church are weazles in mitres.

    ReplyDelete
  2. STARS AND STRIPES, the Army paper, has the whole affecting story of Andrew Wilfahrt:

    http://www.stripes.com/soldier-leaves-legacy-much-larger-than-he-was-gay-1.148175

    excerpt:

    Blunt and outspoken, Andrew's father says his boy didn't die "defending freedom." Don't use that politician jargon crap around him:

    "He died for the soldier to the left and right of him," Jeff Wilfahrt says. "And he was a damn good soldier."

    Shortly after Andrew's death, Jeff wrote a letter to his son's comrades. "A gay child will take you to places in your heart you did not know existed," he said. "Regardless of orientation, I beseech all of you who are parenting now, or do so in the future, to give them all the love you can muster. At times it feels like you are bailing the ocean, but do not stop loving your children."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Murdoch, that's right. I've read and heard a good many in the military say they fight and die for their brothers and sisters in arms.

    I'm bumping your link up to the post in an update.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There's also a wonderful article on CNN. The quotes Murdoch Matthew put up sound familiar, though. It may be the same article.

    Soldier leaves legacy much larger than 'he was gay'

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mike, thanks for calling the video to MadPriest's attention. It needs to be widely distributed. I added your link from CNN to my post.

    I'm glad you came through your surgery well and are recovering nicely.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous commenters, please sign a name, any name, to distinguish one anonymous commenter from another. Thank you.