If former Senator Chuck Hagel wants to be President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense, he would be wise to place a call to James Hormel and personally apologize for his virulently anti-gay comments directed toward Hormel back when he was being considered for an ambassadorship.
Hagel is reportedly in the running for the cabinet post and is viewed as a top choice by political observers. Obama told David Gregory of NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he has not yet made a decision on his pick for the powerful position and that he considers Hagel qualified. Hagel, apparently feeling the heat from the media's reporting on national gay rights groups expressing their opposition, last month issued a statement in which he apologized for his remarks. But he has not personally apologized to Hormel, and that's really what Hagel needs to do.
In 1998 Hagel, then a Republican senator from Nebraska, used language that even today would be considered appalling and homophobic. When President Bill Clinton had nominated Hormel, a longtime openly gay philanthropist, to be ambassador to Luxembourg, Hagel responded that Hormel's openness about his sexual orientation was "aggressive," that it could inhibit his ability to represent the United States in a foreign post, and that Clinton's nomination of an openly gay person to the position lacked "common sense."
"Ambassadorial posts are sensitive. They are representing America. They are representing our lifestyle, our values, our standards," Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald at the time. "And I think it is an inhibiting factor to be gay – openly aggressively gay like Mr. Hormel – to do an effective job."
Wow. And this guy wants to serve as the country's top civilian military official, overseeing the armed forces, which now include openly gay and lesbian service members? We're not sure he's the best fit. But he definitely isn't a good candidate for the job if he cannot honestly talk about his past comments. Does he feel that gay military leaders would not be effective or not adequately represent the United States? We sure hope not.
Last week, the Log Cabin Republicans took out a full page ad in the New York Times taking aim at Hagel, calling him "wrong on gay rights, wrong on Iran, and wrong on Israel." It was surprising to see the predominately gay GOP group make such a public statement against a fellow Republican who is generally viewed as a moderate.
In Sunday's interview, Obama said that he worked with Hagel when they were in the Senate and that Hagel "served with valor in Vietnam." He currently serves on Obama's intelligence advisory board, the president said.
Obama also noted that Hagel "apologized for it," referring to the Hormel remarks.
"And I think it's a testament to what has been a positive change ... over the last decade in terms of peoples' attitude about gays and lesbians serving our country," the president told Gregory. "That's something I'm very proud to have led and I think that anybody who serves in my administration understands my attitude and position on those issues."
We certainly appreciate the president's unequivocal commitment. Obama is accurate when he pointed out Hagel had apologized. In his statement, Hagel said that his 1998 comments were "insensitive" and that he is "fully supportive of 'open service' and committed to LGBT military families."
That is a good first step. Should Hagel be nominated as defense secretary, the Senate must thoroughly vet him on LGBTs serving in the military and same-sex military families. In the meantime, he should reach out to Hormel – a prominent member of San Francisco's gay community, who served as ambassador with integrity and proved LGBTs can work at all levels of the federal government – and say, "I'm sorry."
It's the right thing to do.