First Marine Wounded in Iraq Comes Out

Eric Alva, the first marine who was seriously wounded in the Iraq War, has come out of the closet. Alva lost one of his legs while serving his country and was visited in the hospital by Pres. George W. Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He was even honored at a Republican State Convention in Texas. Alva's public declaration comes as a new study shows that gay and lesbians dismissed from the military for their sexuality are more likely than straight soldiers to be serving in key specialties.

Meanwhile, former Sen. John Edwards endorsed House legislation designed to lift the ban on lesbian and gay troops serving openly in the military. Rep. Martin Meehan (D-MA) is the primary sponsor of the legislation. The leading Republican support is Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), who nearly lost his seat last Novemember and is now the sole Republican elected from Connecticut in the federal legislature after the defeat of two of his Republican colleagues.