Ted Kennedy - True Compass

The late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was seen as one of Congress’ strongest supporters of civil rights for gays, yet in his autobiography, True Compass, he mentions almost no gay people and says almost nothing about civil rights for gays. The one exception was a brief recollection of a meeting he and other senators had with President Bill Clinton who had asked to hear their views concerning gays in the military. Kennedy said he spoke in favor of allowing gays to serve but that many of his Democratic colleagues on the Armed Services Committee aired views similar to ones plied against blacks and women. Then came Robert Byrd of West Virginia: “Senator Byrd stood up and declared to the president in emotional tones that except for his relationship with his wife, his most sacred possession … was his grandson. And that he would never, never, ever, ever let his grandson go off to the military if we were going to have gays there.” Then he began speaking of young military boys in ancient Rome “being turned into sex slaves.” To his credit, President Clinton stood up and said there was nothing in the Ten Commandments about homosexuality, and sent the senators on their way. Kennedy said he thinks a new policy could have allowed gays to serve if Clinton “had laid the groundwork in the right way.”