LGBT Rights and the Military
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The Military is Ready to Lift the Ban on Gay Soldiers. Is Obama?
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An Outspoken Champion of Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. Senate
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The Civil Rights Test of Our Generation
Bill Maher on Scaring the Hell Out of Right-Wing Homophobes
Published October 10, 2009 @ 06:08AM PT
Today marks Day 1 of the National Equality March weekend, and in honor of the weekend of action, training and marching for equal rights, Bill Maher is out with a column that will likely provide fits for the anti-LGBT right-wing. His message for LGBT activists in D.C. this weekend is simple: scare the hell of out right-wing homophobes, and tell our President that everyone deserves equal rights.
Maher especially goes after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," calling on President Obama to sign an executive order -- much like President Harry Truman did in the late 1940s to integrate the U.S. military -- ending the discriminatory policy that keeps gays out of the military (or kicks them out when they're discovered). While the legality of such an executive order is questioned by some groups, Maher's point echoes what Rep. Joe Sestak wrote here yesterday. Rep. Sestak said that as a former Navy officer, he lost good soldiers because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and that hurt America's national security.
Maher doesn't put it quite so elegantly, but his comments are still pretty effective.
"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has always been bad policy that was made out of a bullshit political compromise. You know, like [we're] doing now with health care. It never made sense to begin with," writes Maher. Ouch. Take that, moderate Democrats who slow progress down.
Will Obama touch on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" tonight in his Human Rights Campaign speech? A few leaks coming out of the White House suggest that maybe he will, albeit in a measured tone. He certainly owes it to the more than 200 soldiers discharged for being gay under his watch to say something.
Hey, Obama, the Time to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is Now
Published October 04, 2009 @ 09:26AM PT
President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor, Gen. James Jones, made the rounds on the Sunday talkshow circuit this week, and had a chance to clarify the timeline of when the discriminatory military policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" might be repealed. But instead of hitting a homerun with the question, Gen. Jones struck out by answering that Obama's plate is too full to move forward on a repeal right now.
Instead of unequivocally stating that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is bad policy, hurts our Armed Forces, and discriminates against gays and lesbians, Gen. Jones answered that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be dealt with "at the right time," and that a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be teed up appropriately. *Yawn* That's not bold leadership; that's preserving the status quo.
To be clear, NOW is the appropriate time to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." More than 13,000 troops have been booted out of the military simply because of their sexuality since this policy took shape in 1993, and the discharges have not stopped under Obama. As of this summer, more than 200 soldiers had been fired under the Obama administration for being gay.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrote to Obama asking for guidance on how to move a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" forward. Reid said that "At a time when we are fighting two wars, I do not believe we can afford to discharge any qualified individual who is willing to serve our country."
He's right. So is the Albany Times Union, which has a fabulous editorial on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this morning. They write: "Can a nation still fighting two wars, and perhaps even escalating one of them, afford to reject a change in policy that would strengthen its armed forces?"
The magic word for Barack Obama should be, simply, "NOW." Or better yet, "YESTERDAY." That's the timeframe for eliminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." This bullshit about waiting "for the right time" or teeing up a repeal "appropriately" is not only offensive, it feeds into the Glenn Becks and Sean Hannitys of the world who like to hit Obama around like a ping-pong ball for being spineless.
Bold leadership doesn't let politically correct timelines dictate when equal rights are good policy. Bold leadership recognizes that equal rights should have happened yesterday. Come on: if Obama was willing to stick his neck out for Chicago's Olympic bid despite the bad PR hit, he should be willing to stick his neck out on an issue where the majority of the U.S. public agrees with his position -- that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has got to go.
Pentagon Journal: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Hurts Military
Published September 30, 2009 @ 05:59AM PT
An upcoming article in the Pentagon's top scholarly journal suggests that the U.S. military make right with the issue of LGBT soldiers, and end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." While a scholarly article isn't the same as Defense Secretary Robert Gates marching in a pride parade, the journal article is a clear sign that top military brass may be open to ending the 16-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
The journal, Joint Force Quarterly, is published by the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The article in their upcoming issue, according to the Boston Globe, is written by an Air Force colonel who studied the efficacy (or inefficacy!) of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for months while a student at the National Defense University in Washington. The colonel's conclusion?
That allowing openly gay and lesbian soldiers to serve in the U.S. military will in no way, shape, or form harm the readiness and capability of the U.S. Armed Forces.
"After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly," the article says. "Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban."
It's time to cast off attempts to simply study "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to see if it's a flawed policy. We already know it's a flawed policy. We already know it harms national security. We already know that unit cohesion won't be harmed by the inclusion of gay and lesbian soldiers.
And knowing all that means it's time to send "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" packing.
Arlen Specter is No Joe Sestak When it Comes to LGBT Rights
Published September 24, 2009 @ 08:46AM PT
In one of the more talked about primaries of the 2010 election, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is battling Rep. Joe Sestak for the Democratic nomination for one of PA's U.S. Senate seats. Specter is a Republican-turned-Democrat who for the past 30 years has approached the issue of LGBT rights as if he were walking on egg shells. Sestak, on the other hand, is increasingly becoming a bull in a china shop for equality.
Rep. Sestak has become a leading advocate to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and this week called on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold hearings on the Respect for Marriage Act -- the bill introduced this session of Congress to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Sestak said DOMA was discriminatory when it passed in 1996, and it's just as bad now.
"Since its passage in 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act has discriminated against LGBT Americans by excluding federal benefits from same-sex partners who have been legally married in states that recognize their marriage. As a result, married LGBT couples are not provided equal treatment under the law," said Sestak.
Specter meanwhile? He still thinks that DOMA is good policy, although he doesn't want to see a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. According to Open Left, Specter recently sent a letter to a constituent saying that he believes its premature to throw DOMA out, and supports traditional marriage.
Specter is listed as a supporter of hate crimes legislation that would expand federal protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (although he's previously voted against this), and has supported the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the past and is a co-sponsor of the bill this year.
But at the same time, he's also sung the praises of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two anti-LGBT jurists.
Specter deserves some praise, but equal rights aren't something to be achieved through moderation and issue tap-dancing. The bottom line? Sestak gets that. He'd likely be a much better and stronger advocate for LGBT rights in the U.S. Senate than Arlen Specter any day of the week, and twice on Tuesday. The difference are that clear.
(Photo of Rep. Joe Sestak courtesy of AFLCIO2008's photostream on Flickr.)
Every 24 Hours, Two Gay People are Kicked Out of the Military
Published August 30, 2009 @ 11:15AM PT
Since the inception of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during President Bill Clinton's first-term in office, more than 13,000 well-qualified U.S. soldiers have been removed from the military for being gay or lesbian. This week, Rep. Alcee Hastings from Florida sent a letter to current President Barack Obama spelling out just how sad that statistic is. Doing the math, according to Rep. Hastings, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" means that every 24 hours, at least two gay or lesbian soldiers are booted from the military. In other words, every 24 hours, America's ability to defend its national security gets diminished by two.
Rep. Hastings letter this week to President Obama comes on the heels of a message that Hastings sent to Obama in June - and endorsed by more than 75 members of Congress - urging a suspension in investigations and discharges because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." With almost 20 percent of Congress writing to Obama in June about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," one might wonder what the President's response was.
According to Rep. Hastings, it was deafening silence.
"More than two months later, I have yet to receive an official response," said Rep. Hastings. That lack of response precipitated the letter fired off this week. And the letter this week pulls no punches. To quote part of it:
As you know, we lose approximately two service members every day to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. While I commend Secretary Gates and the Pentagon’s general counsel for their continued efforts to identify possible provisional measures, you can take action right now. I sincerely hope that your administration will make Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell a priority and do everything in its power to repeal this ridiculous, bigoted law once and for all.
The U.S. is about to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. We're also currently still in the midst of war in Iraq. As Rep. Hastings notes, we simply can't afford to be kicking qualified people out of the U.S. military on the basis of sexual orientation.
The Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United are currently in the midst of a nationwide tour, known as "Voices of Honor," to call attention to the injustice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and urge the Obama administration and Congress to work to overturn the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers. Formerly discharged soldiers, as well as straight allies, are appearing at events in cities throughout the country, in both red states and blue states, to build support for ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
We will eventually win on this issue. But until then, it's all the more important to call out discrimination for what it is. And in this case, it means that every day, our national security suffers because gays and lesbians are told they're not worthy.
A Majority of Conservatives Want "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Eliminated
Published August 18, 2009 @ 05:02PM PT
Despite the fact that all of the GOP's candidates for President last year supported keeping "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in place, the majority of conservatives favor a repeal of the discriminatory military policy. And that's both a good thing for LGBT rights, and for U.S. national security.
Regularly, the debate over whether to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is framed in terms of Democrat vs. Republican, or left vs. right. As Kevin Nix over at New Majority writes, that's the wrong way to frame this debate.
"The debate over “don’t ask / don’t tell” in the military is often presented as a battle between liberals and conservatives. That’s not correct – and not fair to conservatives," Nix writes. He points out that many conservatives are just as upset as liberals at watching qualified gay or lesbian linguists being thrown out of the military at a time when the military needs people with superior linguistic skills. Or how conservatives are just as angry at seeing a decorated Gulf War F-15 aviator recently served discharge papers after 18 years in the military, simply because of sexual orientation.
And the poll numbers are there to back this up, too. In May 2009, Gallup released a poll that showed 58 percent of Republicans itching to do away with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Among those Republicans includes Florida's Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who as recently as last week said that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ruins the lives of gays and lesbians who sacrifice their own lives for their country.
"We've wasted a great deal of time and effort trying to enforce this failed policy," said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen. "At a time when our armed forces are under unprecedented strain, we should welcome all those, regardless of sexual orientation, who ask nothing more than to serve their country."
Yup, right or left, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative...doesn't matter. The majority of folks on all sides think that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is failed policy.
Now we just need action.
Let Them Serve: Working to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Published August 15, 2009 @ 07:51AM PT
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is the first veteran from the current Iraq War to serve in Congress. He's also the lead legislator behind efforts to repeal the archaic and discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which prevents openly gay and lesbian soldiers from serving in the U.S. military. For Rep. Murphy, there is one solid, succinct message for the U.S. government: Let gays and lesbians serve.
Rep. Murphy is also the vision behind a new Web site, www.letthemserve.com, which advocates for a full repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In the words of Murphy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromises our military readiness and hurts our national security." The site, while in its infancy stages, includes some powerful narratives from gay and lesbian military veterans who talk about how proud they were to serve the U.S., even though current U.S. policy would exclude them.
Stories like Navy Airman H.K.'s, who notes that it was his dream since childhood to serve the U.S. military. But after two years of service, the lies that H.K. had to tell in order to avoid being "outed" were simply too much, and he took an administrative discharge.
Or stories like Army Specialist D.C.'s, who as a straight ally, notes that all of the soldiers in his battery would have proudly fought next to gay or lesbian troops, if only the U.S. government would allow them to serve.
Straight, gay, lesbian...they all have the same message: it makes absolutely no sense for the U.S. government to continue a policy under which 13,000 qualified troops have been discharged simply on the basis of their sexual orientation. That's why Rep. Murphy created letthemserve.com, and it's why thousands of people have already signed a petition to Congress right here at change.org calling for an end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." (Have you signed yet?)
Here's Rep. Murphy below at Netroots Nation this weekend, calling again for an end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Rep. Murphy puts it all out on the table, saying that he is confident that a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill will reach the President's desk, and the U.S. military (like more than twenty other militaries around the country, including many of our allies) will be accepting of gay and lesbian troops.
