According to the latest from SLDN,
It’s not going to be easy to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” For every phone call or congressional office visit we make, our opponents are doing the same. As the Politico wrote Monday:
“The new president’s position on scrapping the ban on gays serving openly in the military may be a one-word yes, but overturning the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy will be anything but simple.
“The issue of gays in the military arose early in President Bill Clinton’s first term, throwing him into a politically explosive debate with Congress and sapping him of early political capital.
“Some Republicans are hoping Obama makes the same mistake. So their goal is to drive a wedge among the Democrats — particularly on the House Armed Services Committee, where Chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri and some other Democrats lean to the right.”
We can’t let that happen. We need to give every member of Congress we visit a tangible message from their constituents: The time to get “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” off the books is now, in this legislative cycle, regardless of party.
Why is the goal 12,500 signatures? Because that’s the number of service men and women — many with critical skills — who have been discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation.
We can’t wait any longer for our laws to be fair, and for our military to be more effective.
Please sign now, and ask your friends and family to sign too:
Thank you for your support.
Aubrey Sarvis
Servicemembers Legal Defense NetworkP.S.: Please remember to sign up for our Freedom to Serve rally in Washington, D.C. on March 13, 2009. Join us on Capitol Hill as we call on Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:
http://www.sldn.org/rallyrsvp
laurel says
People should be aware that the military has to replace the able LGBT soldiers it kicks out with someone. Apparently, the wise heads in the Pentagon think that filling the military with felons and fat kids is better for military readiness than keeping in the able-bodied queers they’ve already spend thousand on recruiting and training.
chimpschump says
But as an old guy, retired from the military for more than 30 years, I probably would, wouldn’t I?
<
p>BTW, I endorsed SLDN.
<
p>Best,
Chuck