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(Washington) Legislation to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' the ban on gays serving openly in the military, was reintroduced in Congress Wednesday.
Congressman Marty Meehan (D-MA), chair of the House Armed Services Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations, filed the bill late Wednesday morning. A similar bill died last year when the last session of Congress ended. Meehan said that more than 120 Members of Congress from both parties have signed on to co-sponsor the bill, called the Military Readiness Enhancement Act. Since the ban on gays serving openly was implemented a decade ago more than 11,000 men and women have been dismissed under "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" according to the Government Accountability Office. Among them were more than two dozen Arabic translators, dropped by the Defense Department since the war in Iraq began because they were openly gay. Additionally, a study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation. "Given our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the recruiting woes our armed forces face, and the quality of troops being dismissed under the law, Congressman Meehan's legislation is more important than ever," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. "When the armed forces fire nearly five dozen Arabic translators, our security is diminished. When doctors and nurses are removed from duty, the well-being of those who depend on medical personnel for help is threatened. And when intelligence officers are booted only because of their sexual orientation, our country is less safe. There is no excuse for sacrificing security in the name of discrimination." Among those on Capitol Hill today lending support to repeal was Staff Sgt. Eric Alva. Alva was the first U.S. Marine seriously wounded in Iraq. He lost a leg when he stepped on a landmine. Today he joined Meehan and other Congressmembers saying that that losing his leg forced him out of the closet. "It made me realize everything that I had to actually speak up for - basically the rights and privileges of what I as an individual have earned in this country," Alva told ABC News earlier in the day." "When Eric Alva lost his leg in Iraq, it didn't matter whether he was gay or straight, only that he was a courageous American serving his
country," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Eric's voice represents the sacrifice of thousands of gay and lesbian service members fighting for the safety and freedom of all Americans. We believe his story should help move this issue forward and educate Congress as to why it's so important to lift the discriminatory ban that compromises our nation's security." A Zogby poll taken in October showed three-out-of-four members of the military who are serving in Iraq or recently returned home don't care if someone in their unit is gay. The poll, taken for the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, also found that nearly one in four U.S. troops say they know for sure that someone in their unit is gay or lesbian, and of those 59% said they learned about the person's sexual orientation directly from the individual Support for repeal has been steadily growing. In January General John Shalikashvili, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Clinton Administration called for repeal of DADT in an op-ed article in Tuesday's New York Times. Two days later Clinton's Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, called for an end to the ban. The issue also came up this month when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Responding to a question by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) Rice said the state department does not have a ban on LGBT workers. When she complained the department was having difficulty finding Arabic translators Ackerman asked Rice why the state department had not hired any of the translators fired by the Pentagon because they are gay and lesbian. Rice refused to be pinned down. Meehan said that with Democrats now in control of Congress he is confident the measure will pass. Source: 365gay.com |
