Don't Ask Don't Tell

Military Equality Goes Astray

Submitted by ONE Community on September 22, 2010 - 7:58am

The New York Times Published: September 21, 2010
The best chance this year to repeal the irrational ban on openly gay members of the military slipped away Tuesday, thanks to the buildup of acrimony and mistrust in the United States Senate.

Republicans, with the aid of two Arkansas Democrats, unanimously voted to filibuster the Pentagon’s financing authorization bill, largely because Democrats had included in it a provision to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Another vote to end the policy could come again in the lame-duck session in December, but now there is also a chance it will be put off until next year, when the political landscape on Capitol Hill could be even more hostile to gay and lesbian soldiers.

The decision also means an end, for now, to another worthy proposal that was attached to the Pentagon bill: the Dream Act, which permits military service and higher education — as well as a chance for citizenship — for young people whose parents brought them to this country as children without proper documentation.

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Pentagon Survey on DADT Incredibly Biased, Derogatory

Submitted by ONE Community on July 10, 2010 - 12:32pm
Pentagon Survey on DADT Incredibly Biased, Derogatory Survey Remains Safe for Gay, Lesbian Troop Participation   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 07/09/2010   Contact: Clint King - Ofc.: 202.349.3803 - cking@servicemembersunited.org Alex Nicholson - Ofc.: 202.349.1126 - anicholson@servicemembersunited.org WASHINGTON, D.C. - Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, today strongly condemned the biased and derogatory design of the long-awaited Defense Department survey on issues related to the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.
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Gay rights group warns service members not to take 'don't ask, don't tell' survey

Submitted by ONE Community on July 8, 2010 - 9:37am
The Washington Post A gay rights group pushing for a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is warning gay and lesbian service members not to participate in a Defense Department survey distributed this week to active-duty and reserve troops. The Pentagon is studying the potential impact of repealing the gay ban and on Wednesday began e-mailing troops a link to a survey with more than 100 questions. The survey will be included in a final report due to President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen by Dec.
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Joint chiefs chairman critical of gay ban vote

Submitted by ONE Community on May 31, 2010 - 11:58pm
Adm. Mike Mullen did not directly criticize a House vote on Friday that marked a step toward repealing the ban. But he said it would have been better for lawmakers to wait until the Pentagon completed its review of how to make the repeal work.
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GOP goes to the mat to block "Don't Ask" repeal

Submitted by ONE Community on May 30, 2010 - 4:27pm
Led by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona., Congressional Republicans are engaged in an all-out assault on legislation that would end the legal mandate for the military's ban on openly gay troops.
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Obama Endorses Congress Moving Now on Repeal

Submitted by ONE Community on May 25, 2010 - 1:25pm
In a dramatic development that makes prospects for a congressional vote on repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy significantly more likely in the Pentagon budget authorization bill currently under consideration, the White House has given its blessing to a compromise amendment by Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent Democrat, laying out a path to ending the 17-year-old ban on open gay and lesbian service. In a letter to Lieberman released by the White House on the evening of May 24, Peter Orzag, director of the executive Office of Management and Budget, wrote, “The Administration is of the view that the proposed amendment meets the concerns raised by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” The Lieberman amendment, which will be taken up
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Gay Vets and Top Brass

Submitted by ONE Community on May 14, 2010 - 12:55pm
Pushing for DADT repeal, a group of gay and lesbian veterans meet with members of the Pentagon working group that is considering how to implement such a repeal by Chris Geidner He said he was there “to help to secure jobs for people who want to serve our country.” Despite having been “discharged twice under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” as he told Metro Weekly, Jason Knight was up early Monday morning, May 10, along with nearly 40 other gay and lesbian veterans headed away from downtown D.C.
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News Analysis: DADT's State of Play

Submitted by ONE Community on May 4, 2010 - 3:48pm

Gay leaders may have sought a ''game change,'' but Friday's flurry of activity left the strategy and tactics of DADT repeal unclear.

On Friday afternoon, April 30, at a little past 4 p.m., the Associated Press's Anne Flaherty posted a brief story that the secretary of defense opposed legislative action on the ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy until after the Pentagon completed its review of how to implement repeal of the policy. Read more »

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Gates, Mullen Urge Delay on Repeal

Submitted by ONE Community on May 2, 2010 - 11:23am
Advocates for ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell hit back hard, saying Obama deals "devastating blow" BY PAUL SCHINDLER gaycitynews.com May 1, 2009 An April 30 letter to Congress from top Pentagon brass pushing to forestall a vote on ending the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy unleashed an unusual Friday evening flurry of press statements –– in some cases, several rounds of them –– among advocates, leaders on Capitol Hill, and even the White House. The letter, first reported by the Associated Press, was written by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and addressed to Missouri Democratic Congressman Ike Skelton, the House Armed Services Committee chair.
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Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy Filed in Senate

Submitted by ONE Community on March 8, 2010 - 8:07am
The New York Times By ELISABETH BUMILLER Published: March 3, 2010 WASHINGTON — Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, introduced a bill on Wednesday to repeal the ban on openly gay service members in the military, but at a hearing later in the day Republican lawmakers questioned why lifting the ban was necessary. Mr. Lieberman was acting in response to President Obama’s pledge to end the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that allows gay men and lesbians to serve in the armed services only if they keep their sexual orientation secret.
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