Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

Watch the Video, Sign the Petition Now!

We got back from the Take Back America conference earlier today where the Brave New Foundation, along with SLDN and all of our partners in the fight to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," unveiled this new documentary featuring the story of former Navy Petty Officer Second Class Stephen Benjamin. Benjamin, a former Arabic linguist who was recently dismissed under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," shares his story of learning Arabic, his family's tradition of military service, and his service to our country. (Benjamin also recently penned a New York Times op-ed where he talks about his experiences and calls for repeal of the gay ban.) And as part of this campaign to raise visibility around "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal efforts, we've worked with Brave New Foundation to launch a petition campaign showing members of Congress that America supports lifting the ban. So, check out the clip above, and sign the petition online at www.lifttheban.org. And then be sure to pass this along to all your friends, family, and colleagues. Take action now and help us end this discriminatory law once and for all! - Rebecca Sawyer

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06-18-07 Comment (1)

From the Frontlines of the War in Iraq

The newest issue of The Advocate - hitting newsstands tomorrow - makes history with the first on-the-record interviews with active duty lesbian and gay service members inside Iraq. SLDN was proud to work with the magazine's editors to make these historic interviews, with our clients Karissa Urmanita and Darren Manzella, happen. The issue also features interviews with SLDN client and spokesman Jason Knight; Iraq war veteran Eric Alva; and with the partners of LGBT service personnel deployed abroad. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the current state of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the stories of those serving under the ban.
"My command seems to act as if I never came out to them," SLDN client Urmanita tells the magazine. "Work is still the same, and off time didn't change." She continues by pointing out that, "I'm open about talking to my girlfriend over the phone. I know other lesbians, and I've been seen hanging out with them. I'm just in a more comfortable environment because [my colleagues] know it's hard for me to be honest and open to the whole Army."
Urmanita's experience, as The Advocate shows, is becoming more and more common within the armed forces. Lesbian, gay and bisexual service members - like Knight - are serving openly with the support of their colleagues and commands, and finding that life in the closet isn't always the only choice.
"I wasn't going to go back to that life," Knight says. "My coworkers and direct chain of command were all aware of my sexuality, and it really didn't bother them."
Increasingly, commands and service personnel are finding 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and not LGBT colleagues, to be the real problem. Speaking about her co-workers, Urmanita says that "Once they found out, it was like there are no secrets between us anymore. I can actually talk about my life with them."
The special military issue of The Advocate, featuring Urmanita, Knight and others, is available on newsstands beginning on Tuesday.
- Steve Ralls

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06-18-07 Comment (2)

Join Us at Take Back America

I'm excited to be attending my first Take Back America conference, on Monday in Washington, along with the Brave New Foundation. The Foundation will be announcing an exciting new advocacy project, in conjunction with SLDN and other partners, related to the military's continued exclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual service personnel. We'll also be joined by Bleu Copas, a gay Arabic linguist dismissed under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Check back on our website tomorrow for more details about this incredible new project. And, if you'll also be attending the conference, plan to join us as we announce this new endeavor, and learn how you can help us lift the ban! We'll be kicking off the project on Monday morning with a press conference, followed by a panel discussion that same evening.
- Steve Ralls

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06-14-07 Comment (0)

Stepping Up

Editor's note: a SLDN supporter and veteran speaks out about last week's Republican presidential debate. “The policy is working my friends. The policy is working”. Respectfully, Sen. McCain, I’m going to step up and disagree. With a string of emails in about my sexual orientation, jokes and all, flying through the USS Frank Cable’s official email traffic last fall, I’d have to say that it works only for heterosexual military members. It was this homophobic email and the decreasingly subtle comments by my enlisted superiors throughout my command that led me to write a two page letter to my commanding officer to let him know that my time had come. Ten years and one step away from making Chief Petty Officer myself, I knew that my perceived sexual orientation would be an issue during the Navy’s “Chief’s Initiation”. It was time to leave before I suffered very real humiliation with no “real” options for recourse. I put up with rumors and speculation for nine years and every decision I made in close quarters began with this – “What will people think?” One superior, in confidence, encouraged me to reconsider my "admission". “There’s growing support for making this go away. I really believe that this is going to go away.” I said thank you and then respectfully replied that as long as President Bush remains president, this was a false hope. The truth is, many conservative leaders are still carrying the banner marked “Onward Christian Soldiers”. They are unwittingly subscribing to the idea that our armed forces are not soldiers, they’re missionaries. I knew that most people had no idea or cared very little about who or what I was in my private life. If they did, I would’ve faced a discharge several times over the course of my career. The fact remains, however, that by not being able to openly talk about it, I often found myself forced into secrecy, lying to coworkers and pretending to be someone I was not. Sen. McCain, if you believe that gay and lesbian service members should be held to a lower standard of integrity than their counterparts; if you believe that lying and emotional blackmail are American values; if you believe that standing naked next to a gay translator in a military locker room is more of a threat than the messages he deciphers from terrorists, then “My Friend”, you are absolutely right – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” works. - Former Navy Petty Officer First Class Jeremy Johnson

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06-13-07 Comment (0)

Help Wanted

This past weekend, I went up to Boston Pride to spread the world about SLDN. I also got to meet a friendly recruiter from the Armed Forces Recruiting Station across the street from the Boston Commons. I was walking by and lo and behold – what do I see in the window? A large advertisement saying the Army needs Arabic translators! That’s funny, I thought, because we at SLDN have numerous clients who happen to be Arabic translators. They would like to serve. They would like to translate Arabic! But alas, they cannot, because they are openly gay. A recruiter came out of the office while I was trying to photograph the sign and he asked, “Can I help you?” I was caught a little off guard – so I told him that I worked for a non-profit that assisted service members affected by DADT, and that we have clients who are translators who have been kicked out of the Army simply because they are gay. I told him that I thought it was kind of funny that here they were, advertising, that they needed more translators. He didn’t really say anything. He just walked back inside. He didn’t even ask me if I wanted to enlist! Well – there’s an easy fix to the quandary of a) the Army needs translators but won’t let you translate if you’re openly gay and b) many gay translators are willing and ready to serve: lift the ban! - Aaron Tax

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06-12-07 Comment (2)

Powell: U.S. Moving Toward Open Service

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell, who also served as Secretary of State for President George W. Bush, indicated on NBC's Meet the Press that he believes the U.S. military is moving toward allowing lesbian and gay Americans to serve openly.
"I think it's certainly moving in that direction," Powell told host Tim Russert. He went on to note that, "I think the, the country has changed in its attitudes quite a bit. 'Don't ask, don't tell' was an appropriate response to the situation back in 1993. And the country certainly has changed."
Powell helped to author the military's ban in 1993, and has steadfastly supported the law. His remarks on Sunday, however, indicate he may be having a change of heart. And while he did not go so far as to call for immediate repeal, he clearly has re-thought the policy in his own mind.
"I will not second-guess the commanders who are serving now, just as I didn't want to be second-guessed 12 or 13 years ago," Powell said. "But I think the country is changing. We may eventually reach that point."
- Steve Ralls

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06-11-07 Comment (1)

Don’t Tell Dowd Don’t Ask Works

I admit it: I've had a huge crush on New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd for a long time. There are few writers who can combine wit, eloquence and relevance in quite the way Maureen does. And today, I love her more than ever. In this morning's Times, Dowd takes on the politicos who continue to defend "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and she does it as only she can: "Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue, as the gloriously gay Oscar Wilde said. And gays are the sacrifice that hypocritical Republican candidates offer to placate 'values' voters -- even though some candidates are not so finicky about morals regarding their own affairs and divorces.
They may coo over the photo of Dick Cheney, whose re-election campaign demonized gays, proudly smiling with his new grandson, the first baby of his lesbian daughter, Mary. But they'll hold the line, by jiminy, against gay Americans who are willing to die or be horribly disfigured in the cursed Bush/Cheney war in Iraq.
Peter Pace, whose job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff became a casualty of Iraq on Friday, asserted in March that homosexual acts 'are immoral.' Yet in May, he wrote a letter to the judge in the Scooter Libby case, pleading for leniency for the Cheney aide. Scooter always looked for 'the right way to proceed -- both legally and morally,' Pace wrote of the man who lied to a grand jury about the outing of a spy, after he pumped up the fake case for the war that has claimed the lives of 3,500 young men and women serving under the general." The 65,000 lesbian and gay troops silenced by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" found a powerful new voice to speak up for them today. And Dowd showed us how she earned her Pulitzer, and what the tradition of excellent op-ed writing is all about. You can read Raw Story's coverage of her column here, and Times Select subscribers can read her full write-up online here. - Steve Ralls

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06-10-07 Comment (0)

Admiral Change?

Admiral Michael Mullen, the likely successor to outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace, may face questions in his confirmation about Pace's views on lesbian and gay service members, as well as his own. A look at his past remarks on the topic of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" suggests Admiral Mullen may be open to change. The Washington Blade reports on Mullen’s remarks about the military's ban: Mullen, who will be recommended to succeed Pace, said April 3 at the Brookings Institution in Washington that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has “served us very well.” But he also said that he would be open to reconsidering the issue. “If it’s time to revisit that policy, the American people I believe — and we live in a country — the American people ought to raise that issue and we’ll have the debate,” he said according to a transcript. “As a member of the Joint Chiefs and obviously the head of one of the services, I will contribute to that and give my best military advice based on what — the debate that’s going on, and if it changes, it changes. I think that’s the path right now.” If Admiral Mullen is ready to listen to the American people, he will indeed find support for change. Eight out of ten Americans now support repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and 73% of service members report they are comfortable with lesbians and gays. We hope Mullen will stick to his commitment to a debate about the issue. Having a sitting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs participating in an honest, balanced conversation about open service would represent a sea change in military perspective compared to 1993, when the issue was last debated in Congress. Will Admiral Mullen bring about admirable change? We'll be waiting to see . . . - Steve Ralls

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06-09-07 Comment (1)

Stumbling for Words

[photo by Judy G. Rolfe for SLDN.] I'm not really sure what to say, and for the first time I stumble for words caught between feelings. I can not deny the fact that Gen. Peter Pace has spent an impressive 40 years in the military and has no doubt served his country in the United States Marine Corps. He has followed, led, and impacted troops in ways that have hopefully helped to shape their careers and their lives. However Mr. Pace has also shown another side of himself when he made those gay-bashing remarks earlier this year in March. Remarks that were directed at an estimated 65,000+ gay and lesbian service members who are currently serving in silence. The character flaw here is not his own views or opinions, but rather his lack of leadership in expressing those views in the public eye while in uniform. And this leads me to believe that there were other motives in the decision not to have him back. As a leader he should have supported ALL of those who currently support him. I can only hope that he learns something from this. That he roots out his own bias. I honestly wish him luck in his future endeavors in hopes that he will make something positive from the negative. - Former Navy Petty Officer Second Class Jason Knight

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06-08-07 Comment (0)

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at the Debates

Photo by Charles Krupa, Associated Press Last week Democrat Presidential nominees gathered to debate . . . and every one of them affirmed their desire to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On Tuesday, the Republican candidates gathered as well . . . . and all affirmed their desire to keep in place the ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service personnel. Whomever the eventual candidates will be, the American people have a stark choice before them. Perhaps even more disturbing than their support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was the clumsy and seemingly clueless way in which many of the Republican candidates fielded the question about open service. Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas, said, “I think it's already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct … it's about conduct; it's not about attitude.” Wrong, Mike. DA, DT is a Congressional Law, not a part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is about conduct, but DA, DT is about mere status. Just ask Jason Knight, who was just discharged for daring to serve openly in Kuwait. Other Republicans also seemed out of touch on the question. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani punted, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “I don’t think this would be the right time to raise these issues.” Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) acknowledged supporting a repeal of the law earlier in his career, saying that, “No, actually when I first heard of the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ policy I thought it sounded awfully silly and didn't think that'd be very effective, and I turned out to be wrong.” Today, however, Romney supports maintaining the ban. “It's been the policy now in the military for, what, 10,15 years? But who knows with Romney, maybe if we wait another five minutes he’ll flip-flop again? Then there was Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) cryptic response to the question, “I think it would be a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. It is working, my friends. The policy is working.” What exactly does THAT mean? Gays and lesbians are being drummed out of the service, so the policy must be working? National Security is being placed at risk, so the policy must be working? Working how, Senator? Working for whom? The truth of the matter is that there is that if Republican leaders believe this law is working, then their definition of ‘working’ is fundamentally flawed. As our military struggles to find qualified troops and our fighting forces are stretched to a near breaking point, turning away talented and skilled gay Americans is a detriment to our national security. Eight out of ten Americans understand the importance of repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ It is unfortunate that the Republican candidates for president do not. They are out of touch with their constituents and out of step with our country’s best interests. - Victor Maldonado

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06-08-07 Comment (1)

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