Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

A Promise of ‘Liberty and Justice for All’

This morning, many of the plaintiffs in Cook v. Gates, the constitutional court challenge to "Dont' Ask, Don't Tell," are at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. They are asking the Court to overturn a District Court ruling dismissing their lawsuit, and allow them the opportunity to present their case for ending the ban. This is their statement about today's oral arguments. "We are grateful today to the First Circuit for hearing our appeal, and considering our request to have our day in court. When we began this journey in December 2004, we were determined to have our stories heard and to present the facts about 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' Today’s hearing was an important step forward in that journey. Our counsel at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and the law firm of WilmerHale have worked tirelessly to see justice served, and we are also grateful for their representation and their friendship. Today, more than ever, our country needs patriotic, qualified men and women to step up and serve. Each of us has done so before, and remains ready to do so again. We continue to believe that service should be based on qualification, and not on outdated prejudices and stereotypes. We know our nation has been made safer by the talents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and we are honored to be part of that proud tradition of service. We are Americans, too, and we love our country, our freedoms and our government every bit as much as our heterosexual neighbors. Every day, our military fires another two or three service members simply because of their sexual orientation. We are twelve of the more than 11,000 stories 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' has produced during the past 14 years. Newspapers, television screens and radio broadcasts are filled with stories about the unacceptable consequences of this law: diaries seized; families interrogated; careers terminated . . . all because of a law that serves no useful purpose. This law must end. This morning, we have come to the First Circuit with unmovable confidence in our nation’s promise of 'liberty and justice for all.' We believe the freedoms we defended as United States military personnel are alive and well in our country. We know our nation can do better than this law.Today, we have asked the First Circuit to move our case for reinstatement forward. We remain confident in that case. Frederick Douglass, a great American, once said that 'Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.' We believe our nation is more secure when every qualified American is allowed to serve. Our country supports the service of lesbian, gay and bisexual patriots and the time has come to end 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'"

Labels: cook v. gates

-----

03-07-07