DADT at National Equality March
With the Oct. 10th National Equality March quickly approaching I want to express why I think it is important to speak out about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and how the march is a good opportunity to do so.
As many of you know I served 5 years enlisted in the US Air Force before joining AFROTC so I could go back in as an officer. Unfortunately this never happened because I was outed by a fellow cadet and discharged from AFROTC. It didn't matter that I was ranked #1 in my class or that I had just received my pilot slot - under DADT, it only mattered that someone said I was gay. We all know how ridiculous this law is, but apparently Congress and the President think repeal can wait.
I attended a fundraising brunch for SMYAL this weekend where Judy Sheppard was the keynote speaker. She said that if we don't speak out, then who will? The march is an opportunity to tell the President and Congress that now is the time to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." More and more polls show a groundswell of public support for open service, even among conservatives. With more voices calling for repeal, Washington will eventually listen but we have to lead the way. See you at the march!
09-21-09 By David Hall, SLDN Major Gift Manager, Information Systems Manager and former U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant |
4 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Michael@LeonardMatlovich.com on September 24, 2009 at 04.46 pm
Looking forward to seeing you again in DC, David, and everyone who is both interested in demanding an end to DADT and in honoring the first servicemember to fight the ban upon which it is based.
Speakers spanning over four decades of fighting for the rights of gay servicemembers will speak at a combination memorial for Leonard Matlovich and DADT protest at 2 pm on Saturday, October 10th, at the chapel in Congressional Cemetery, where his gravesite with its epitaph “When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one” has become an international symbol of the fight for LGBT equality.
WWII veteran Frank Kameny, the primary architect of the modern LGBT movement who first spoke out against the ban in 1965, and fellow legend and Army veteran the Rev. Troy Perry will lead the memorial/protest.
Other speakers [with more to be named] include well-known LGBT leader David Mixner and gay veterans both of the military and the long fight against the ban including former Navy Top Gun Tracy Thorne-Begland [who was discharged TWICE—both under the original ban & DADT] and Army vet Tanya Domi from the 1993 lift the ban effort up to and including today’s heroes Lt. Dan Choi, Marine vet Eric Alva, and DADT casualties Anthony Woods and Alex Nicholson. Short bios at:
http://equalityacrossamerica.org/blog/?p=4326
Music for this historic event will be provided by the group Potomac Fever from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC, and it will close with a wreath laying at Leonard’s grave.
The cemetery is located at 1801 E St SE at Potomac Avenue.
Please tell everyone you know about this rare, historic event bridging our past with our present and our future.
Thank you.
Kay Carter in Groveport, Ohio on September 23, 2009 at 02.51 pm
As a retired person on a limited income and not in the best of health either - I would not be able to be there - but I will always hold you/it in my prayers that our country will soon pass the needed laws and that this National Equality March will help bring that about.
unknown in GA on September 22, 2009 at 12.53 pm
I wish you all the best of luck at the march….sadly i wont be able to attend…. but dont back down, stay stong and continue standing up for whats right!!!!!!
Mike Gorman in Stockton, Ca on September 21, 2009 at 08.05 pm
Hurray! McNerney (D-11 Ca) has cosigned as of last week leaving Jim Costa (20th district Ca) and Dennis Cardoza (18th district Ca). If the California folks on here live in those areas, start calling!!!! I’m gonna start bothering the Republicans next. XD