Honor Every Veteran By Demanding Repeal Now
May we take time this holiday to salute ALL of our soldiers, airmen, sailors, Marines and coast guardsmen: Men, women, active duty, reserves and service members. These Americans sacrifice their safety so that we may enjoy ours.
This weekend, as we celebrate together, let us be reminded of the notions that provided the foundation of our Declaration of Independence so many years ago. These notions are expressed with words such as freedom, liberty, equality, the pursuit of happiness and dignity. This 4th of July as I reflected on the history of this celebration I can’t help but feel overwhelmed by our nation’s shortcomings regarding these founding values.
In 2010 if you are LGBT here in the United States, you are without question a 2nd class citizen. As one of at least 14,000 service members discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I have yet to see equality for my community. I have not been granted these said “inalienable” rights, and I may not pursue happiness as I see fit. Not only are these denied to our gay service members but to all LGBT citizens - our community is at war for it’s own independence…right here within our borders.
As true patriots it is our duty to fight for equality in the military. The battlefield has been shaped over the past decades of activism and our momentum is building. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may very well be in its final hour, but we must be aware that this battle is far from over. Without real pressure and accountability the opportunity for the right to serve openly with dignity in the near future will slip through our hands. If ever there has been a time for organizing, assertiveness and ACTION, it is now.
When it comes to civil rights, NOW will always be the right time to attain them. We are compelled by the very definitions of our founding values to hold our government accountable for unjust laws and oppressive institutions. I personally refuse to wait even one more day than I must endure for my right to serve openly. Demanding equality for the LGBT community in this country by repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is the best way to truly honor our country and its military.
07-04-10 By Mara Boyd, former Cadet Captain, Detachment 105, University of Colorado Boulder |
4 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Natasha Dillon in New York, NY on July 08, 2010 at 09.18 pm
Mara, I love this blog. Thank you for sharing!
Kim in Denver, CO on July 07, 2010 at 07.10 pm
Mara, thanks for putting into words what so many of us feel. I look forward to the day when DADT is only a memory, and a distant one at that.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com on July 06, 2010 at 05.39 pm
Whether this is the last Fourth of July with DADT on the books depends not just on whether the “repeal” amendment survives a vote on the Senate floor AND, then, the joint conference committee, but on whether SECDEF Gates is willing to “certify” some time after December 1st that “repeal” will not harm any of five “standards”:
- military readiness
- military effectiveness
- unit cohesion
- recruiting
- retention.
Please, no one bother writing, “and Obama and Mullen must ‘ceritfy’, too,” because anyone paying close attention knows that Gates is the ringmaster of the circus the once simple and unequivocal process was suddenly turned into the last week in May, and whose center ring featured the trashing of the five-year old Military Readiness Enhancement Act.
And with the mandate in the MREA for ending not just discharges but all forms of discrimination against gays in the military [e.g., assignments] gone with the wind, it is possible that the next Fourth of July could be absent DADT but a ban on open service, in the form of a Pentagon policy similar to what existed pre-DADT, still in effect.
Dino in Washington, DC on July 06, 2010 at 12.56 pm
Mara, thank you for your article. This could be the last Forth of July that we celebrate with the don’t ask don’t tell law still on the books. It all depends on what happens in the US Senate in the next couple weeks. We have to make sure that justice and freedom prevails over bigotry. I urge everyone to call their US Senator, 202-224-3121, and tell them to keep the National Defense Appropriations Act AS IS.