Service Members Speak Out
Active-duty gay and lesbian service members from around the globe wrote notes of support for SLDN's March on the White House this Saturday. These brave patriots remind us why we do what we do.
• "Thank you everyone who is marching on Saturday. I would be there too, but I am currently deployed overseas. My partner of 4 years remains at home stateside, both of us silenced from DADT. If you're thinking about going, please do! Every person counts!"
• "Thank you for marching... Please continue to be tough on the President! Thank you for fighting for us!!"
• "I'm also one of many people currently deployed. I love my country and I am proud to come to places like Iraq and help protect my family and my country which I love so much. ...I wish now more than ever that I could be in DC to march and fight this war as well."
• "If the President doesn't take care of the situation, I'll be leaving the military as well and I'm currently on my second enlistment. Since that's what my partner and I agreed on."
06-26-09 By Paul DeMiglio, Senior Communications Manager |
4 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Elizabeth Avila in New York, NY on July 02, 2009 at 07.27 pm
I support the lift for this ban that also discharged me in 2000.
Heather in Missouri on June 27, 2009 at 12.20 am
I am a former enlisted soldier who is now a nurse and also hold Bachelor of Science Degrees in Psychology, Alcohol & Drug Studies, and Criminal Justice. I graduated in under 4 years Magna Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA while raising two special needs children and working full-time. I am also a lesbian. I would proudly serve my country yet again as a counselor but because I have a partner who I will marry soon. I am not eligible. The Military needs me now more than ever and because of my sexual orientation I can not help those who need it the most. I will be moving to Syracuse, NY in the next month and will be one of the first in line to sign up the second DADT is repealed. I wish we could be with you on this march but unfortunately I am in Missouri and we are having to scrape together every penny we have to get moved. Good luck and know we are with you in spirit.
Heather L. Sheridan
Military Times in Iraq on June 26, 2009 at 10.26 pm
Military Times
Congress delays debate on gay ban
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 26, 2009 16:55:33 EDT
Congress seems intent on delaying any debate on repealing the military’s ban on open service by gays until next year.
As the House passed its version of the 2010 defense authorization bill, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee talked about having hearings later this year on the possible repeal of the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy that has been in effect since the Clinton administration.
The House Rules Committee blocked consideration by the House of Representatives of two amendments to the defense bill that would have attempted to change the policy, which prompted Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., to promise there will be hearings on the issue.
The Democratic chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaking at a Thursday press conference about their committee’s version of the 2010 bill, said they didn’t think Congress should address the military’s policies on gays until service members are surveyed on their attitudes about serving alongside gays and lesbians.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the committee’s ranking Republican, said a survey should be conducted under authority of the joint chiefs to determine if troops and military leaders are more accepting today of gays in the ranks. But Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee chairman, said a survey alone wouldn’t be enough to make a change in law. “It is going to take some persuasive leadership,” he said.
A repeal of the military’s gay ban is under consideration because it is one of the pledges made by President Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. Obama did not promise an immediate change because the president doesn’t have the power to change a law.
Seventy-seven members of the House of Representatives wrote Obama last week asking that he, at least, stop discharging people for homosexuality until Congress addresses the repeal. However, White House officials said the administration intends to keep enforcing the law as long as it remains in effect.
Lance in Iraq on June 26, 2009 at 05.59 pm
“President Obama also continues to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. He supports full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He supports repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security, and also believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.” -whitehouse.gov
The day I see this is the day we really become the land of the free instead of just saying we are.