SLDN Commemorates International Women’s Day
As we move toward full repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), we pause on International Women’s Day to recognize the female service members and veterans who have played a significant role in this fight.
Female pioneers have contributed to the military from the beginning of our nation’s history, long before their sacrifices were formally recognized. Our mothers and grandmothers bandaged battle wounds, trained male pilots for war, and flocked to factories and munitions plants to keep our military strong and our country running. Our spouses and sisters have deployed to war zones. Similarly, women have helped lead the charge in fighting the ban on open service.
Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer is the highest-ranking service member ever discharged under this ban; she fought her discharge in court in the early ‘90s and won reinstatement. Today, she continues to work on behalf of military women as a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Armed Services (DACOWITS). Commander Zoe Dunning has advocated for repeal since 1993 and finally witnessed the fruits of her labor as she stood next to the President at the repeal bill signing in December 2010. A new generation of women affected by DADT, like former Sergeant Tracey Cooper-Harris and former West Point Cadet Katie Miller, take up their mantle and continue the fight.
Not only have female service members and veterans battled the ban, but they have been disproportionately affected by it. For example, according to our friends at the Service Women’s Action Network, and other organizations as well as the DOD statistics, women accounted for 34 percent of DADT discharges in 2008, though they made up only 15 percent of the overall force. Already fighting for equality in a historically male-dominated field, many women have faced the added pressure of DADT.
This women’s college graduate and future recruit looks with pride at the female service members and veterans that make our military great and SLDN’s advocacy strong. Particularly on this day to celebrate women’s accomplishments all over the world, SLDN recognizes their contributions and thanks them for their selfless service.
03-08-11 By Elizabeth Shirey, Grassroots/Policy Advocate |
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