Turning Conversations into Action
Netroots Nation is not a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" conference. It's not an LGBT event. It's not a gathering of service members and veterans. It is an opportunity for progressive bloggers and advocates to come together to discuss key issues, share best practices, and meet their counterparts from various organizations around the country. That said, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" came up time and time again throughout the conference. Luckily, we were on hand to join the discussion and listen firsthand to key elected officials talk about the issue.
On Thursday afternoon, we led a productive conversation with fellow supporters of the freedom to serve about the status of repeal legislation (HR 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act) and action steps that we can take to lift the ban once and for all. Collaboration is essential, we agreed.
Later that night, DADT came up in President Clinton's keynote address. After being asked about DADT repeal, Clinton expressed regret about the law and asserted that the country has changed since 1993.
The next day Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA) spoke out against DADT. Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett also got a DADT question, and assured the audience that the President will work with Congress to repeal the law.
We need to turn these conversations about the need for repeal into action. It's one thing to talk about the importance of repeal, and another to persuade policymakers to stand up and speak out.
So take action and contact your legislators today!
08-18-09 By Paul DeMiglio, Senior Communications Manager & Benjamin Mishkin, Grassroots Organizer |
3 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Lance on August 22, 2009 at 04.20 pm
Lutherans accept clergy in ‘lifelong’ same-sex relationships
Even the church is realizing what the right thing to do is. Now if only the military could catch up.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/21/lutheran.gays/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
Dino in Washington, D.C. on August 20, 2009 at 04.55 pm
Also, the closing speaker for Netroots Nation was Darcie Burner, twice a Democratic Congressional Candidate in Washington State. She also mentioned the repeal of the don’t ask don’t tell policy in reference to Bill Clinton’s speech on the opening night. She gave it as an example of being unable to always rely on people in authority positions to be able to do the right thing. Her point was that, the activists must enable and empower public officials to act to their liking, as they can’t creat change on their own. She said that a great example of that was when Bill Clinton said that he couldn’t change lift the ban in 1993, because there wasn’t a stong enough grassroots push for its repeal toward congress.
Dino in Washington, D.C. on August 19, 2009 at 09.59 pm
Thanks SLDN. I was at the Netroots nation conference. It was great to see so much support for the repeal of DADT. I missed Bill Clinton’s speech, but I did hear Vallerie Jarrett. She was great, and very clear in her answer for the repeal of DADT i.e. that President Obama supports it’s full repeal.