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Veteran Draws on Personal, Family Experience to Rebuke DADT

The Franklin Crier and The Greenwood Crier, both local papers in Indiana, feature letters by Dr. Martina M. Sternberg, Assistant Director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Sternberg draws upon her own military service and the experiences of her family members to make a powerful argument for the repeal of DADT. She dismisses concerns about unit cohesion, and explores the harm inflicted on gay and lesbian service members when they cannot fully utilize counseling and other resources because of DADT:

"Recently my daughter was sexually assaulted by a fellow military soldier, she reported her military sexual trauma and the perpetrator turned her in for being a lesbian. She was investigated and of course there were no findings. She was victimized twice, partly because of the DADT policy. Many other females won’t report sexual trauma because they are afraid they may be investigated and kicked out for being a lesbian, whether they are a lesbian or not.”

She closes by noting that the majority of service members and their families support ending DADT:

"I think our military is the best in the world and one of the great skills we have is that of adapting. Statistically, the majority of civilians AND military members support ending the DADT policy. However, those that do not support it right now have the skills of adapting and will adapt."

This is a perfect example of a letter to the editor in one of our target states:

Arkansas
Indiana
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Virginia

Submitting a letter to the editor is a great way to get your voice heard. Read SLDN’s guidelines and tips and submit a letter today.

08-09-10 By Jeremy Wilson-Simerman, Legislative Manager |