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Philadelphia City Paper: Ask, Tell
Last Thursday, a large group of advocates gathered at the Prime Rib in Center City to raise money to fight for the repeal of the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
The group included Prime Rib proprietor Garth Weldon, Obama campaign gay policy committee chair Tobias Wolff and Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director Thom Cardwell.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" prohibits military servicemembers from engaging or intending to engage in "homosexual acts," because it would "create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability," according to the statute on which the policy is based. It also prohibits any gay, lesbian or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation in the military.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the beneficiary of the Prime Rib event, has been aggressively raising money to fund litigation against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN's executive director, said that the Pentagon fires two gay people every day. He said SLDN is working to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" through Congress as well as through the courts.
"There has been opposition on Capitol Hill, but we are working to get enough votes to reverse the policy, " he said.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was sold to the country as a compromise, with the backing of President Bill Clinton, in 1993. (George Bush has left it in place.) Clinton felt the policy, devised by Colin Powell, was a way to enable gay people to join the military — even though it rather clearly disadvantaged them by giving the military authority to discharge anyone it discovered to be homosexual.
Military plaintiffs in Boston originally filed papers in the 1st District Court arguing that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is unconstitutional and violates due process and equal protection under the law. The court dismissed the case in 2006 and the plaintiffs appealed.
Last month, the lower court's decision was upheld by an appeals court.
"Although the wisdom behind the statute at issue here may be questioned by some, in light of the special deference we grant congressional decision-making in this area, we conclude that the challenges must be dismissed," wrote Judge Jeffrey R. Howard.
Sarvis said SLDN was considering whether to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
On the political front, Sarvis said SLDN was hopeful that Obama, who supports the repeal, would be elected president and work to remove the policy.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has said that he feels "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is working, and that "right now we've got the best military we've ever had — the most professional, best-trained, equipped and the bravest. And so I think it's logical to leave this issue alone. I really do."
A special guest at Prime Rib was former Army Sgt. Darren Manzella, who was dismissed from the military for being gay despite a good record of service. He made national news when Lesley Stahl exposed his story on 60 Minutes.
Manzella, a medical liaison, had received a combat medal for treating a wounded soldier under fire in Baghdad in 2005. He told the group that his homosexuality was no secret to other soldiers who were his friends; indeed, they all knew his boyfriend.
Manzella said he started to get anonymous e-mails, and felt he was being watched. He said he went to his commanding officer for help, but was told he would be reported. An investigation was launched, and, despite the existence of a video of Manzella and his boyfriend kissing, it was concluded that Manzella wasn't gay.
He was deployed back to Iraq but then, after appearing on 60 Minutes, he was discharged from the Army for being a homosexual.
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