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New York City Council Considers Resolution Calling for Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
NEW YORK, NY - The New York City Council is considering a second resolution urging Congress to repeal the federal �Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell� ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. The resolution, sponsored by openly gay Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, openly gay Council Member Rosie Mendez and Council Members Larry B. Seabrook, Chair of the Civil Rights Committee and Hiram Monserrate, Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, follows a similar resolution adopted by the city in May 2005. The resolution urges Congress to pass The Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1246), a Congress bill to repeal the law.
�Communities across the country are beginning to realize the impact the military�s gay ban has on their security, safety and well-being,� said Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). �The New York City Council is sending a strong, clear message to Washington that Americans no longer support the exclusion of qualified, capable Americans from our armed forces. All of our communities, and all of our citizens, are safer when we recruit based on qualification and refuse to perpetuate discrimination. Speaker Quinn and Council Members Mendez, Seabrook and Monserrate have taken an unmistakable stand in favor of military readiness and individual liberty, and SLDN salutes their commitment to ending this law.�
�. . . The Council of the City of New York recognizes that lesbian, gay and bisexual persons have served and are still serving in the U.S. armed forces with honor and distinction, from the Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq,� the resolution reads in part, and concludes by calling on �the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense to rescind the current �Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell, Don�t Pursue� policy and allow lesbian, gay and bisexual persons to serve openly in the military.�
The New York City Council resolution follows similar resolutions adopted in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Saint Louis, Tucson and West Hollywood. The California State Assembly also passed a resolution in support of repeal, in 2005.
For more information on �Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell� and local repeal resolutions, please visit www.sldn.org.
