Bill to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Gains Momentum

One Month After Introduction, Bill to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Gains Momentum, Says SLDN

4/5/2005 2:32:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Steve Ralls of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, 202-328-3244, ext. 116 or sralls [at] sldn.org

WASHINGTON, April 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- One month after its introduction in the House of Representatives, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a bill to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel, has gained the support 73 Members of Congress. The proposal was introduced in the House on March 2 by Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Three Republican lawmakers -- Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- have joined 70 Democrats as co-sponsors of the bill.

"There is growing, bi-partisan support in Congress for repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" said C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "Lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans are ready to answer our nation's call to service and work to protect our homeland and secure our freedoms. Members of Congress are increasingly recognizing the futility of excluding those who want to serve. They should pass the Military Readiness Enhancement Act immediately."

According to a February report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has cost at least $200 million to maintain since its inception in 1993. Nearly ten thousand men and women have been discharged under the policy, including 322 language specialists. Another 800 specialists, including intelligence analysts, divers and combat controllers, were fired despite having "some training in an occupation identified . . . as 'critical.'" "We are losing some of the best and brightest talents," Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D- TX) told United Press International.

Eight senior retired military officers -- and one active duty Lieutenant Colonel -- have endorsed Meehan's proposal to repeal the military's gay ban.

"When we deny (gays) their right to military service, we improperly restrict the franchise of citizenship and give in to homophobic prejudice very like the unreasoned racial and gender prejudices of the past," Lt. Col. Allen Bishop, a professor at West Point, recently wrote in the Army Times. Retired Navy Admiral John Hutson, a supporter of the ban in 1993, has also called for the bill's passage. ""If I thought that letting (open) gays in the military now would degrade the mission," he told the Detroit News, "I wouldn't be for it. The military mission is unique enough that it shouldn't be a social laboratory. But we are at a point now where we can do it. And once you can do it, that creates a moral imperative that means you must do it."

A list of the bill's co-sponsors, and the text of Rep. Meehan's proposal, are available online at http://www.sldn.org.

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Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and related forms of intolerance. For more information, visit http://www.sldn.org.

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