Grassroots support to repeal Don't Ask, Don't tell is growing

Last week, HRC launched a national action alert and announced details of its ongoing campaign to repeal the law that hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers fighting overseas at risk. Focusing on key states where congressional support for repeal is critical, HRC dispatched field staff to five states – Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia, with other states to follow in the months ahead. HRC is also asking members and supporters to sign up and to join the growing network of supporters to repeal DADT.

Rep. Murphy, an Iraq War veteran and a former paratrooper in the U.S. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division, is the lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1283), the Housebill to repeal the DADT law. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is expected to introduce a Senate bill to repeal DADT soon. More than 13,500 Americans have been denied the ability to serve – including more than 800 specialists with vital skills like Arabic linguists.

Military leaders, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, recognize that DADT is a failed law and support its repeal. Former Vice President and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney also recently came out for repeal by stating, “When the chiefs come forward and say, ‘We think we can do it,’ then it strikes me as it’s time to reconsider the policy, and I think Adm. Mullen said that.”