The Pentagon's DADT report: Click through to read the report at the Department of Defense website.
The Pentagon Working Group’s comprehensive report on gays/lesbians in the military and the possible repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will be released today. According to the Washington Post‘s Federal Eye blog, the report will be officially released today at 2:30 PM Eastern time — 10:30 AM Alaska time:
The report’s release caps nine months of research by [Defense Department General Counsel Jeh C.] Johnson, [Army Gen. Carter F.] Ham and a 66-member team that met with more than 40 groups representing gay and lesbian troops, gay veterans, military spouses and the same-sex partners of closeted gay troops.
Some findings of the report have already been publicized after leaks in the Washington Post earlier this month. Among them:
According to a survey sent to 400,000 service members, 69 percent of those responding reported that they had served with someone in their unit who they believed to be gay or lesbian. Of those who did, 92 percent stated that their unit’s ability to work together was very good, good, or neither good nor poor, according to the sources.
Combat units reported similar responses, with 89 percent of Army combat units and 84 percent of Marine combat units saying they had good or neutral experiences working with gays and lesbians.
The report’s coauthors — Defense Department General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson and Army Gen. Carter F. Ham — along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen are scheduled to testify Thursday, December 2, before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) planned to hold a national media conference call at 11:00 AM Eastern time (7:00 AM Alaska time) this morning, according to a media advisory released yesterday. SLDN is a leading advocate for LGBT servicemembers, and its site is a good source of news and information about the ongoing fight for open service in the military.
SLDN issued another press release today about an online message from open service advocate Lady Gaga on repeal of DADT:
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), announced today that Lady Gaga released an online video message directed to her supporters and followers to push for repeal in the senate lame-duck session. Re-tweet Gaga now: RT @LadyGaga A message from Gaga http://bit.ly/g8cI68
Here’s the video:
Key senators who need to hear from repeal supporters:
Lisa Murkowski last week told KTVA’s Matt Felling that “I would not oppose the Defense Authorization bill because Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the repeal of it, is included within it” — but statements during and since then from Sen. Murkowski and her staff have made it clear that her “non-opposition” is far from equivalent to “support” for a repeal, and comes with some qualifications.
Make sure to let her know that equality under the law for LGBT citizens, including LGBT servicemembers, is important to you:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
202-224-6665 (DC)
877-829-6030 (toll free)
or write:
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski
709 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
George Gee's latte special board for Black Friday at Side Street Espresso
George’s latte special board was drawn for yesterday (Black Friday, the traditional consumerist post-Thanksgiving shopping day), but his rendition of Frankenstein & American consumerism was so good that Deb left it up today, too. Or maybe George just didn’t have time to draw up a new one this morning.
In any case, this was my last Side Street Saturday — my main writing day — until January 15. Since this time next week, I’ll be on my way to Australia.
Also hopefully my second-to-last day of NaNoWriMo writing: I finished the day with 4,563 words, bringing my total up to 45,666. Only 4,334 words left to go!
A friend who has spoken with Sen. Lisa Murkowski told me that she’d directly said to him, “We’re going to fight for your issues.”
But as shown in comments broadcast last night on Anchorage’s CBS affiliate, KTVA Channel 11 ( previewed at the Think Progress’s The Wonk Room earlier in the day [Ref #1]), the closest she’s able to come in public to saying what she said privately to my friend is more along the lines of, “I’m not going to fight you on your issues.”
And clearly she sees them as “our issues” — not her own. Equality under the law for the homosexual community (the term she uses; transfolk are not mentioned) does not seem, in her eyes, to be the same as plain and simple equality under the law for all citizens.
So I caution people not to characterize Sen. Murkowski’s comments last night to KTVA Channel 11’s Matt Felling as “support” for repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Her actual words were, “I would not oppose the Defense Authorization bill because Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the repeal of it, is included within it.” It’s not just semantics: to not oppose is not the same as to support. A person can not oppose, for example, by abstaining.
But when it comes to votes in Congress… well, I suppose that’s better than a “no” vote.
Below is the video from KTVA Channel 11 News. Matthew Felling introduced the segment referring to the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is “thinking about bringing to a vote.” Repeal of DADT is part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Senate authorization of NDAA was halted on September 21 by a Republican filibuster led by antigay former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. [Ref #2] Sen. Murwkowski was not present at the vote — the only senator not present — because she was campaigning in Alaska. [Ref #3] Sen. Murkowski has previously indicated that her decision on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was partially dependent on results of the Pentagon’s comprehensive report on DADT. The Pentagon review is due for release in early December, but portions have already been leaked to the press.
A transcript of Sen. Murkowski’s comments (corrected from the somewhat loose transcript at KTVA’s site) are below the video. [Ref #4]
Video: “Murkowski “I Would Not Oppose… DADT Repeal”
Matthew Felling:
You have been waiting to hear from them, and they have said — at least according to the polls that are out there, that have been leaked — they’re okay with it. Procedural behind the scenes things [notwithstanding]… are you more likely to vote for a bill saying “I hear them. And if they’re okay with it, I’m okay with it?”
Sen. Murkowski:
And I have said that I would work to make sure that as long as it is supported by the troops, as long as it doesn’t hurt the performance or the morale, or the recruitment — these are all things that we want to take into consideration — I think we will see that play out in this report. If in fact Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is included in the Defense Authorization and we get to the point where we can move that bill through — I would not oppose the Defense Authorization bill because Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the repeal of it, is included within it. I have made the statement to others, that we are at a different point in time, if you will. There is, more clearly, a level of acceptance in our communities, at all levels of supporting and providing for that level of equality to the homosexual community. And I think that’s important to recognize that.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (an independent, formerly a Democrat) announced yesterday during a press conference flanked by 12 Democrats that he was confident there were enough votes to repeal DADT, and named Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Lugar of Indiana as “yes” votes on NDAA and repeal of DADT. [Ref #5] The Washington Blade reported that another Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, would also vote to repeal DADT. [Ref #6] So if Sen. Murkowski is good on her word, it seems that there are at least four Republican senators willing to cross party lines to repeal DADT… if only, in Murkowski’s case, because “a level of acceptance in our communities… for that level of equality” has been reached.
Make sure to let her know that equality under the law for LGBT citizens, including LGBT servicemembers, is important to you:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
202-224-6665 (DC)
877-829-6030 (toll free)
or write:
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski
709 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
And be sure to also call Sen. Mark Begich to thank him and encourage him in his ongoing support for equality:
Sen. Mark Begich
202-224-3004 (DC)
877-501-6275 (toll free)
One good source of recent news on repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
Support LGBT servicemembers. Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
I have recently become an ongoing contributor to Alaska’s most important LGBT blog, Bent Alaska. Here’s a list of recent stories on DADT both on Bent Alaska and my own blog, Henkimaa:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski on DADT in June this year. Click through to read the letter. h/t M.D.
Regardless of the outcome of the ballot-counting still in progress in Juneau in Alaska election for U.S. Senate, the incumbent, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, is still Sen. Lisa Murkowski today as Congress convenes for its “lame duck” session.
And it’s time to turn the heat up on her regarding Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Here’s what she wrote to Bert Mead of the Alaska LGBT Democratic Caucus on June 12, 2010:
Thank you for contacting me about the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. I appreciate hearing from you and having the opportunity to respond.
President Obama called for an end to this policy in his State of the Union address on January 27, 2010, but he did not provide specifics. On February 2,2010, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that he had begun a review of the proposed change and indicated that the review would take roughly one year.
On March 25, 2010, Secretary Gates announced the Department of Defense would enact new enforcement guidelines while the review was underway. Under the new rules, only highranking officers can initiate a fact-finding inquiry or order a discharge. Additionally, the military will now restrict the kind of evidence that can be used against gay service members. Most anonymous complaints will be barred, and those who file complaints will have to give statements under oath.
I believe it is important that Secretary Gates complete a full review of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy before Congress takes action. If the Senate does consider making changes to the policy, I will keep your concerns in mind. [Ref #1]
In other words, she chose not to take any position until the Department of Defense review initiated by Secretary Gates was completed.
Now it has been, and details that have been leaked prior to its official release make it clear that DoD’s report reports little to no risking in getting rid of DADT:
More than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops over the summer said the effect of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, said two sources familiar with the document. The survey results led the report’s authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them. [Ref #2]
There you have your answer, Sen. Murkowski. Little to no risk according to troops’ own evaluation. A call from Secretary Gates himself to repeal DADT during the lame duck session (Gates says that repeal is inevitable, but that repeal by Congress will be less messy and disruptive to the military than the alternative in the courts). [Ref #3] And meantime, 70 percent of U.S. adults nationally — including 53 percent of self-described conservatives and 60 percent of Republicans — agree that gay men and lesbian soldiers and sailors should be able to serve openly in the military. [Ref #4]
No more pussyfooting around. It’s time to turn the heat up on Lisa Murkowski. In fact, it’s time we call both our Senators — Mark Begich also needs to hear from us — to let both of them know that the National Defense Authorization Act needs to be passed intact, including repeal of the draconian “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Earlier today I posted on Bent Alaska a post called “URGENT: Call Sens. Begich and Murkowski on DADT now!” which has full details on what we need to do. [Ref #5] But here’s the most pertinent part:
Call Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Begich on Monday or Tuesday THIS WEEK and deliver this message:
“Hi, my name’s [NAME] and I live in [TOWN]. I support all our servicemembers and they deserve to have the National Defense Authorization Act passed this year with funding for our troops, pay increases and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell included. I urge Sen. Murkowski/Sen. Begich to vote for cloture and final passage of this bill.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
202-224-6665 (DC)
877-829-6030 (toll free)
Sen. Mark Begich
202-224-3004 (DC)
877-501-6275 (toll free)
