BREAKING: U.S. House, Senate Armed Services Committee Both Vote to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2010
Trevor Thomas: (616) 430-2030

BREAKING: U.S. House, Senate Armed Services Committee Both Vote to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), released a statement today after the full U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee both voted in favor of an amendment to repeal the law. SLDN was established in 1993 when DADT originally passed and has been working on its repeal ever since. SLDN also offers legal services to those impacted or discharged; last month the organization received its 10,000th call for assistance from a service member. The vote on the amendment was 234 to 194.

Statement by Army veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis:

“The U.S. House and Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee both passed a historic roadmap to allowing open military service, but it doesn’t end the discharges. It is important for all gay and lesbian, active-duty service members, including the reserves and the national guard, to know they’re at risk. They must continue to serve in silence under the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law that remains on the books. Congress and the Pentagon need to stay on track to get repeal finalized, hopefully no later than first quarter 2011. The bottom line: gay and lesbian service members remain at risk for discharge and cannot serve openly.

“Chairman Carl Levin, Senator Joe Lieberman, and Rep. Patrick Murphy showed remarkable courage and steadfastness in the face of unprecedented and inappropriate last minute lobbying by the Pentagon service chiefs who seemed to have forgotten that they are not the policy makers here. That role in our government rightly belongs to Congress and it was properly exercised today in the dismantling of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

“Repeal is moving forward with the support of the President and the Pentagon, including JCS Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The repeal amendment allowed for Congress to act while respecting the ongoing work by the Pentagon on how to implement open service for lesbian and gay service members. Nothing would happen until the Pentagon Working Group completes its report and the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President certifies repeal.”

Read SLDN’s warning to gay and lesbian active-duty service members, including the reserves and the national guard: http://bit.ly/ds7JAL

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (www.sldn.org) is a national, non-profit legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” A journalists’ guide is available here.


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