'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Revisited

[Rose Siding]

Feb. 28, 2007 — The first U.S. Marine seriously wounded in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, lost his leg when he stepped on a land mine, but today he and his prosthetic leg will march right into one of the most contentious battles in American politics.

Alva will stand with Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., as a bipartisan group of Congress members introduces legislation to overturn the ban on openly gay and lesbian troops serving in the military.

Alva says that losing his leg forced him out of the closet.

"It made me realize everything that I had to actually speak up for," Alva said to ABC News in an exclusive TV interview, "basically the rights and privileges of what I as an individual have earned in this country."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/IraqCoverage/story?id=2910339&page=3

Meehan's bill will be introduced today-

Congressman Marty Meehan to Re-Introduce Legislation to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
WHAT: Representative Marty Meehan (D-MA), will re-introduce The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a Congressional bill to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. Rep. Meehan’s bill, originally introduced in the 109th Congress, garnered the support of more than 120 bi-partisan lawmakers during that session.

WHO: Congressman Meehan will be joined by C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), as well as by BG Evelyn “Pat” Foote, USA (Ret.), a member of SLDN’s honorary board, and SLDN client and Former Marine Sergeant Brian Fricke, an openly gay veteran of the war in Iraq. Another participant will be an Iraq war veteran from Texas who lost his right leg in combat and will be coming out of the closet publicly at the press conference in his support for the repeal of the law. Other military veterans will also join Congressman Meehan as he announces re-introduction of the bill.

WHY: Since 1993, the Department of Defense has fired more than 11,000 service members under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On average, 2 -3 people are dismissed under the law every day. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) at least 800 of those had skills deemed ‘mission-critical’ by DoD, including more than 300 linguists, of which at least 55 were proficient in Arabic.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 ● 2pm

WHERE: House Armed Services Committee Hearing Room 2216 ●
Rayburn House Office Building ● Washington DC

http://www.sldn.org/templates/press/record.html?record=3552§ion=2

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. I really don't understand what difference it makes

whether someone is gay or not in the military? Gays can do as good a job. Yes Congress change legislation.

[crikkett]

2. there isn't a practical difference

every other aspect of military life is based on merit and performance

at least that was my experience