Every 24 Hours, Two Gay People are Kicked Out of the Military

Since the inception of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during President Bill Clinton's first-term in office, more than 13,000 well-qualified U.S. soldiers have been removed from the military for being gay or lesbian.  This week, Rep. Alcee Hastings from Florida sent a letter to current President Barack Obama spelling out just how sad that statistic is.  Doing the math, according to Rep. Hastings, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" means that every 24 hours, at least two gay or lesbian soldiers are booted from the military.  In other words, every 24 hours, America's ability to defend its national security gets diminished by two.

Rep. Hastings letter this week to President Obama comes on the heels of a message that Hastings sent to Obama in June - and endorsed by more than 75 members of Congress - urging a suspension in investigations and discharges because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." With almost 20 percent of Congress writing to Obama in June about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," one might wonder what the President's response was.

According to Rep. Hastings, it was deafening silence.

"More than two months later, I have yet to receive an official response," said Rep. Hastings.  That lack of response precipitated the letter fired off this week.  And the letter this week pulls no punches.  To quote part of it:

As you know, we lose approximately two service members every day to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. While I commend Secretary Gates and the Pentagon’s general counsel for their continued efforts to identify possible provisional measures, you can take action right now. I sincerely hope that your administration will make Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell a priority and do everything in its power to repeal this ridiculous, bigoted law once and for all.

The U.S. is about to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.  We're also currently still in the midst of war in Iraq.  As Rep. Hastings notes, we simply can't afford to be kicking qualified people out of the U.S. military on the basis of sexual orientation.

The Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United are currently in the midst of a  nationwide tour, known as "Voices of Honor," to call attention to the injustice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and urge the Obama administration and Congress to work to overturn the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers.  Formerly discharged soldiers, as well as straight allies, are appearing at events in cities throughout the country, in both red states and blue states, to build support for ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

We will eventually win on this issue.  But until then, it's all the more important to call out discrimination for what it is.  And in this case, it means that every day, our national security suffers because gays and lesbians are told they're not worthy.