Sep 12, 2006Articles: US gays protest over gay military ban
By VZ
(Shreveport, Louisiana) According to 365gay.com, three people protesting against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the law preventing gays from serving openly in the military were arrested Tuesday in Shreveport, Louisiana.
(Shreveport, Louisiana) According to 365gay.com, three people protesting against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the law preventing gays from serving openly in the military were arrested Tuesday in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The trio was among a dozen demonstrators at a Marine recruitment center and is part of a national protest of DADT called the Right to Serve campaign organized by the LGBT nondenominational group Soulforce.
Other sit-ins by the group today were held in Chicago and Oklahoma City.
Eddie Lopez and Rachel Powell, both Shreveport, residents entered the recruitment center in that city and attempted to enlist. When they said they are gay they were told that under the law they were rejected for service.
The pair exited the building, but a short time later, when the recruitment officer left to get a cellphone from his car they and the other demonstrators entered the building and staged a sit-in.
Police attempted to talk the protestors into leaving peaceably, saying that the group had made its point. All but Lopez, Powell and a third person, Raydra Hall - a local LGBT activist - left.
When they refused a second request to depart police arrested them for trespassing. The three were taken to a nearby police station, charged and then released on their own recognizance.
In Chicago about 20 people were denied entry by police to a military recruitment center downtown and staged a sit-in on the street in front of the building. The group includes the incumbent national president of PFLAG, John Cepak, and two officials from the mayor's office - the liaisons for the LGBT community and for veterans affairs.
The sit-in follows the rejection last week of three members of the Right to Serve campaign when they tried to enlist. Today's action in Oklahoma City also followed the rejection of gays when they attempted to sign up for the military. (story)
The campaign has targeted 30 cities across the country for protests.
Since the passage of DADT a decade ago the number of out gays who have been turned down by the military when they attempted to enlist is not known. Since the ban on gays serving openly was implemented a decade ago more than 11,000 men and women have been dismissed under "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" according to the Government Accountability Office.
A a study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation.
Recruitment drives by the military have fallen short monthly for more than a year. Last month President Bush ordered thousands of Marine Corps troops back to active duty in the first involuntary recall since the early days of the Iraq war. (story)
A bill to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has bipartisan support but it is likely to die when Congress adjourns later this month.
The Republican leadership has not scheduled the bill, authored by Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), and has blocked attempts to move the legislation forward. That would mean he would have to re-introduce the measure in the next Congress and begin the process all over again.
Currently the repeal bill has 118 co-sponsors. For the past 18 months Meehan has been stymied in getting the legislation out of the Committee on Armed Services. The Republican controlled committee has not held a single hearing on the bill.
