More than 136,000 people ask President Obama to End Discrimination in Armed Forces
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2009
LOS ANGELES – Working to secure equality in our armed forces and improve our national security, the Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile have circulated a petition to President Obama urging him to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” As of Wednesday night, 136,192 people have signed on to the action, spurred by the dismissal of gay troops such as Lt. Dan Choi, the first Arabic language specialist to be dismissed under President Barack Obama.
“President Obama did not create this policy. But he now has the opportunity to keep his promise and allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly in the military,” said Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of the California-based Courage Campaign. “It’s the right thing to do — for justice and for national security.”
More than 13,000 gay men and lesbians have been discharged from the military since the policy took effect. Lt. Dan Choi, from Orange County, California, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an Iraq War veteran. Last March he went on Rachel Maddow’s show and spoke three truthful words: “I am gay.”
As a result Lt. Choi received a letter from the Army on April 23 discharging him for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Lt. Choi is fighting to stay in the military and ensure that no other soldier is ever again discharged as a result of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I have served for a decade under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ — an immoral policy that forces American soldiers to lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception,” wrote Lt. Dan Choi in a message to Courage Campaign members. “As I learned at West Point, deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force. My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professionals.”
Jacobs said the opinion of military leaders and combat veterans has shown the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has shifted in favor of repeal.
In 2006, a poll by Zogby International of 545 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that 72% of respondents who had experience with gays or lesbians in their unit said their presence had either no impact or a positive impact on their personal morale, while 67% said as much for overall unit morale. And former Gen. John Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was adopted, now argues for its repeal.
“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” wrote Gen. Shalikashvili in a January 2, 2007 New York Times op-ed. “Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.”
“According to legal scholars, the president has the authority to lift the ban by executive order using his ‘stop-loss’ authority during a national emergency,” continued Jacobs. “To eliminate the law entirely will take an act of Congress, but the President can act today to prevent the loss of troops like Lt. Choi.”
The petition, along with an updated total number of signatures and a video of a recent interview of Lt. Choi with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, can be found at:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/DontFireDan
Below is the text of the petition.
Dear President Barack Obama,
The time has come to end discrimination in our armed forces. We, the undersigned, ask you to stop the discharge of Lt. Dan Choi and any other soldier as a result of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. We ask that you uphold your pledge and push Congress to quickly put a bill on your desk to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”