Dear Daniel,
Before I share the week's news, let me begin by expressing our grief over the fatal shooting of a guard at the Holocaust Museum. As a community that faces the ongoing threat of hate-motivated violence, we know these individual acts are often designed to terrorize an entire community. Wednesday's shooting took place in the presence of school children who had come to the museum to learn its lessons of peace, remembrance and tolerance. This is one more sad reminder to recommit ourselves to stopping extremism and hate, whatever form it takes.
Today we received news of the Obama Administration's decision to defend the constitutionality of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a married gay California couple. The couple rightfully claimed that DOMA is unconstitutional, and the Administration, stating that it had a duty to defend the statute, responded that the case should be dismissed. Their brief included a lengthy defense of DOMA's constitutionality. You can read the full brief here.
HRC immediately released a statement repudiating this ridiculous defense of DOMA, and called upon President Obama to show leadership in protecting our rights by sending a DOMA repeal bill to Congress. Read our full statement here.
With the 40th anniversary of Stonewall approaching, we are frustrated with the slow pace of progress on the issues that are critical to our community. The time for action is now. We have communicated loud and clear to the president that his duty to defend our community from discrimination is stronger than the duty to defend a law that harms us and that he has called “abhorrent.”
On Sunday our nation will observe Flag Day and with all that's swirling around us from the economy, to health care proposals, to an historic Supreme Court nomination, it is all too easy to forget that America is at war, with more than 195,000 military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We must not forget their service or their sacrifices, and join all of our fellow Americans in wishing for their safe return.
The day also reminds us that thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual women and men are also serving their country, often with distinction. They provide essential skills as linguists, bomb specialists, medics, infantry, and every other military specialty. They, too, put their lives on the line. But they alone shoulder an additional burden -- they must serve in silence, concealing who they are or risk discharge under the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy. More than 13,000 lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members have been discharged since DADT was enacted in 1993, with over 200 discharged since President Obama took office in January. And this past week, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to this discriminatory policy. You can read the Associated Press article for more on the Supreme Court's decision and HRC's reaction by clicking here.
We must end the discharges. Few examples have made this more vivid or real than the case of Lt. Dan Choi, an Arabic linguist facing discharge this month. President Obama could stop this discharge and any others that face him as Commander in Chief.
It's time to end these discharges, direct Congress to repeal the ban and ensure that the Pentagon creates and implements a thorough plan for implementing repeal.
To that end, I am pleased to announce that HRC has hired former U.S. Army veteran Jarrod Chaplowski to HRC to help expand our efforts and lend added urgency and a voice to this battle. Jarrod enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2000 and trained as a Korean linguist and cryptologic voice interceptor at the Defense Language Institute and Goodfellow Air Force Base, finishing second in his class. He worked as an interpreter and translator in Korea, supporting the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion on more than 300 sensitive reconnaissance operation missions, and as a squadron school's non-commissioned officer at Ft. Lewis, Wash., in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Jarrod has been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN's Situation Room, The Advocate, and over 100 piece of national and local media. He is also a principle subject in the upcoming PBS documentary Ask Not, which premieres on June 16.
In the meantime, let's remember all of our service members this Flag Day and the sacrifices each of them make for their country, and recommit ourselves to stopping the discharges and overturning Don't Ask, Don't Tell once and for all.
Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign
