Today, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued the following statement in response to a letter from Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton saying they do not wish to see repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until after the Pentagon Working Group completes its review:

“Today’s letter from Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton flies in the face of the President’s commitment in the State of the Union address to work with Congress to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law this year.  If the President is going to fulfill his promise it is essential that he address this contradiction immediately.  It is inconceivable that the Secretary of Defense would so blatantly undermine the Commander-in-Chief’s policy commitment.

“There is no reason that Congress cannot move forward with repeal while the Pentagon’s review of how – not if – to end the ban on open service continues apace. As part of the legislative repeal, Congress can provide additional time to the Pentagon for a careful and thoughtful implementation of this change to the law.  Action by Congress this year, in the National Defense Authorization bill, will not, as the Secretary suggests, ‘send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence their views, concerns and perspectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact on and consequence for them and their families.’  But failure to act this year will, without a doubt, continue to send the message to the thousands of gay and lesbian Americans serving their country in silence that their views and concerns, and the impact on them and their families, do not matter to the military leadership, including their Commander-in-Chief. ”

Late last night, the Georgia State Senate unanimously passed legislation which substantially extends anti-bullying provisions in schools. House Bill 927, which contained the provisions, seemed dead in the water earlier this year until Representative Mike Jacobs – a Republican from Atlanta – was able to amend Senate Bill 250 to include the language. Passage is a huge victory for Georgia Equality!

The new legislation does not provide enumerated categories for protection from bullying, but does provide for any student experiencing bullying, including LGBT students, the right to have that bullying stopped by administrators. SB 250 explicitly extends Georgia’s anti-bullying codes to cover all students, not just those in 6th to 12th grades as provided for in the preexisting code. It adds cyberbullying as a recognized form of bullying, and requires the Georgia Department of Education to draw up model anti-bullying policies.

Support for the legislation in the House and Senate arose after the tragic death of Jaheem Herrera. Jaheem was a 5th Grader in DeKalb County, Georgia, who committed suicide. He had been harassed by classmates for not being “masculine” enough. Bullying at all educational levels remains a serious problem, but legislation such as SB 250 provides students and their parents with a mechanism to seek help. The bill now goes to Governor Purdue for his signature.

For more information on HRC’s efforts to strengthen school administrators’ approaches to family diversity, gender stereotyping, and bullying, check out our new “Welcoming Schools” guide.

Do you know if your state protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from employment discrimination?  Use our new Facebook app to find out and share with friends.

In 38 states it’s legal to fire someone based on their gender identity and in 29 states the same is true for sexual orientation.  Go to our new Facebook app to find out where your state stands and take action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Yesterday, the Virginia Tech and New River Valley communities came together for another leg of the Voices of Honor tour here in Virginia. The event, which was preceded by a campus flag display on Tuesday, brought out over a hundred students and local residents. Volunteers from the Virginia Tech Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance helped install the 800 flags, which symbolized the 800+ specialists with mission-critical skills who have been discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. With the iconic Burruss Hall looming in the background, it was a powerful visual that created a lot of buzz on campus.

Virginia Tech is one of only six senior military colleges in the United States, and one of only two major universities to host a senior military college as part of a larger civilian university. The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets are a large and integrated part of the Virginia Tech community, and many civilian and corps students intermingle and socialize. There were a number of cadets in the audience, and those that I spoke to were supportive of repeal.

The Q & A portion of the event featured Cindy Mitchell, a local straight ally who served in the Army as a medic. Cindy spoke about how many of her closest friends in the Army were gay and lesbian, and how their sexuality had nothing to do with their ability to work hard and serve their country. She also spoke about the potential for anti-gay medical professionals to abuse “doctor-patient” privileges and “out” service members who are under their care. Cindy, whose husband is still serving, said that in her experience few cared whether a soldier was gay or straight. She stated DADT needs to go because the existing law provides a mechanism for the few remaining homophobic commanding officers to discharge otherwise qualified service members.

For more on our work here in the New River Valley – check out this, this, this, and this.

I’m off to Roanoke in an hour or so. Tomorrow morning I’m meeting with about a dozen veterans and local repeal supporters for a meeting with Senator Jim Webb’s Roanoke office.

The following post comes from HRC Field Organizer Adrian Matanza:

On our final Voices of Honor Tour stop here in the Hoosier state, we spent the day in the Big Ten town of West Lafayette. Purdue University came out to show their support for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” We gathered on the Memorial Mall setting up 800 flags to represent the 800 specialists that have been discharged under the DADT policy since it was enacted. With the students of PQSU, Purdue’s LGBT student group, the flags were set up in no time. We did have to share the stage for a bit though; the Feminist Action Coalition for Today, held a moment of silence for the human rights violations against women. The group later came over to help with with postcards and to make calls to Senator Bayh urging him to vote for repeal.

The local CBS affiliate, local paper, and school paper came out to hear about what we and FACT had to say about our causes. Most students on campus were intrigue by our display and came over to learn more. You can watch our interview on Channel 18 here.

Later in the evening, we headed out to the city of West Lafayette to Pride Lafayette, the city’s LGBT Center. We held a screening of ‘Ask Not’ and spoke to Hoosier veterans that have been affected by the discriminatory policy. Mary Tilden, did her master’s thesis on the effects of veterans living under DADT at my alma mater back in San Diego, Calif. It was great to meet a Hoosier that knows about my tiny little school back home.

We are a week and a half away from Veterans’ Lobby Day on May 11th and the Hoosiers that have signed up are very excited to head out to DC to make their voices heard. We’ll be boarding a bus to take us from Indy to DC with stops in Columbus, OH and Morgantown, WV. If you are a veteran or a friend or family of a veteran and want to join us, contact me at Adrian.Matanza@hrc.org. You can also learn more at www.veteranslobbyday.org.

This week, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network launched “Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” — a new media campaign to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Every weekday as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, a coalition of voices supporting repeal will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.

Today’s letter comes from former United States Army Captain Rebecca H. Elliott:

April 30, 2010

Dear Mr. President,

The author with her sister

I am the mother of two young children, and an Iraq war veteran. I joined up just like my dad – a retired Army officer – and my sister, who currently serves in the Guard. My brother is a reservist and has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Two weeks ago, our family gathered together as he is leaving again for Afghanistan — his 4th deployment. Even my husband, Jay, served as an officer in the Air Force until 2008.

Like my dad, I chose the Army. I reached the rank of Captain and was a platoon leader in the military police. I was there during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

I had some of the best NCO’s (non-commissioned officers) in the Army who could accomplish any mission. Several members of my platoon received decorations for valor during the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On my last day of active duty, some of my old squad leaders revealed to me that one of my former team leaders was gay. They figured it was safe to tell me, as I was leaving the Army. My first feelings on the matter were, frankly, a little surprised, followed by complete indifference.

I was surprised because I had never suspected the soldier of being gay. But then, I never really had any thoughts about her sexual orientation whatsoever.

When I reflected on it, it didn’t make one bit of difference in how she performed her job or how she related to the other soldiers in the platoon. She had the respect of her squad leaders (fairly conservative men, mind you), who kept her secret and continued working with her side-by-side for years.

As an officer, I would have been bound by my position to report such “credible information” that would have led to the discharge of a great NCO. I am glad that I was never placed in the position of having to choose between one of my soldiers and enforcing this terrible law, which I feel is unfair and wrong.

Please, Mr. President – at this critical time — do not allow those serving their country to be forced to choose between good, honorable soldiers, and upholding an unfair law.

Please, do not continue to allow gays and lesbians in the service to have to choose between hiding a part of their identity and continuing to serve their country.

Please, help Congress repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” now.

Respectfully,

Former Capt. Rebecca H. Elliott

Untied States Army

HRC joins with our allies in urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. Standing together, we are building the momentum we need to secure the votes.

Last night the Hawaii House passed House Bill 444 — a civil unions measure that advocates have been pushing for months.  The bill now goes to Republican Governor Linda Lingle.  HRC is proud to have worked with Equality Hawaii on this issue and congratulates them on a huge victory!

In January, the bill was indefinitely postponed in a move that appeared to foreclose the possibility of further action this session.  Read HRC and Equality Hawaii’s joint press release.

Learn more about our efforts on the civil union bill in our Hawaii archive and check back here for updates.