OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR HARRY REID FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS

The Honorable Harry Reid
U.S. Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510


Dear Senator Reid,

A very narrow window exists during the post-election session of Congress in which swift and decisive leadership must be displayed in order to secure successful repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). With all of the hard work that you have done to get this repeal as far as it has progressed thus far, it would be simply unacceptable for Congress not to get a chance to repeal DADT before the 111th Congress concludes its term.

As Senate Majority Leader, you control whether, when, and how bills are brought before the full Senate chamber. As a strong and principled supporter of ending the discriminatory DADT policy, you have the power to see that DADT gets acted upon in the lame duck session. We, therefore, ask you, the Senate Majority Leader, to oppose any effort to strip language repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The current language in the Senate Armed Services Committee-approved version of the NDAA offers important and overdue protections for servicewomen and military dependents, as well as provides those service members who are lesbian, gay or bisexual the opportunity to serve their country with honesty and integrity. Time is of the essence with ensuring that DADT is not removed from NDAA. We have the votes to end DADT this year. Now we must see more strong leadership from you, Senator Reid.

We know that you are committed to ending the dangerous and discriminatory policy that is DADT. We know that you are one to keep your promises, and we fully expect NDAA to be brought back up before you recess for Thanksgiving. We know you will follow through on your commitment to our LGBTQ community and our military here in Nevada, and across the nation, by ensuring that the DADT repeal provision is not excluded when NDAA is brought forward for a vote.

Sincerely,



STATE SENATOR DAVID PARKS (D-NV)

ROBERTA LANGE CHAIRWOMAN CLARK COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CANDICE NICHOLS DIRECTOR OF THE GAY & LESBIAN CENTER OF SOUTHERN NEVADA

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

EQUALITY NEVADA

GLSEN

LAMBA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

LV EQUALITY

NEVADA STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS

PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF LESBIANS AND GAYS / CARSON, NEVADA REGION

PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE OF NEVADA

PROGRESS NOW NEVADA

SI SE PUEDE LATINO DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS

STAND OUT FOR EQUALITY

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF NORTHERN NEVADA



VETERAN & STUDENT ALLIES

Jonathan Abbinett

Ronald Ramsey

Conroe Brooks

Loretta Harper

Jennifer Webb

Nancy Kuhns

Christopher Mendez-Preciado

Marcos Penaloza

Adriana Felix

Robert Cavazos

James Lee

Edith Byrd

MY FRIEND, LT. DAN CHOI, AN AMERICAN HERO

I have a friend.

A kindred spirit.

A brother in arms.

He speaks fluent Arabic.

He loves his country, my country, The United States of America.

He may love his country, my country, even more than I do. He volunteered to join the Armed Forces and put himself in harms way in Iraq because he felt it was his duty to defend his country.

This was after an exemplary career at West Point.

He was in a unit that was violently attacked on his first day in Iraq.

He kept moving forward with his eye on protecting our country and yours and my freedom. He moved forward and up in the ranks.

My friend, Lt. Dan Choi is a very honorable and honest man.

His honesty became his undoing.

You see, my friend, Lt. Dan Choi, doesn't believe in lying. It's not the thing an honorable man does. Especially not one who has pledged to honor his country and his commitment to the United States Armed Forces.

So, Lt. Dan Choi, my friend, told the truth.

He is Gay.

I won't bog YOU down in the details of what his life has been like since the moment that he stood up and said he would no longer lie about who he is, you can google his name for that drama. I will, however, say that he did a thing so right and so brave that I don't know if I could have done the same.

Could you?

Lt. Dan Choi is no longer in the Armed Forces due to the policy of "Don't Ask Don't Tell".

An Arabic linguist and true American Hero, an honorable man who won't lie, is not a member of the Armed Forces of the United States of American because he told the truth.

Isn't the truth what EVERY child is told to tell from the time they figure out how to lie?

Why should my friend, Lt. Dan Choi have to lie to serve his country?

I went to the Veterans Day parade today.

I was so proud of how many youth were there all spiffy in their fancy uniforms. The bands were playing and they all were smiling and laughing. I wondered if they understood that they were committing themselves to a career of telling the truth.

I also wondered how many of them would grow up to be liars in order to continue forward in their chosen career.

I have to say something to the folks who don't believe that Gays should be allowed to serve in the Military.

My friend, Lt. Dan Choi, is an Arabic linguist.

Ponder this:

You can waterboard a terrorist all you want.

But.

You can't make him speak English.

Happy Veterans Day.

Please send Senator Harry Reid a letter asking him to lead the way on ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Learn more about "DADT" at the following links:

http://knightsout.org/

http://www.ltdanchoi.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell

http://www.freep.com/article/20091111/NEWS15/911110324/1001/news/Doctors-Repeal-dont-ask-dont-tell

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/dont_ask_dont_tell.html

http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/Don%27t_ask%2C_don%27t_tell?qpvt=dont+ask+dont+tell&src=abop&q=dont+ask+dont+tell&fwd=1