1235
(0 votes, average 0 out of 5)
Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Jul 28, 2010
Demonstrators with GetEQUAL and HERO, both direct-action organizations, are hoping that what happened in Las Vegas in mid-July doesn’t stay in Las Vegas. Demonstrators there took to the streets to demand action on the U.S. Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would outlaw workplace bias based on gender identity and sexual orientation. They unfurled a banner under the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York, New York hotel in Vegas and draped a banner from the crosswalk over Las Vegas Boulevard. Activists — eight of them were arrested — called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to schedule a vote on ENDA. – Photo: Luna Media Group
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is on trial.
The Clinton-era policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the Armed Forces already has been panned in public opinion polls.
The president has urged its repeal.
And a majority in the U.S. House also has voted to dismantle the ban.
Now a U.S. court will render a verdict in Log Cabin Republicans vs. the United States of America.
The lawsuit, being heard in a non-jury trial in a federal courtroom in Riverside, Calif., originated in 2004 and moved slowly toward trial because of the government’s efforts to dismiss the case.
The suit alleges that DADT violates servicemembers’ constitutional guarantees of free speech, due process and open association.
On July 20, former Army interrogator Alexander Nicholson took the stand as LCR attorney Dan Woods’ lead witness. Nicholson, after his discharge under DADT, became the executive director of Servicemembers United, the nation’s largest group of gay and lesbian troops and veterans.
The day before Nicholson testified, former Air Force Maj. Michael Almy told the court he was discharged under DADT after another servicemember snooped through his e-mails.
Almy had been a communications officer in the Air Force, helping to maintain control over the vast majority of Iraq’s air space. After serving a tour in Iraq, he was sent to Germany, where he was questioned by a superior officer about personal e-mail messages found on his computer in Iraq. After the interrogation, Almy was relieved of his duties.
“I was completely devastated,” he testified. “I drove myself home. I took my uniform off and I curled up in the fetal position on my bathroom floor like a baby and bawled for several hours.”
Later, Almy was honorably discharged.
Woods said that while Congress is pursuing a legislative repeal, he may convince a federal judge to halt discharges under DADT if he wins the LCR case.
“We’re trying to get this changed right away,” Woods said. “After all, there are people today fighting, dying for our country, while their constitutional rights are being violated.”
