Gillibrand tweets… she is meeting with DoD officials today to discuss DADT

10/20/09-by Paula Brooks
When Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed by New York Governor David Paterson on January 23, 2009 to replace Hilary Clinton after she became Secretary of State, Gillibrand had some big shoes to fill… and honestly many in the LGBT community had no idea where Gillibrand truly stood on our issues.

But Gillibrand has wasted no time in making her positions on those issues crystal clear.

In April, Gillibrand endorsed Governor Paterson’s proposed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, saying, “New York and the nation are ready to start a new chapter. The time has come for full marriage equality. I commend the Governor for his leadership on this important issue. If Iowa can do it, so can we.”

According to the Empire State Pride Agenda, as a member of the Senate, Gillibrand will also support a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

In July, outraged by the dismissals of West Point Grad Lt. Dan Choi and decorated Air hero Lt. Col Fehrenbach, Senator Gillibrand took the lead in the Senate on the issue of Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell when she announced she was considering introducing an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would impose an 18-month moratorium on the discharge of gays serving in the military.

But after she was convinced by Senate leadership she could not win 60 votes for its passage, Gillibrand then pushed to secure the commitment of the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Those hearing, the first since the DADT policy was implemented in 1993, are now scheduled for this fall and Gillibrand has become an obvious leader on this issue.

Today Gillibrand who is up for re-election next year, launched a new Twitter page… And her second tweet says Gillibrand is out doing her homework on DADT when she said…