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GetEQUAL Finally Confronts John McCain On DADT

09/16/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Is GetEQUAL finally finding the right target? The group along with H.E.R.O. actually confronted Senator John McCain with images of past civil rights movements and the people who stood against them such as George Wallace and Bull Conor. Their signs stated “Senator McCain repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, do you want to be the next George Wallace?” and “Senator McCain repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, it’s not too late to change your legacy. ”

Of course, his position on DADT has caused him some conflict with his daughter Meghan McCain, one of the few Moderate Republican Activists out there right nwo. Jimmy Gruender, co-chair of H.E.R.O. stated “We have spoken loud and clear to Senator McCain and his staff that we are not going away until the Senator stops playing politics with the lives of our men and women in uniform. Whether it is in Arizona or in our nation’s capitol, we will go anywhere, at any time of day to deliver the message to our Senator that he is standing on the wrong side of history and is betraying the patriotic men and women willing to risk their lives for their country.”

He also stated “We urge all members of the LGBT community and our allies to continue to pressure the United States Senate and make your voices heard that we will continue to hold them accountable and we expect their approval of the National Defense Authorization Act, containing language that would continue the process of repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Any Senator hell-bent on stopping the repeal should take notice. They may be focused mostly on their own job protection in November, but our focus is on protecting those servicemembers around the world who are continuing to serve under the outdated, discriminatory ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law.”

H.E.R.O. is based in Arizona and is thus made up of Senator McCain’s own constituents. They have staged two sit-ins on his office so far, and the 26 April and 11 May sit-ins resulted in members and supporters being arrested in the Senator’s Tempe and Phoenix offices. The group also dropped off supplies for the troops overseas before starting their sit-ins.

Robin McGehee of GetEqual stated “Senator John McCain is more interested in placating the McCain-Palin wing of the Republican party than he is in supporting our men and women in . My advice to Senator McCain is that he spend a little more time learning about equality from his wife and daughter and a little less time listening to the extreme wing of his party. When 80 percent of the American people, the Joints Chiefs of Staff, military leaders, and active-duty servicemembers all agree that it is past time we stop the firing of critical military personnel, you can be assured that you’re standing on the wrong side of history. For that matter, he should watch campaign footage of himself in 2008 where he said if those same groups of people agreed on repeal, he’d support their decision – well, the time is now.”

Right now, the Republicans are adamant about filibustering the Defense Authorization Bill with the repeal of DADT in it. Doing so could result in the GOP facing a major problem in November.

Previously, GetEQUAL has targeted only Democrats who were trying to repeal the law.

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