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Video: ServiceMembers United Serve & Lie, Please?

Posted by: Lez Get Real on September 6, 2010.

Melanie Nathan: 09-06-10

That was the intention behind the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy. At the time no one knew just how onerous that would prove to be, for the service, for the gays and lesbians in the military and for the well being of the United States of America.

This short Video put out by Service Members United Action Fund speaks volumes about just how this has done nothing than cause the harm. Don’t Ask Don’t (DADT) designed to allow the Gay and lesbian service member to serve as long as it were never revealed they were gay or lesbian, has morphed into a policy of ‘If you are Gay or Lesbian Don’t bother to serve.’

Because now that the hardship has been lived and experienced – many potential new enlistee are probably completely discouraged. When I look at the quality of the gays and lesbians who have served and been discharged I think what a loss for our Country.

DADT is shameful and it is mind boggling to me that that President Obama has taken a route that renders it still in effect. The organizations working to end DADT policy and its injustice are all deserving of praise.

As a lesbian and American civilian, I am grateful to all the organizations that have developed around the issue, the ones that support service members during times of difficulty including the unfairly discharged- and take my hat off to the part they play in lobbying and advocating for the repeal of DADT.

Also the amount of information that these groups provide on their websites is astounding and the element of bravery has found its way to service, regardless of the silence imposed by the Policy.

In particular this Post I have chosen to feature Service Members United Action Fund, which can use some help with funding for their important work. Their website can be found at http://servicemembersunited.org/

Servicemembers United is a non-partisan and non-profit organization whose primary goals are 1) to engage in education and advocacy on issues affecting gay and lesbian troops and veterans; 2) to serve as an associational organization for the gay and lesbian military, veteran, and defense community; 3) to represent the voice of Iraq/Afghanistan-era gay and lesbian troops and veterans; and 4) to forward and inform public debate on the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Beginning in the fall of 2005, a small group of servicemembers realized that far too few returning Iraq- and Afghanistan veterans were being included in the ongoing debate over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy and the movement to repeal the military’s ban on known gay and lesbian troops. As they explored ways to become more actively involved, it became abundantly clear that there existed no clear platform through which the troops and veterans themselves who were actually affected by DADT could join the movement in a substantive way. Thus was created the organization that became Servicemembers United to represent the voice of the newest generation of American heroes.