National NOW Times >> Fall 2011  >> Article

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Victory, At Last

On Sept. 20, 2011, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy will be history, and lesbians, gay men and bisexuals will, after 18 long years, be able to serve openly in the military -- finally!

Repeal followed a riveting hearing held last year by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which included testimony about the nearly year-long Pentagon study that found repeal of DADT would not risk military readiness.

The congressional bill to repeal DADT was passed in December 2010, but the policy remained in place until the president, secretary of Defense and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certified that repeal would not harm military readiness. All that remains is a 60-day waiting period following the July 22 certification.

NOW has long been concerned about the disproportionate impact DADT has on women. According to the Service Women's Action Network, sexual harassment of military women frequently takes the form of lesbian baiting. An indication of the lopsided impact of the policy is that, in 2008, 34 percent of the service members discharged were women, even though women constitute only 15 percent of military personnel.

Since 1993, when DADT was passed, more than 14,500 lesbians, gay men and bisexuals have been discharged. That's more than 14,500 trained service members who put their lives on the line to serve this country, but whose careers were unjustly cut short. An estimated 66,000 more lived in fear that they would be found out and discharged next.

Even prior to DADT, NOW worked against this discrimination, making note of it in a 1977 resolution on lesbian rights and continuing throughout the 1980s to bring attention to the issue. In 1991, NOW called for a National Day of Action against the Department of Defense policy of excluding lesbians and gay men from the military. In 1993, NOW organized "Lift the Ban" protests, which included former NOW President Patricia Ireland being arrested during a protest at the White House. NOW's efforts continued through last year's numerous action alerts, lobbying and demonstrations as part of the final push to achieve this landmark victory.