VIDEO: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Hearing Highlights

Bryan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:54:33 +0000

Thanks to Chris Johnson at HRC who was live blogging at the hearing today – here are some of the highlights.

First, because it’s video and it get a little bit heated, we bring you this exchange between Congressman Patrick Murphy (D – Pennsylvania) and an anti-gay woman.

Via HRC Backstory:

Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy, who served in the military with the 82nd Airbone Division just five years ago, asks Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, why has so little trust for our military personnel to be professional enough to serve alongside gay and lesbian servicemembers – when there 24 other countries that allow openly gay and lesbian soldiers. Donnelly tries to change the subject – and doesn’t answer the question.

Donnelly disagrees with DADT, but not because she supports open sevice by gays and lesbians. She says that law already says that they are ineligible to serve. She just referred to the San Francisco Left. Laughter ensued. She is highly concerned about the close quarters of submarines.

Then there is this video from Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a retired Marine who lost his leg in Iraq. His personal testimony is quite moving.

For more coverage from HRC’ Backstory blog go here. It’s worth the read.

Facts on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:

Nearly 800 specialists with critical skills have been fired from the military under DADT, including several linguists who speak Arabic.

U.S. taxpayers have paid $250 million to investigate and root out patriotic servicemen and women under DADT and as much as $1.2 billion in lost recruiting and training costs.

More than two-thirds of civilians support allowing gays to serve openly in the military. And despite the fear-mongering about unit morale, nearly 3 in 4 troops say they are personally comfortable serving side-by-side with gays and lesbians.

In the most recent poll by ABC/Washington Post, 75% of Americans support allowing gays to serve in the military, up from 44 percent who believed they should be allowed to serve, rising to 62 percent in 2001 and today’s 75 percent.

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Gay Rights Watch » hearing

VIDEO: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Hearing Highlights