(San Diego, CA) – Log Cabin President Patrick Guerriero joined leaders of the Call to Duty Tour in San Diego to highlight plans for an education effort to raise awareness about problems with the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. “We’re pleased to support The Call to Duty Tour,” said Log Cabin President Patrick Guerriero. “The time has long since passed to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. This discriminatory policy weakens our national defense and hampers our nation’s ability to fight the war on terror.”
Guerriero joined tour founder and director Alex Nicholson, Tour Assistant Director Jarrod Chlapowski, and openly gay retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Alan Steinman at a news conference in San Diego. "This tour will help educate the public about this outdated law," says Nicholson. "Do you really care if the Arabic linguist translating the next piece of crucial intelligence is gay or straight, as long as he or she gets the job done quickly and accurately, and helps save American lives? Does it really matter anymore?"
Led by seven gay and lesbian former service members, this six week nationwide tour of selected colleges, universities, congressional offices, and veterans' service organizations is taking place from February 20th to March 31st, 2006. The tour, which has stops at 18 colleges and universities, will use media events, education programs, and lectures from former service members to highlight problems with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. More information can be found at http://www.calltodutytour.org/
Log Cabin Republicans is one of the tour's sponsors. Other supporters of the tour include the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), The Liberty Education Forum, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), and the Military Education Initiative (MEI).
"We're glad that a wide array of organizations across the political spectrum is supporting this education effort," said Nicholson. "This issue unites fair-minded Americans who care about our nation's security. They understand we need the most qualified and competent servicemembers, regardless of their sexual orientation."
"The gay and lesbian members of the U.S. military who are risking their lives to help win the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world demonstrate that in military service, courage matters, not sexual orientation," says Guerriero. "I challenge members of Congress from both parties to support legislation to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and strengthen our nation's security."
The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which became law in 1993, prevents gay and lesbian people from serving in the U.S. military—honestly and openly. More than 10,000 gay and lesbian servicemembers have been kicked out of the military in the last 13 years. With U.S. military personnel stretched across the globe fighting the war on terror, kicking out qualified servicemembers is harming our national security.
In October 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans filed suit against the U.S. government to overturn the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The lawsuit was filed in the United States Federal District Court for the Central District of California. A second lawsuit has been filed challenging the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) filed the suit in December 2004 in Federal District Court in Massachusetts. In Cook v. Rumsfeld, the plaintiffs are 12 former servicemembers discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
