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The Military Equality Alliance (MEA) is a new national volunteer grassroots mobilization of veteran, military, LGBT and allied communities cooperatively engaged in securing the right of all Americans to serve in our nation's armed forces free of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Equality California has generously agreed to serve as MEA's fiscal agent while it seeks its own 501(c)4 tax status.
MEA's mission is to build a grassroots movement at the state and local level dedicated to advocating for lifting the ban on open LGBT military service through the passage of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act or other similar legislation.
In 1993, President Clinton signed into law a policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), which purported to allow LGBT individuals to serve in the military as long as they did not disclose their sexual orientation. Thirteen years later, all indications are that this policy is a dismal failure. It has cost the taxpayers at least $363 million and resulted in the discharge of over 11,000 military servicemembers, many with specialized training needed to fight the Global War on Terror.
All of the arguments against open military service by gays and lesbians that were presented in 1992-93 have been disproved. The British, Canadian, Australian, Israeli and several other militaries have lifted their bans on gays and lesbians with no discernible negative effects on military readiness, unit cohesion, or morale. Gay and lesbian servicemembers are serving openly in the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with no ill effects on unit cohesion or combat effectiveness.
In addition, nationwide polls have consistently shown that the American public favors by a sizeable majority of up to 79% the lifting of DADT's ban on open military service. Indeed, it appears that there is not so much an opposition to repealing the ban as a political inertia that favors the status quo.
What is needed to break through the inertia is an outreach effort that will engage the public in key Congressional districts to lobby their Congressional representatives to support legislation to repeal or nullify DADT, spearheaded by a 501(c)(4) organization that can legally and logistically devote the bulk of its resources to grassroots lobbying.
The grassroots lobbying efforts that are needed will be most effective when spearheaded by LGBT military veterans residing in those congressional districts. MEA is working to organize and support these activists and foster the building of local coalitions of LGBT activists, veterans groups, community and allied organizations united to putting pressure on their members of Congress to support repealing DADT.
We urge you to support the Military Equality Alliance by visiting their website to join their efforts at www.militaryequality.org, and by providing a generous financial contribution by clicking here.
Thank you!
Some facts on LGBTs in the military and the impact of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell:"
- Over 11,000 service members discharged under DADT since 1993
- More than 800 personnel with skills critical to national security discharged, according to a 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report
At least 55 Arabic speakers and 9 Farsi speakers discharged since 1998
- Over 244 doctors, nurses, and medical specialists
- A February 2005 GAO study estimated DADT's cost to taxpayers of over $190 million, and admitted this figure underestimated the true costs
- A 2006 Blue Ribbon Commission Report sponsored by the University of California estimated the total cost of implementing DADT to be at least $363 million
- Over 65,000 LGBT service members are on active duty today, according to a report from the Urban Institute
- The same report estimates there are 1 million LGBT veterans in the U.S. today
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