Mission
The mission of the Military Equality Association is
to build a grassroots movement at the state and local
level dedicated to advocating for an end to “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” and lifting the ban on
open lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) military
service through the passage of legislation in Congress.
History
The Military Equality Alliance (MEA) represents a first-ever
grassroots political effort focused directly on organizing
to lift the ban on open LGBT service in the military.
MEA was born out of the transformation of the Military
Education Initiative (MEI), a project whose mission
was to engage in a dialogue with America’s 27
million military veterans, and the
organizations that represent them, to enhance their
understanding of the gays in the military issue. These
veterans and their organizations are appropriately held
in high regard by the American public and our elected
officials.
The faces and voices of gay and lesbian service members
and veterans have been largely absent from the public
discourse over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” policy, due to the policy’s rules
forbidding gay troops from being public about their
lives. MEI worked to highlight the stories of these
LGBT veterans to promote greater understanding among
the larger veterans community.
With the introduction for the first time in 2005 of
legislation to end sexual orientation-based discrimination
in the U.S. military, the opportunity now exists to
lobby support from these veterans and their allies to
directly advocate their support for the “Military
Readiness Enhancement Act” that is now pending
in the U.S. Congress. A transformed MEI, through MEA,
will focus its resources to these efforts.
In 1993, President Clinton signed into law a policy
governing sexual orientation in the military known as
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t
Pursue, Don’t Harass” (DADT). The law was
intended as a “compromise” between gay and
lesbian activists who favored lifting all restrictions
on military service, and those who opposed the presence
of gays and lesbians in the U.S. Armed Forces, by allowing
gays and lesbians to serve as long as they did not disclose
their sexual orientation.
Thirteen years later, all indications are that this
ill-conceived social experiment has failed miserably.
All of the arguments against open military service by
gays and lesbians that were presented in 1992-93—chief
among them, the notion that openly gay and lesbian service
members would undermine military readiness, unit cohesion
and morale—have been largely disproven. Discharges
for homosexuality have consistently declined the past
few years just as the need for combat-ready military
personnel has increased. There is compelling anecdotal
evidence indicating that gay and lesbian service members
are serving openly in the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq
and Afghanistan with no ill effects on unit cohesion
or combat effectiveness.
The British, Canadian, Australian, Israeli and several
other militaries have lifted their bans on gays and
lesbians with no discernible negative effects. 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 currently appears that there is not so much
an opposition to repealing the ban as a sort of political
inertia that favors the status quo.
The movement to “lift the ban” needs an
extra push to overcome the political inertia and imbue
members of Congress and their constituents with a sense
of urgency. A bill introduced by Congressman Marty Meehan
(D-MA) to repeal DADT, the Military Readiness Enhancement
Act (MREA), has 116 House co-sponsors and counting.
However, there is as of yet no companion bill on the
Senate side, nor is there any sign of Congressional
committee hearings for the foreseeable future. While
few members of Congress have actively voiced opposition
to repealing DADT, neither have they expressed support
for the MREA, and their silence on the issue only serves
to continue the political inertia.
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. The
grassroots lobbying effort that is needed will be most
effective when spearheaded by GLBT military veterans
residing in those districts are substantially involved.
MEA will lead the effort to identify, train and organize
grassroots activists to advocate for change from their
Congressional representatives.
MEA intends to focus our strategy in five ways:
• Research and target strategic districts and
states for outreach
• Conduct initial outreach and in-person visits
to these areas
• Educate and train grassroots activists
• Guide and stage local events
• Transition into political action
We welcome your support and encourage you to join our
efforts.
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