SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: "Don't ask, Don't tell" - Don't Wait!

"Let's push that one down the road a little bit," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this past Sunday when a Fox News anchor asked him about the timetable for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, let's not. Our military, and our service members, can't afford to.

Write a letter to President Obama telling him why we can't wait:

http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

Here's Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Aubrey Sarvis' take on why we can't wait:

"We're fighting two wars, and we need the most qualified people possible to wage them. In fact, President Obama recently announced plans to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than 800 hundred mission-critical service members -- including linguists and intelligence analysts -- have been fired under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."Almost 13,000 service members have been fired since the law took effect in 1994. The longer the president and Pentagon delay the issue, the longer the military will keep firing service members because of their sexual orientation. And because intelligence experts and people who speak Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Dari aren't exactly easy to come by, we'll have fewer people to call on in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "

What do you think? Tell President Obama here: http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

THEO'S THOUGHTS: History has proven, the nation has only improved with military equality. If we separate and segregate ourselves with shallow labels, we only become easier to divide and conquer.

By excluding willing and able men and women from serving because of their sexuality or gender identity, we are handing ourselves to the terrorists in the form of pre-sliced bread and saying "Here, try to make a sandwich of us now."

This hits home for me too, as my very dear friend leaves for the Air Force in a few weeks. I worry about him terribly, as he is gay, but I know he cares more about this nation then he does his own comfort, and is willing to not only risk his life and his reputation, but willingly condemn himself to six years of torturous secret keeping, staring at his tongue anxiously making sure he doesn't slip.

And to think, he's making all these extra sacrifices for a country that won't allow him equal rights.
It's ridiculous.

This would never happen in Canada.

Theo.