The repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" faces a very uncertain future in the US Senate. Only if allies of the troops rise up and send a resounding message to Washington that killing repeal in 2010 is not an option, will our country finally resolve to treat our LGB troops with the same respect and dignity that they serve our country.
Here's my recommendation.
• Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin. Arguably, the man with the most power to affect whether the amendment to repeal stays or goes. If it goes, it will be because he folded his hand. If it stays, we can thank him for his courage and commitment. Tell him which way to go. His office number is: (202) 224-6221
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. As Senate Majority leader, he wields the power to basically make every Senator's life living Hell if they don't follow his lead. This isn't his nature we know, but it's way past time to learn it. There are worse things than working overtime to broker tough deals, we've all been there. Tell him to keep Senate in session until June if the GOP doesn't fold. Let them kiss their Christmas break goodbye to defend their bigotry. Tell him to return Dan Choi's ring now. Call: (202) 224-3542
• Nancy Pelosi. The legislation is largely out of her court, yes. But she is far from impotent. She is still, for several more months, the Speaker of the House. She still plays a key role in selecting the members of the conference committee that will decide the fate of repeal.
And she still has a powerful bully pulpit, and has shown her willingness to use it. When repeal was in jeopardy in the spring, she put the administration in a difficult spot calling for a stop-loss on discharges. She can do similiar again. Imagine the effect on the national conversation if she were to say:
"It is incumbent on the President to protect the will of the House of Representatives on the NDAA that was passed. The President must veto any NDAA that does not include the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
She has promised "Don't ask, don't tell" will be a memory by year's end. Now is not the time to surrender to defeat and abandon principles. Now is the time to fight. We need her leadership more than ever right now. Call: 202-225-4965.
• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. She wrangled 21 other Senators to make public statement opposing the DOJ's appeal of the DADT verdict. She is the person for a similar job of wrangling Senators to protect the DADT amendment she has worked so hard to get this far. She is the one to build a progressive coalition of support. Even a progressive filibuster if it comes to that. Call her, thank her for her fierce advocacy and tell her, we need her to work extra hard right now. [Update: She's on it. Thank her. Ask your Senator why they are not standing with Gillibrand, Udall and Lieberman.] 202-224-4451.
• John McCain. I doubt it would have much effect, but stranger things have happened. Worst that can happen is his phone lines are tied up all day and he can't get anything else done. Call (202) 224-2235
Pico's action diary of last night identified key swing votes, it's a very good list.
• Susan Collins (R-ME) - (202) 224-2523
• Olympia Snowe (R-ME) - (202) 224-5344
• Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) - (202) 224-2353
• Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) - (202) 224-4843
• Richard Lugar (R-IN) - (202) 224-4814
• Judd Gregg (R-NH) - (202) 224-3324
• Scott Brown (R-MA) - (202) 224-4543
• George Voinovich (R-OH) - (202) 224-3353
• Kit Bond (R-MO) - (202) 224-5721
• Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) - (202) 224-6665
• Call you own Senator. Call any Senator. Call them even if they are batshit GOP. How are we going to stop drifting right as a nation if we sequester our OWN REPRESENTATIVES from our disagreement with their policy? Tell them they are not representing you if they vote no. They won't break the filibuster if they think their constituents don't care enough to call. Disabuse them of that, please.
Main Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
More Senate contact information here.
Key talking points:
• Thank our friends and advocates for standing with us.
• Let them know, taking "Don't ask, don't tell" repeal off the table for the 2010 legislative year is not an option.
• Ask them what their position is. If they don't know, ask them to get back to you. Create work for them. They work for you, make them earn their pay.
I wanna read reports that DC was flooded with calls that DADT repeal cannot be taken off the table.
Photo: Corporal Brett Edward Stout photographed by Brooklyn photographer Jo Ann Santangelo. She will be having a display of photographs from her recent nationwide tour photographing LGBT veterans. Stout was a Russian cryptologic linguist and weapons marksmanship instructor. In 2002, he was discharged from the United States Marine Corp.
Exhibit opening and book release this Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 5:30 at New York City's The LGBT Center, Manhattan.
Below: Activists protest the Navy's ban on gay servicemembers at the Pentagon in 1965. Forty-five years later, the time for Change is now.