Iraq War Vet to Speak OUT on D.A.D.T.

Openly gay, Iraq War veteran and GLBT Rights Activist, Eric Alva, will be presenting a lecture on the, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the Army as part of Coming Out Week at Texas A&M University.

His presentation on the policy focuses on his personal experience in the Marine Corps. He was the first soldier to be severely injured in the Iraq War and thus the first to receive a Purple Heart.

Alva stated; “Repealing the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy so gay men and women can serve in the military freely without discrimination is important.”  He also says he won’t stop fighting until the law is repealed, as  GLBT rights have become a huge part of his life.

Lowell Kane, the University’s GLBT Resource Center’s program coordinator stated; “I think he feels passionately [about 'don't ask, don't tell'] because he served his country for 13 years and sacrificed for his country, and had to do so under a veil of secrecy because the don’t ask don’t tell policy forces an individual to lie about their personal life.”

Democrats Seeking to Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Democrats are preparing next year to lift the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open gays in the military, an uneasy culture-war compromise instituted under the last Democratic administration, should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the Walnut Creek Democrat, said a hearing today by a House Armed Services subcommittee is aimed at educating Congress and the public in preparation for a full-scale push to end the policy, first imposed in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, in the next Congress. By then, Democrats expect to have won the White House and to have expanded their House and Senate majorities.

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