The Tucson city
government has sent a resolution to the state's
congressional delegation asking that the federal ban on gays
in the military be repealed. According to a memo
obtained by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
on September 6, the city council, Mayor Bob Walkup,
and city manager Mike Hein approved the resolution.
SLDN executive
director Steve Ralls said in a statement that more than
22,500 LGBT veterans live in Arizona and that there are
presently more than 65,000 gay and lesbian troops on
active duty.
"Communities from
coast to coast realize they are less safe when
qualified men and women are turned away from our fighting
forces simply because they are lesbian or gay," Ralls
said.
The resolution
stated that discharging approximately 9,500 service
members under "don't ask, don't
tell" has cost taxpayers more than $190
million.
More than
100 U.S. House members are attached to a proposed bill
that would lift the ban against gays serving openly in the
military. Ellen Tauscher, a Democrat from California,
is lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement
Act. Arizona Democrats Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva are
two of 131 bipartisan cosponsors.
The action
follows similar resolutions that have been passed by a
handful of other cities across the country, including
New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and
St. Louis.
Republican
presidential candidate and Arizona senator John McCain has
been a supporter of "don't ask, don't tell," though SLDN has
made several attempts in the past asking McCain to
reconsider his position. (The Advocate)