House to Hear
Testimony on "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"

A subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a hearing on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy July 23, reports the Washington Blade.

The event will be the first hearing in which lawmakers have evaluated military policy toward gays since "don't ask, don't tell" was enacted in 1993.

The law prohibits gays from being open about their sexual orientation while serving in the armed forces. About 12,600 service members have been expelled from the military since 1993 as a result of the policy, according to the Blade.

Among those on the witness list is former Marine Corps staff sergeant Eric Alva, who is gay and was the first U.S. soldier wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and former Air Force captain Cholene Espinoza, a lesbian. (The Advocate)