Six Arrested at White House Protest

Servicemembers United’s Nicholson told the crowd he had run into White
House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel over the weekend and asked him whether
there was still a chance that repeal could happen this year.

“He
said he thought we had a 30 to 40 percent shot of repealing ‘don’t ask,
don’t tell’ left this year,” Nicholson said. “You know why it’s not 60
to 80 percent? Because they don’t support us right now,” he added,
pointing at the White House as the crowd cheered.

The
demonstration was organized by the groups GetEqual, Queer Rising, and Talk about Equality. As the rally
continued, Anne Tischer, Nora Camp, Alan Bounville, Natasha Dillon, Iana
Dibona, and Mark Reed quietly handcuffed themselves to the White House
gates. Once the throng of protesters noticed, they directed their chants
at the White House.

The crowd grew to about 150 as people
shouted, “We will not ... disappear. We'll remember ... in November” and
waved signs reading, “Obama, Keep Your Promises,” and “Mr. Obama, What’s
The Hold Up?”

One of the speakers at the rally, Robin
Chaurasiya, said she had skipped classes when she was still a college
student so that she could intern 20 hours a week at the office of
then-senator Barack Obama.

“Why?” Chaurasiya said. “Because you
were, in my mind, the face of ‘change’ for America.”

At a brown
bag lunch for interns of the senator, she had asked Obama to share his
best advice for success. “Always fight for what you believe in, never
compromise your values, and you’ll be successful,” Obama told them.

“Well,
Mr. President,” she continued on Sunday, “it is May 2, 2010, exactly one and
a half years after your election, during which you promised to repeal
‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Look at us — we are all here, fighting for our
beliefs, unwilling to compromise our values. But President Obama, only
you can make us successful.”