A new
organization that opposes the military's antigay "don't ask,
don't tell" policy is taking its campaign to Hampton Roads,
Va., and the region's large military presence. Four gay
military veterans from Virginia will discuss their
experiences on Saturday at a forum sponsored by San
Francisco's Military Equality Alliance. The group,
which formed this month, has one paid employee and an annual
budget of $80,000, executive director Jim Maloney
said.
The Norfolk
meeting is important because U.S. representatives Thelma
Drake and Jo Ann Davis are members of the House Armed
Services Committee's subcommittee on military
personnel, which is considering a bill to repeal the
ban on openly gay service members. "It's requiring
gays and lesbians in the military to lie about where they go
on the weekends, about who they're talking to," said
Lara Ballard, cochairwoman of the group's board and
its coordinator for Virginia. "In an age of heightened
security, why do you want a policy that requires
service members to lie to their superiors about what they're
doing?"
U.S.
representative Martin Meehan, a Massachusetts
Democrat, introduced legislation in 2005 requiring the
military to adopt a nondiscrimination policy on sexual
orientation. The alliance hopes to encourage residents
to lobby Drake and Davis for the bill in an area that
is home to nearly 10,000 gay and lesbian veterans, according
to 2004 U.S. Census data analyzed by the Urban
Institute, a Washington nonprofit that researches
economic and social policy.
Drake spokesman
Tyler Brown said the congresswoman does not support
Meehan's bill and hasn't heard much from her constituents on
the issue. Davis's office did not respond to a request
for comment from The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. (AP)