Activists from GetEqual and the Arizona group H.E.R.O. disrupted a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday morning to demand that U.S. senator John McCain end his threat to filibuster an attempt to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
According to a news release around 10 a.m., "Members of the LGBT civil rights organizations stood up in the middle of the hearing in room SD-106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where they invoked images of those who have stood in the way of civil rights progress in the past and demanded Senator John McCain (R-AZ) immediately end his threat to filibuster language next week that would continue the process of repealing the military's discriminatory 'don't ask, don't tell' law."
Activists held signs saying, "Senator McCain Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Do You Want to Be the next George Wallace?" and "Senator McCain Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, It's Not Too Late to Change Your Legacy. "
Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEqual, said she thought McCain got the message.
"As soon as H.E.R.O. stood up, McCain's head went down and he only lifted it when asking questions," said Cronk, who was an observer at the action. "He looked embarrassed and miserable."
Meg Sneed, cochair of H.E.R.O., was one of the protesters and said that after staging several actions against McCain both in Washington and at his offices in Arizona, she believes the senator is familiar with the group.
"I think the first time, he wasn't really aware that we were there or of what was going on, and he's now aware of our presence and that we aren't going to go away -- we're going to keep coming back until he listens to what we have to say," she said. Sneed added that the senator's staffers has indicated in the past that they would meet with the group but they have failed to follow through.
Check back for video after the action concludes.
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