A Personal Promise From President Obama On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
May 7, 2009
Last night, I received a phone call filled with exciting news from a close friend to GLAAD, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao. Sandy is a Chinese American woman and army officer based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Sandy originally reached out to me last January as a result of her brave decision to come out as gay.
At the same time, Sandy also sent a heartfelt letter to President Obama urging him to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).
Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao
An excerpt from her original letter in January reads:
Today is Chinese New Year day. I hope it will bring good fortune to you and your newly elected office. Today is also the day I inform my chain of command of who I am. One of the seven army values is integrity. It means choosing to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be. As a Christian, this also means living an honest life.
In closing, she wrote:
We have the best military in the world and I would like to continue to be part of it. My mother can tell you it is my dream to serve our country. I have fought and overcome many barriers to arrive at the point I am at today. This is the only battle I fear I may lose. Even if it is too late for me, I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
Obama's Letter (click to view larger image)
This past Tuesday, May 5, Sandy received a package from the White House. As Sandy unwrapped the thick envelope and looked inside, she tearfully fell to her knees. Protected between two pieces of cardboard, the parcel contained a handwritten note from President Obama.
The President, responding to Sandy’s letter, wrote:
Sandy – Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama.
Sandy and I have spent the past few months sharing her story in the media so others know about the unfortunate reality facing gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens in the armed forces. We began sharing her story with Asian Pacific Islander media, mainly because of their growing interest for more LGBT stories. We had also shared her story with mainstream media outlets, but received no response.
I initially pitched her story to Audrey, a magazine reaching more than 10,000 Asian American women across the country.
Click here for the full story by Sandy
Audrey’s Editor-in-Chief, Anne Kim, readily agreed to pick up Sandy’s personal account about coming out in the military. Her editorial can be found in the April/May issue that is currently on newsstands (or by clicking on the image to the left).
I also reached out to my contact at The World Journal, a Chinese language daily newspaper reaching nearly 350,000 readers. The reporter immediately interviewed Sandy and subsequently wrote a feature piece on DADT and its impact on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.
Sandy’s last day in the army is May 19. She is being forced to leave the military, another service member discharged under the DADT policy.
Right now, she is preparing to rejoin everyday life as a civilian. But even though Sandy is sad to leave her dream job, she hopes her story will contribute to repealing the military ban. Sandy is even more encouraged by President Obama’s personal promise to allow others like her to serve openly in the military with pride and dignity.
The White House Web site
The debate over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still alive in the media landscape. Bloggers like Joe. My. God recently found the White House Web site had revised its language on President Obama’s commitment to lift the ban for openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving in the military.
While the story of revised White House Web site language may fall out of the news cycle, we can be sure that DADT will continue to capture the media spotlight. The advocacy, reports and media coverage surrounding the ban have only expanded the public debate, scrutinizing the reasons and rationale for delaying the day when openly lesbian, gay and bisexual people can serve in the military.
The President’s personal reply extends beyond Sandy and her story. It’s a powerful message to the American people that one day everyone will be able to serve their country free from the fear of being discharged simply because of their sexual orientation. However, as the President’s note alludes to, the timeline to fulfill that commitment remains unknown.
My work with Sandy is one example from many that highlights the very reason why we need GLAAD’s Asian Pacific Islander Media Program. Whether we are providing a media training for LGBT community leaders from Mainland China to pitching a Seoul-based newspaper a hate crimes story, my work aims to harness the power of media with cultural competency. GLAAD’s commitment to the Asian Pacific Islander community and other communities of color is united by a simple belief that we must bring all of our experiences to the table when engaging in meaningful debate for fairness and equality.
Below, you can watch a clip from The Rachel Maddow Show which followed the story of the White House Website revising its DADT language:
And here is a collection of media coverage related to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:
Related Blog Coverage
Joe. My. God:
- White house fixes DADT Language on website, “repeal” replaces “change”
- White house restores LGBT rights promises on website (but changes DADT wording from “repeal” to “change”
- White house shrinks LGBT rights commitments list on official site
The Bilerico Project:
- Disrespecting the troops, one thousand officers at a time
- Obama hits pause on the repeal DADT button
- Robert Gates wants to “push” DADT repeal “down the road a little bit”
Media Coverage of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Improves as Repeal Moves Toward Reality
February 5, 2009
The Boston Globe’s recent coverage of Obama’s pledge to overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” is one of many news stories out this year that fairly tackles the issue. The Globe piece delves into Obama’s announcement that more studies need to be done, and more Congressional support is needed, before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Though the Globe piece’s terminology was not quite perfect (use of “gays” rather than “gay men and women” or “gay people”), overall the reporter did a great job keeping the piece fair, accurate, and inclusive of LGBT voices and perspectives. It presented multiple sides to the issue. It quoted expert repeal advocates like the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund (SLDN) and the Palm Center at UC-Santa Barbara.
The day after the story’s publication, SLDN’s executive director, Aubrey Sarvis, opined in the Huffington Post that there is no need for another study on the military ban:
We do not need another report to tell us what we already know and what earlier reports have long since concluded: the sexual orientation of a service member is irrelevant. What is relevant is how well he or she does the job.
The importance of LGBT advocates not only participating in mainstream media news pieces, but also writing opinion pieces like Sarvis’ HuffPo column, enriches the ongoing conversation around the military ban. The advent of the blogosphere and LGBT military activism has helped shape the past 15+ years of coverage.
Back when the military ban first went into effect, the way the media reported on it was less than fair. In 19
96, the New York Times was still referring to gay men and lesbians as “homosexuals” in their military ban coverage. SLDN was regularly quoted, but by today’s standards the LGBT terminology missed the mark. By this year, the Air Force Times published a very well-done piece exploring the discrimination transgender veterans face, marking a heightened LGBT visibility in military press.
But not all media coverage of LGBT service members has been transformed into fair and accurate in 2009. Last month, GLAAD launched an Action Alert against “Gunny” Bob Newman, host of The Gunny Bob Show on Colorado’s KOA-AM Radio:
Newman used his Clear Channel-owned media platform to make false and defamatory comments about gay service members. Newman suggested that lifting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on allowing qualified gay military personnel to serve openly in the armed forces, would lead to greater HIV risk.
Despite setbacks like KOA-AM, the media coverage of LGBT military personnel is on the whole improving. As President Obama’s administration continues to make decisions around “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” media coverage will hopefully continue to portray the issues fairly and give voice to our community.
