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I graciously received permission from GLAAD’s Andy Marra to crosspost this GLAAD Exclusive blog entry.
By the way, if you read any institutional lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender blogs, you’re missing out if you’re not reading the glaadBLOG at least a few times a week.
~~Autumn~~
May 14, 2009
by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
In the past couple of weeks, we have witnessed an unprecedented amount of media coverage on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). Over time, the American people have come to understand the ramifications of the military ban and its devastating impact on our armed forces, through stories from the soldiers affected by it.
I had the distinct privilege of assisting one of those soldier, helping to share her story. Today, with her permission, I’m exclusively sharing her final words on the matter before her discharge under the DADT policy next Tuesday.
A little bit of background – On January 28, I received a touching email from a woman by the name of Sandy Tsao. She identified herself as a Chinese American Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, based in Missouri, who had made the brave decision to come out as a gay woman. She had met with her commanding officer to share the news, even though she was aware that the conversation would cause an end to her service.
In her first email to me, she wrote:
Besides God, being able to serve and being myself are the most important things to me… I am all sincerely yours just let me know what I need to do.
She also wrote a letter to President Obama, pleading for him to repeal the military ban so she continue to serve her country. On January 29, she had emailed me that the White House received her letter and it was under review.
She also wrote:
“I sincerely appreciate your help and your team’s hard work. I have signed my paperwork today for the charges and will be beginning my case shortly. Thank you for keeping my personal information confidential, I only want myself to be solely responsible in anything that may happen should the outcome be negative.”
With Sandy’s approval, we began pitching her personal story to national media outlets with strong records of coverage on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But we didn’t receive a single reply. So we took her story to Asian Pacific Islander media outlets, leading to major hits in The World Journal, a Chinese language daily newspaper and Audrey, a magazine for Asian American women. In her Audrey op-ed, she explained the reasons for coming out and why she wanted to continue serving her country.
[More below the fold.]On April 30, Quinnipiac conducted a national poll, with 60% of participants agreeing that not allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military is discrimination. Public opinion over DADT was on Sandy’s side.
So was President Obama. On May 5, Sandy emailed me with some exciting news – The White House had mailed her a personal handwritten note from President Obama. She also enclosed a copy of the letter in her email.
She wrote:
“I received this on Cinco de Mayo. Cried when I got it. Anyway, please do as you please with it. Just wanted to give you the heads up.”
In January, Obama spokesperson Robert Gibbs reiterated that then President-elect Obama would end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. President Obama’s personal reply to Sandy served as another strong piece of evidence that he planned to keep his previous campaign promise to repeal the ban.
With Sandy’s permission, I wrote a blog post last week about her story and the letter from President Obama.
The post sparked nationwide coverage of Sandy’s story and the military ban. Top television news shows including MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos featured the topic of GLAAD’s post as the lead story.
The blog post was featured and linked to by a host of influential print and digital outlets including Reuters, The Huffington Post, Politico, St. Louis Dispatch, Atlanta Journal Constitution and Mother Jones. The post was also reported on Memeorandum.com as one of the most popular news memes on the Internet.
A flurry of media requests poured in from news shows, newspapers and magazines interested in interviewing Sandy. I called her to discuss the possibility of her participation, but she politely declined and promised that she would mail a letter explaining her reasons why.
Yesterday, I received a package from Sandy and I am still shocked by its contents. Inside I found the personal handwritten note from President Obama, along with the White House envelope. On top of the letter was a sticky note that read:
“Gift for Andy. I hope this will help you in the mission.”
While Sandy has declined future media appearances, she has offered up one last piece of commentary through her letter to me. She has given GLAAD exclusive permission to share her thoughts.
From Sandy’s letter (emphasis mine):
“I will need a couple month’s time to get my affairs together after I am officially discharged from the army.In addition, an engineering curriculum requires extensive preparation in order to build a good foundation in math and physics if one hopes to succeed in it. This is my #2 dream job so I want to give it my all.”
She also wrote:
“I have strong feelings to contribute to society by being a part of a profession that will welcome my services without hindering my ability to love someone openly. Thank you again for keeping me abreast with all the voicemail messages and emails. You are truly a Godsend.”
Sandy closed her letter with the simple sentence (emphasis mine):
“To equality for all.”
Any rational person can understand why Sandy has decided to take time for herself. Next Tuesday, May 19, she will officially be discharged from the US Army, for simply wanting to uphold the military values of integrity and honesty by serving as an openly gay woman.
It is on that day the United States government will take away her #1 dream job.
Instead of honoring Sandy for her service, she has been forced to let go of a dream that defined her very character. It is only natural that Sandy would need time to mourn this loss and try to plan for her future.
With this blog post, I hope I am able to share another side of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that people often forget – the lives that must be rebuilt and the dreams that must be forgotten. Similarly, I hope Sandy’s story, and other like it, will resonate and continue to be shared. The brave men and women of our armed forces deserve nothing less.
Similar to Sandy’s story, is that of First Lieutenant Dan Choi who has been an outspoken advocate on repealing DADT. If Dan is discharged, he will become the first Arabic linguist to be fired as a result of coming out as a gay man. Keep in mind, Dan’s specialty in Arabic has been noted as a language priority for our national security alongside Farsi, Korean and Mandarin.
Dan will join the 12,500 other men and women who have been discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A Blue Ribbon Commission Report found that discharging openly lesbian, gay or bisexual people in the military cost $363.8 million dollars spread over ten years.
On Tuesday, May 12, the now White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs at the press briefing repeated President Obama’s commitment to repealing the ban but through legislative means.
Connecting the dots for people on the personal nature of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell remains a top priority for GLAAD. We will continue to encourage media outlets to examine and scrutinize the debate around the reasons for delaying a repeal of the military ban. Further, we will make a concerted effort to work alongside our partners, introduce new voices into the conversation and ensure media are equipped with the resources to report on this critical issue.
On a personal note, Sandy and I remain in touch even though she has stepped away from the public eye to focus on her rebuilding her life. I am honored that she has given me her handwritten letter from President Obama, but I only consider it to be on loan.
It is my hope that in the very near future, I’ll be getting a phone call from Sandy. I’m hoping on that call she’ll be asking me to send this gift back. I’m hoping to hear her say how proud she is that her commander in chief has fulfilled his commitment to her, like she had bravely fulfilled her commitment to our country.
And I’ll know that it was stories like Sandy’s and Dan’s that helped moved a country, to move a President, to move the most powerful military in the world “to equality for all.”
~~~~~
Related GLAAD Posts:
* Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao’s Story Covered By MSNBC, Online Media (0)
* Media Coverage of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Improves as Repeal Moves Toward Reality (0)
* Plaque Dedicated to First Nat’l Visible Gay Service Member (1)
* CNN: The Situation Room – Bringing Gay Troops Out of the Closet (0)
* CNN: American Morning – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (0)
* CNN: The Situation Room – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Under Fire (1)
* Election Coverage Recap: General Kerr and Election Coverage of LGBT Issues (0)
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9 Comments
Best of luck to Sandywith many thanks (also to Andy M and our own Autumn). What incredible dignity, grace and strength she has.
The military failed HER and continues to fail other good and honorable soldiers. I just do not understand this at all.
WowWhat courage. I would be proud to serve side by side with Sandy. Our country has lost a great leader.
As one door closes another always opens – she will accomplish great things.
Wow, Sandy iseverything that you could possibly want in today’s Armed Forces. That President Obama feels the need to fire Tsao and Choi solely due to the fact that they are gay is blatant discrimination.
As marriage equality continues to buil and build around the country, a state at a time, without Obama’s help, we need to hammer Obama on this issue, as there is public support of it. Not only is this discrimination, it threatens outr national security.
Good luck to all who want to stay in, rejoin etc.Here is Dan Colbert's inimitable take on it. (Don’t know how to put actual video here.)
Yes, and …I’d switch that last line up.
“Not only does this threaten our national security, it’s discrimination.”
When it comes to who and who cannot serve in the military, the strength of the military and its ability to defend our nation should be the first (some might argue only) consideration. And that’s certainly the tack that anti-gay forces have taken.
But it’s clear that “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is harmful to our national security. We’ve just lost two fantastic soldiers. And you want to know what’s bad for unit cohesion? Seeing your commander or colleague fired for doing nothing more than telling the truth. This has got to end … for the sake of our national security. Period.
Just a correction…It is not the President that is firing anyone. Its THE LAW. Until congress repeals the law it will remail part of the UCMJ.
I think that we learned the consequences of having politicians that feel free to ignore the law at will.
Except that …… as Commander-in-Chief, Obama could easily, with the stroke of a pen, stop the practice of dishonorably discharging gay men and women pending Congressional review.
This would prompt Congress to act, and stop the madness in the meantime. Given his consistent stance against DADT, here’s hoping this is something he decides to do soon, especially with all the pressure to do so coming from equality activists and their friends.
Obama’s consistent stance on DADT?Which is to postpone it for “more important” matters, i.e. throw gays under the bus like we all knew he would after the election? Have you seen his inaugural website on LBGT Equality lately? All of his carefully articulated promises have been seriously ambiguated or retracted entirely.
He promised us the moon for his campaign and made a joke about gay marriage at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Or could he have been referring to Iowa’s being the first state to allow interracial marriage? That must be it. Because pre-Loving Vs. Virginia represents such a humorous time in American History, when “opposite race” folks lost their rights when they moved or traveled between states.
Obama isn’t going to keep ANY of his promises to LBGT people as long as we are the folk devil-du-jour (“vile sodomites” was the cute term of the day) of the religious right. I’m sorry Kool-Aid drinkers, but Obama used the same strategy Bill Clinton did and even went further in his promises.
The only way discriminated minorities gain FEDERAL equality in this country is by suit in the Federal Supreme Court, so the only way Obama can make me happy is by replacing Souter with a Big Tough Jewish Dyke (we don’t want to alienate Ginsburg, Mazel Tov) to muscle down the four Opus Dei judges. Congressional incentives to add Sexual Orientation to the Hate Crimes Bill is not really equality (but thanks anyway, Gwen Moore, I love you)–it just means that when people kill us or vandalize our property–they have a slim chance of getting extra in trouble.
Give your movement money to the lawyers, or to politicians who have a proven track record of fighting for equality. Obama has no such record, just a lot of promises. I love him, I voted for him, I have the hugest crush on Michelle, but Obama’s a politician, and a “stance” of promises is not a track record. So far, his report card on gay rights is a D–and I’m only giving him a D because I love Wanda Sykes.
I hope you’re getting paid, SciFi, to parrot WH shillsIt makes my skin crawl to have to paraphrase the NRA but even a broken clock is right twice a day: Laws don’t fire people, people fire people.
You might spend a little less time sounding like Robert Gibb’s talking parrot and learning what the LAW actually is:
“Congress has already granted the president authority to halt military discharges in the interest of national security. Under 10 U.S.C. 12305, ‘the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States’.” – Nathaniel Frank, professor of history at NY University, DADT expert, and author of “Unfriendly Fire, in The New Republic, May 12, 2009.
“But wait,” you ejaculate, “without DADT repeal, the next President could just let discharges start again.” True, but that’s no excuse for not stopping what bleeding he can. By current dicharge rates, more than 4000 gay soldiers could be discharged in his two terms. And the next Congress could pass DADT again after this one repeals it…when did such future possiblities excuse inaction today?
Frank adds:
“Though the executive option might seem controversial, it would be a less explosive way to carry out a campaign promise than dragging the nation through a protracted debate in Congress. And once people see that gays can serve openly without incident, it will be easier to push a repeal of the law through Congress down the road . . . . Some worry the debate over gay troops will distract Obama from other pressing issues and force him to expend valuable political capital. But unlike solving the economic crisis, reforming health care, or combating climate change, ending the gay ban takes few resources, little imagination, and no mystery. We know exactly what to do, and it can be done with the stroke of a pen.”
Michael Bedwell
http://www.leonardmatlovich.com