Don't Ask, Don't Tell

House to hear testimony on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

First such hearing since 1993 By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade Jul 11, 2:43 PM

A subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a hearing on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy July 23.
The event will be the first hearing in which lawmakers have evaluated military policy toward gays since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted in 1993.
The law prohibits gays from being open about their sexual orientation while serving in the armed forces. About 12,600 service members have been expelled from the military since 1993 as a result of the policy.
The House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, which is chaired by Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), will hear testimony from individuals familiar with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Among those on the witness list is former Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who is gay and the first U.S. troop wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and former Air Force Captain Cholene Espinoza, a lesbian.
Aubrey Sarvis, the executive director for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, commended Davis for holding the hearing.
Sarvis said his organization intends to work with lawmakers to prove that the current policy “is unequal, unwise, and out of step with the realities of serving in today’s armed forces.”
In a related development, a group of retired senior military officers this week released a report urging repeal of the policy.