A group of military bloggers, many of them retired service members, have released a joint statement calling for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, according to a statement on the military blog Blackfive.
“We consider the US military the greatest institution for good that has ever existed. No other organization has freed more people from oppression, done more humanitarian work or rescued more from natural disasters. We want that to continue,” reads the statement. “The US Military is professional and ready to adapt to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell without compromising its mission. Echoing Sec. Def. Gates and ADM Mullen, we welcome open and honorable service, regardless of sexual orientation.”
The statement asks members of congress to implement whatever policies are suggested in a study currently being conducted by the service chiefs, the findings of which will be delivered to Congress on Dec. 1.
“I wrote my first piece in support of repeal five years ago,” Jim Hanson, a blogger at Blackfive, told The Daily Caller. “There are not enough people left in the military who care who you sleep with for us to keep out Americans. The need for [DADT] is just past.”
The other milbloggers who signed the petition are Matt Burden of Warrior Legacy Foundation & BLACKFIVE, Blake Powers of BLACKFIVE, Fred Schoenman of BLACKFIVE, David Bellavia of House to House, Bruce McQuain of Q&O, JD Johannes of Outside the Wire, Diane Frances McInnis Miller of Boston Maggie, Mark Seavey of This Ain’t Hell, Michael St. Jacques of The Sniper, Mary Ripley of the US Naval Institute Blog, John Donovan of Castle Argghhh!, Andrew J. Lubin of The Military Observer, Marc Danziger of Winds of Change, and Greta Perry of Hooah Wife.
Hanson, who retired from U.S. Army as a Special Forces weapons sergeant, said that after DADT is repealed, “you won’t hear about gays in the military anymore,” and that it’s only a “hurdle to get to the point” where new rules can implemented. “Why give ammunition to people who want to hate on the military? This takes ammunition out of the hands of people like Elena Kagan.”
He also said that while there were several milbloggers who didn’t sign the petition, “no one’s going to lose their mind over DADT.”