By Eric Rader
On Sept. 21, a minority of senators decided that the U.S. military should continue to discriminate against lesbian and gay soldiers. Despite overwhelming public and military support for ending the regressive "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Senate Democrats failed to get enough votes to stop a Republican filibuster of a military spending bill that included an end to the policy.
At a time when our nation has troops of all backgrounds facing danger around the world, Senate Republicans (and two Democrats), who claim they revere the military, have actually weakened our nation and dishonored the service of many brave women and men. The unconscionable obstructionism of the GOP means that gay and lesbian soldiers who courageously defend this country can still be kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation.
The inability of the Senate to end the DADT policy points to the critical importance of the judiciary in protecting the rights of minorities.
In the early years of the black civil rights movement, the NAACP recognized that conservative Congresses and presidents would not grant equality, so civil rights leaders challenged discriminatory laws in federal court. These so-called "test cases" helped to dismantle the Jim Crow system brick by brick in the mid-20th century, culminating in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision in 1954.
In the following years, President Lyndon Johnson and a more progressive Congress established race and gender as protected categories in federal law, confirming the wise decisions reached earlier by the courts.
A similar phenomenon is occurring right now in the movement for LGBT equality.
In recent weeks, federal courts have ruled in favor of gay marriage in California, against the DADT policy in California and against the Defense of Marriage Act in Massachusetts. Several days after the Senate's failed effort to end DADT, a federal court in Washington State reinstated a lesbian Air Force nurse who was discharged under the policy. Also last week, a state court in Florida ruled in favor of the right of lesbians and gays to adopt children. In each of these cases, judges recognized that there was no legal rationale for treating people differently because of their sexual orientation.
It is likely that some of these cases will end up being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the struggle for equal rights in the 20th century, it took action by the nation's highest court to end legal discrimination against people based on race or gender. The test case strategy was the only realistic avenue available to civil rights leaders at a time when the political branches of the government lacked the will and courage to do the right thing. While there are some in our government today who have courage on issues of LGBT equality, many others do not. The entire Republican caucus in the Senate, along with two Democrats, demonstrated political cowardice last week, by casting the deciding votes that blocked debate on the repeal of DADT.
The court decisions, though critical in the struggle for equality, should not even be necessary. All of these cases involve laws that could simply be changed or eliminated by Congress or state legislatures.
On DADT, it is still possible that the Senate will do the right thing. Several of the senators who supported the filibuster against the bill last week have indicated that they are waiting for the completion of the military's review of the policy in December before they vote to end it. Some of these senators may support ending the policy at that time, though after last week's fiasco, it's not something we should count on happening.
If the Senate won't act, we should call on President Obama to stop enforcing the DADT policy as commander-in-chief; he could also refuse to appeal the judicial rulings against DADT. Absent legislative or executive action, it'll be up to the courts to end discrimination. Thankfully, it appears that the judicial branch recognizes the need to apply constitutional rights to all Americans. Eventually, true equality in this nation will come, no matter how hard supporters of discrimination try to block it.
Contact President Obama and urge him to use executive action to end DADT: Visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact, or call the White House switchboard at 202-456-1414.
Continue to pressure the Senate to end DADT:
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee:
http://levin.senate.gov/contact/
Sen. Debbie Stabenow:
http://stabenow.senate.gov/email.cfm
