Lady Gaga gets heads up from Reid on DADT repeal

Celebrities tweet delight with lifting of military's ban on gays 

msnbc.com news services

Pop star Lady Gaga wasn't in the Senate chamber Saturday, but she was among the celebrities virtually taking part in the historic vote to repeal the 17-year policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Saturday sent Lady Gaga a message on Twitter: #DADT on it's way to becoming history. Later he tweeted: @ ladygagaWe did it! #DADTis a thing of the past.

After the Senate voted 65-31 to give final congressional approval to end the ban on openly gay troops, Lady Gaga tweeted: Can't hold back the tears+pride. We did it!i Our voice was heard + today the Senate REPEALED DADT. A triumph for equality after 17 YEARS.

The Grammy Award-winning singer inserted herself into the debate in September when she addressed 2000 people in a Deering Oaks Park, Maine, rally where she stood alongside Air Force, Army and Marine veterans who were discharged because of the policy.

At that time she urged a new policy targeting straight soldiers uncomfortable with gays and called it "'If you don't like it, go home!"

MTV also reported that Gaga had brought to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards openly gay service members who had been discharged or left the military due to the policy. She also made viral videos.

Reid and Lady Gaga first exchanged tweets in September when the singer tweeted that gay rights supporters should contact him, and he responded on Twitter that a vote was coming up the next week.

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Lady Gaga gets heads up from Reid on DADT repeal

VERENA DOBNIK | 12/18/10 08:41 PM |

NEW YORK — Word that the world's largest military power will allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military brought strong and swift reaction Saturday, with supporters declaring a civil rights milestone and detractors insisting it would weaken and divide the armed forces.

In New York, home to one of the nation's largest gay communities and a gay pride parade whose grnd marshal this year was an openly gay, discharged serviceman, 28-year-old Cassandra Melnikow glanced at a news ticker in Times Square announcing the repeal and said: "Excellent! It's about time."

"I don't see what difference (sexual orientation) makes in the fighting military," said Melnikow, a public health researcher. "What's the big deal?"

President Barack Obama had made repealing "don't ask, don't tell" a campaign promise in 2008, and rounding up a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate was a historic victory for him. By the time President Bill Clinton proposed allowing gays to serve in the military in 1993, they had been explicitly barred from military service since World War I.

Foes of lifting the ban argued that the military shouldn't be used to expand the rights of gays and that allowing them to serve openly would hurt troop morale and a unit's ability to fight – the same arguments used against women and blacks.

In the end, Congress agreed to let gays serve only if their sexual orientation remained secret.


Repeal means that for the first time in U.S. history, gays will be openly accepted by the military and can acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being discharged. More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law.

The change wouldn't take immediate effect, however. The legislation says the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won't hurt troops' fighting ability. After that, there's a 60-day waiting period for the military.

Full report at:

DADT Repeal Vote Met With Celebration In Gay Community

Groups praise DADT repeal, lament DREAM

By Ron Kampeas · December 18, 2010 

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Jewish groups praised the U.S. Senate’s passage of a law allowing gays to serve openly in the military and lamented its failure to legalize undocumented migrants who arrived as minors.

“With today’s vote, Americans may serve without being forced to choose between their commitment to our country and their integrity,” said Rabbi Steve Gutow, the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella public policy group, after the Senate lifted “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” restrictions on Saturday.

The DADT policy, introduced in 1993, ended military investigations of suspected gays, but forced gay servicemen and women to hide their orientation, under threat of discharge.

Multiple Jewish groups, including the JCPA, the Anti-Defamation League, the Reform movement and the National Council of Jewish Women, had lobbied for its repeal.

Advocates of open service cited the successful integration of gays into other militaries, including in Israel.

The effort in the Senate to repeal was led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, (I-Conn.), and the measure passed 65-31. A number of gay activists noted in blogs that Lieberman, who is Orthodox, thought the measure important enough to devote the Sabbath to shepherding it through.

All that remains is for President Obama to enact the repeal; ending DADT had been one of his campaign promises.

The DREAM act, which would have created a path to citizenship for people who arrived in the United States as undocumented minors, failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to end debate; the procedural vote Saturday was 55-41. All 55 in favor were in the Democratic caucus.


The same Jewish groups that had lobbied for  DADT repeal lobbied for the Dream Act.

“The Senate missed an opportunity to extend the American dream,” said JCPA Chairman Dr. Conrad Giles. “The children who would have been protected by the DREAM act deserve their chance. They grew up here, graduated high school, and contribute to our country. They serve in our military or are attaining a college degree. They deserve a chance to thrive as American citizens.”

The American Jewish Committee called the failure a “missed opportunity."

“Instead of creating a clear path for the many undocumented young people who have graduated American high schools and are eager to go on to college and contribute to our economy and society, the Senate has delivered a stunning and painful message that they are not welcome,” it said in a statement.

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Ron Kampeas is JTA's Washington bureau chief.

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Groups praise DADT repeal, lament DREAM