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 We did it!i Our voice was heard + today the Senate REPEALED DADT.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.

 Source:

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