Trans Universe

 

I just received an “Action Alert” from the Servicesmembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) asking me and others to send a letter to our local newspapers and the national newspapers on stating the need to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) supports this repeal and has since Day One of our existence.  We knew back then that transgender people were being kicked out under DADT, but did not have the proof until this year with the survey we did.

 

I included the Action Alert SLDN sent me after my comments.  When you click onto their link, it takes you to a place where you fill out various pieces of information and it then sends you to a pre-written letter to send off to those newspapers.  You can change the words in the letter.  If you read down in the letter, you will see near the end it says, “gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.” When I saw that, I added the word “transgender” in that list and sent it out with that minor change.  Afterwards, I sent a response to Aubrey Sarvis at SLDN telling him what I did.

(Break)

 

I am respectfully requesting transgender people, whether you served in the military or not, to do something similar, then send Aubrey Sarvis an E-mail telling him what you had done.  You can do as simple as I did and just add the word “transgender” to the letter, or you can write a completely new letter.  You can do what Angela Brightfeather, TAVA’s VP is doing and send SLDN an E-mail stating why you will not participate in this effort until they add us in this process.  The survey backs us up and we will no longer be silent about being left out.  We didn’t ask the Department of Defense to investigate us and discharge us under DADT, but they did.  Now, both the DoD and SLDN need to hear our voices.

 

We are not taking this stance without a plan on how SLDN can include us and what they can say to make this addition seamless.  All they have to do is sit down and talk with us about it.

 

Here’s what they sent me.  Aubrey Sarvis’s E-mail address is at the bottom.

 

*****************************

 

Dear Monica,

 

Something amazing happened at the Democratic National Convention this week.

 

For the first time since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was implemented, a major political party adopted a platform that calls for the replacement of the law with a non-discrimination policy.

 

The press has largely ignored this historic accomplishment, instead focusing on the big-name speakers and fancy parties. But this moment is too important for the press to ignore.

 

Please write a short letter to your local newspaper, telling them about the big news:

 

http://action.sldn.org/page/speakout/CoverthePlatform

 

With last month’s compelling Congressional hearing, resounding public support in a Washington Post poll, and now this platform victory, the momentum to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is clearly on our side.

 

We hope the Republican Party will follow in the Democrats’ footsteps and support a similar position in its platform next week.

 

This the first year that repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been called for in a major party platform — and with your help to repeal the law, it can be the last time it needs to be.

 

We can’t let this moment go by unnoticed. Use our simple tool to write a letter to your local newspaper, letting them know why the platform position is so important to you:

 

http://action.sldn.org/page/speakout/CoverthePlatform

 

Thank you for your continued support.

 

Sincerely,

 

Aubrey Sarvis

Executive Director

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

sldn@sldn.org