Monday, December 1, 2008

Moving Forward: SU and DADT in 2009

Yesterday, November 30th, marked the 15th anniversary of the signing of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. In light of the significant shifts in the political winds of late, it now remains unclear whether the law will even live to see its next anniversary date. Yesterday also marked the anniversary of an unprecedented event and display on the National Mall one year ago, 12,000 Flags for 12,000 Patriots, which Servicemembers United proudly created, organized, and executed with the assistance and co-sponsorship of the other major organizations that consistently champion the DADT issue. With an extraordinary level of cooperation, we succeeded in presenting the image of a strong and united community as the national media generously covered our event and our issue.

SU (and its predecessor project, Call to Duty) was founded by gay and lesbian veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era to represent, for the first time, the missing voices of our generation of troops and veterans in the DADT-repeal movement. While there are indeed older and more entrenched organizations that have long advocated for the repeal of DADT, SU has demonstrated unequivocally over the past 3 years that both the need and the room exist within the movement for an organization that is more inclusive and representative of this new generation of heroes.

While SU has made a deliberate effort to lay low and stay out of the national spotlight during the 2008 election season, its growing core of dedicated activists has not been sitting idly by. We are now well positioned and ready to aggressively recruit and mobilize untapped resources through our proven innovation, creativity, energy, passion, and unmatched connections within this vastly under-engaged community, much in the same way that the newer mainstream organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) has risen to national prominence over the past 5 years. By aggressively stepping forward and tapping the new social capital and civic engagement within our community, IAVA has succeeded in establishing representation for our generation’s voice in the wider veterans affairs arena. If we have learned anything from the breakthrough success of IAVA’s youthful and energetic leadership and from the unprecedented display of mass mobilization in this election, it is that the time is ripe for the Iraq and Afghanistan generation of veterans to step forward and assume a leadership role within the DADT-repeal movement.

As we go forward, we would like to continue to acknowledge and sincerely thank all who have supported, mentored, encouraged, and believed in us over the past 3 years. We will continue to strive to surpass your expectations and make you proud. And to all of our brethren still serving on active duty, as always, keep fighting for us and we’ll keep fighting for you!

--The Servicemembers United Team