Late last night, right-wing Republicans in the House launched a desperate attack on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

The House Armed Services Committee passed unnecessary, hostile amendments to delay DADT repeal – and to prevent equal access to military facilities all while infringing on the religious liberties of military chaplains.

These Republicans are so desperate to keep gays and lesbians from serving America that they’d reverse the course set by Congress and the Pentagon, and undo the work the Defense Department has already done to prepare for repeal.

Now the bill goes to the House floor – where House Speaker John Boehner can strip out these amendments if he chooses. With a large public outcry right now, we can show Republicans that they will pay a political price if Speaker Boehner puts anti-gay discrimination before national security.

Sign now: “Mr. Boehner, stop the underhanded attacks on repeal – focus on keeping us safe.”

www.hrc.org

We passed the bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” last year. The nation’s top military leaders supported it. President Obama signed it. But anti-equality House members haven’t given up. They’re trying to bury repeal under a mountain of delays, distractions, and scare tactics – amendments to the National Defense Authorization bill that would:

Delay repeal by demanding that all service chiefs “certify” it before repeal is finalized – even though it already has to be certified by the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The chiefs themselves testified in October that this step is unnecessary.

Prevent equal access to military facilities and infringe on religious liberty by prohibiting the use of Department of Defense facilities for marriages between same-sex couples even in states where those marriages are legal – and prohibiting military chaplains from performing same-sex marriages even when their religious traditions recognize them.

Reaffirm the Defense of Marriage Act even though every federal agency is already bound by the discriminatory law – a blatant attempt by Vicky Hartzler, the representative once termed “the most anti-gay candidate in America,” to distract and delay repeal.

The American public wants Speaker Boehner and the House to focus on the real work of our nation – keeping us safe and getting our economy back on track – not a hateful crusade to prevent open military service. The speaker still has time to strip these amendments from the bill before bringing it to the floor. But it’s up to us to show that there’s a political cost to thwarting the will of Congress and the nation.

Tell Boehner: Stop undermining repeal.  www.hrc.org

The American people want an end to discrimination in our nation’s military. Speaker Boehner must stop his party’s delaying tactics and allow repeal to move forward – now.

Repeal first passed because so many of you raised your voices. I know we can count on you to speak up yet again.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese

President