Source:
NPRIn 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order ending racial segregation in the armed forces. In the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama promised to end another kind of discrimination in the military: the long-standing ban on gay service members. But nearly six months into his presidency, he has yet to make good on that promise. Congress also has taken no action.Now the latest push is coming, at least in part, from elsewhere. Former Army linguist Jarrod Chlapowski told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that he and others hope to make a national cause of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military. The Clinton-era law has led to the dismissal of more than 13,000 gay service members.
"Over the next two months, a group of young Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom-era vets, both gay and straight, will be touring the country, bringing the issue to America's doorstep," Chlapowski said at the National Press Club.
They're calling it the Voices of Honor tour. It initially targets eight major cities in swing voting districts.
Army Staff Sgt. Genevieve Chase, an Afghanistan war veteran who is straight, said she's joining the tour to try to refute the view held by some that openly gay service members undermine troop readiness and cohesion.
"I'm here to tell you that gays have been and are already serving openly," she said. "Unit cohesion across the spectrum of the military is better than it has ever been, because our generation embraces diversity."
more:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106409760