American
Veterans For Equal Rights
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, January 28, 2010
President Obama, in his State of the Union
address on Wednesday January 27th, said,
“This year, I will work with Congress and
our military to finally repeal the law that
denies gay Americans the right to serve the
country they love because of who they are.”
The President preceded that by asserting his
belief in true American values, “Abroad,
America's greatest source of strength has
always been our ideals. The same is true at
home. We find unity in our incredible
diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined
in our Constitution: the notion that we are
all created equal, that no matter who you
are or what you look like, if you abide by
the law you should be protected by it, that
if you adhere to our common values you
should be treated no different than anyone
else. We must continually renew this
promise.”
American Veterans for Equal Rights thanks
President Barack Obama for his courage and
commitment in calling upon Congress to
“repeal the law” that currently bars gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender military
personnel from serving openly in the United
States military. AVER, the oldest and
largest gay Veterans Service Organization in
the United States, strongly commends the
President for his moral stand against
prejudice and discrimination, and his
obvious willingness to put the safety and
security of the American people above
divisive politics by removing a policy that
jeopardizes our national security.
“With so much piled high on the President’s
plate we are grateful that Mr. Obama
continues to make the removal of injustice a
priority for his administration”, said AVER
President Danny Ingram, a former US Army
sergeant and one of the first victims of the
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1994.
“AVER now calls upon the members of Congress
and our military commanders to follow the
President’s leadership in prioritizing the
important upcoming congressional hearings on
the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy."
“As experienced veterans ourselves,” he
continued, “we call upon Congress and the
Joint Chiefs to put the safety of our troops
and the success of our overseas missions
above the partisan division that has too
long held our nation back from regaining her
rightful place as the leader of the free
world. The lives of American soldiers
should not be sacrificed to political
posturing. Attaching the bill to end the
ban, House Resolution 1283, to the Defense
Authorization Bill is the right time to end
the dishonor of DADT and insure that
America's military men and women, whenever
and wherever they serve around the globe,
are not only the guardians of freedom, but
the representatives of the liberty they have
sworn to defend.”
“As a soldier who loved the military and
still believes deeply in its mission, I am
extremely grateful for the President’s
promise in taking on the challenge of DADT”,
continued Ingram. “Thank you President
Obama. This is the type of leadership in
the same caliber of Franklin Roosevelt and
Harry Truman that brought together a broken
and divided nation and built her into a
powerful and shining beacon of hope for all
people. This is the type of determined
leadership that our nation was praying for
when you were elected to lead our united
people into a new era of hope and prosperity
in which all people could realize their
potential as equal citizens with equal
rights and equal responsibilities in the
defense and care of this great dream we call
America.”
