I took a stroll down to the rally to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell in front of the White House yesterday. Although smaller than expected (likely due to a 90 degree steam room that was the weather yesterday), I came away from it with one memory: the palpable anger you can see in online communities has bubbled offline. It's real, and it's there. I think if there was a call to March on Washington, more than a couple hundred thousand (the turnout at last fall's March) would come out.
Speaker after speaker took the bullhorn and shouted- literally, shouted- at this White House. Sometimes at political rallies you hear "Mr. President, let's work with you to do X" or "The President has made this a priority and we need to get his back!" Not at this rally. It was "Mr. President, lead or get the hell out of the way!" "When I was in basic training, the last time I checked on that organizational chart, the Commander in Chief ranks above the Secretary of Defense. So where is our Commander in Chief?" and chants of "No money, no votes". Even former Gov. Dean showed up after being asked to earlier in the morning to speak.
The rally ended with six activists chaining themselves to the fence while supporters shouted "shame!" at the White House. I am not kidding or exaggerating when I say the tone of the rhetoric is something you might have heard at a teabagger rally.
The speech I remember the most was from Alex Nicholson, a former servicemember involuntarily outed, who is executive director of Servicemembers United:
The anger on Alex's face is what everyone was feeling that day, and what millions more are feeling online. It's a feeling that this President is under the influence of what Joe Sudbay calls "political homophobia"- politicians who say they'll vote for you and support you but are scared- thus, phobia- when it comes time to get it done. And I'm telling you, from the exasperation and feeling of being pissed-off beyond belief yesterday, there will be a lot of LGBT activists who will stay home in November to punish the President- and telling their straight friends and family to do so, too, if this Administration and Democrats in Congress do not do right by them. I'm not saying this to make idle threats- I'm just the messenger here. Anyone can go read it online or see it in person. It's real and it's growing.
This administration dealt Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal a serious blow on Friday. Now the President has, like Alex says, until May 24th- the week of markup in the Senate Armed Services Committee- to insert repeal language in the defense authorization bill. This is something advocates have been calling for for months. It's not in conflict with the Secretary of Defense's recommendations- like I wrote on Friday, the Administration's position that repeal should be done after the review avoids the issue. You can set an end date and delay the implementation. The Administration needs to take a position on that, too.
The patience out there is wearing thin. When you go to an LGBT rally and the tone of the rhetoric sounds like a teabagger protest, that's a serious problem. It's one this Administration shouldn't take lightly.
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