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How to Get Rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"


Guess how many gays have been kicked out of the armed forces since 1994, the year after Congress passed "Don't ask, Don't tell"? Just have a guess. Couple hundred, maybe? A grand? Actually, the tally is 13,000. That's a lot of people nabbed under a policy that doesn't even want to know you're gay.Now, President Obama has said that if legislation were to land on his desk, he'd sign it, but he won't reverse it on its own, and last month said the court acted properly in upholding the current law (this, of course, made lots of people very angry). So to get rid of the policy, means it's up to Congress to sort it out. The silver lining is that a young and charming congressman from Pennsylvania is now "quarterbacking" the cause, and seems confident he can get the support he needs to settle this for once and for all. Patrick Murphy (D, of course) is well suited for the job. He's an Iraq vet himself, he's extremely energetic, and because he's still early in his career, I suspect he'll work overtime to make this a victory.As of last night, when he appeared on Rachel Maddow's show, the legislation had 151 cosponsors. Pretty good. Murphy want lots more, though-enough so that if it goes to vote it's a landslide.You can read more about the effort and sign the petition here.

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