This week, I was out in Little Rock, Arkansas at Lip Sync, an event benefiting the American Cancer Society and Camp Hope. I connected with plenty of pro-equality attendees who were happy and eager to sign our petition and to make dozens of calls to the offices of Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln to tell them to vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” One woman, an Army veteran, told me her story about how difficult it was to stay in the closet while serving her country. Another man, a Navy veteran, said he was proud to serve next to his comrades, no matter their sexual orientation. Every veteran that I spoke to thanked HRC for the work we do and expressed how deeply they feel about repealing a law that is so damaging to military cohesion.
It felt great to help these veterans use their voice to tell their senators how important repeal is. It would have been very hard to reach so many people at this event without the help of the Center for Artistic Revolution (CAR), the statewide LGBT civil rights organization in Arkansas, who was there helping me encouraging attendees to make calls that evening.
I also met with the Pulaski County Young Democrats. They are very supportive of repeal and helped out by making calls, signing the petition and writing letters. They invited me to come to their Executive and State Committee meetings where they assured me there would be even more support from their members.
We turned in dozens of letters and petitions to each Senator this week on the first day that Congress returned for session in Washington D.C. Have you written your letter yet? Have you called your senators? Share your story.
If you want to volunteer or need more information please contact me today at Jessica.Osborn@hrc.org.
