Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America, Inc.
At their March conference in Denver, Colorado; delegates of the GAY.
LESBIAN & BISEXUAL VETERANS OF AMERICA, INC. (GLBVA) called upon the
organization's officers to prepare and distribute a declaration in the
form of a letter to President Bill Clinton and members of Congress. The
delegates instructed GLBVA's officers to inform the President of the
organization's growing concern over increased harassment and violations of
the flawed "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, DON'T PURSUE" policy.
The text of the DENVER DECLARATION follows:
THE
DENVER DECLARATION
MARCH 14, 1998
CLOSING SESSION OF THE NATIONAL GAY, LESBIAN &
BISEXUAL VETERANS OF AMERICA CONFERENCE, DENVER, COLORADO
President Clinton
CC Members of Congress
A year has passed
since the Lexington Declaration. You may recall that in the Lexington
Declaration we cited the deficiency of the "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell, Don't Pursue" policy. Since the Lexington Declaration
the situation has deteriorated even further: more servicemembers, whether
gay, lesbian or straight, have fallen victim to the military's relentless
violations of the policy.
In May 1997, officers of our
organization, Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America (GLBVA) met
with Richard Socarides, Special Assistant to the President And Senior
Advisor for Public Liaison, and with Mr. Frederick Pang, Assistant to Gen.
Shalikashvili, again calling attention to the military's flawed
implementation of the policy.
In the fourth annual report on
violations of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue", titled
Conduct Unbecoming (February 1998), Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
(SLDN) documented a 27% increase in the number of command violations
occurring in 1997.
In the last several months, the
military's handling of COP Timothy McVeigh's case has focused the nation's
attention on such violations.
Why is it that after years of
efforts by GLBVA, SLDN, the news media and the courts, nothing has been
done to correct the military's flagrant disregard of the intent of this
policy?
The policy should not exist in the
first place but since it does, it is imperative that it is carried out by
the military services consistent with the intent on Congress. The military
must not ask, must not require servicemembers to tell and must not pursue.
This is not a difficult concept to understand!
Gay, lesbian and bisexual
servicemembers have served throughout our country's history, and continue
to serve. While serving their country in defense of freedom and justice,
it is not acceptable in a democracy for these men and women to be denied
their rights as Patriotic Americans.
We, gay, lesbian and bisexual
veterans expect this administration to honor its commitment that Americans
may server their country without discrimination - a discrimination which
should not exist in a free society.
That no service go unrewarded.
James C. Darby,
President
Nancy Russell, Vice President
James Donovan, Secretary
Millard Tips, Treasurer
Mack Thomas III, Regional Coordinator
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