D.C. rally held in protest of don’t ask, don’t tell

[unhappycamper]

Takia Mitchell, a soldier who was forced out of the Army under the don’t ask, don’t tell policy, speaks at a rally outside the Capitol in Washington on Friday about the need to overturn the law banning homosexuals from serving openly in the ranks.


D.C. rally held in protest of don’t ask, don’t tell
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, March 15, 2009

WASHINGTON — Takia Mitchell said she served openly as a lesbian for two years in South Korea without ever hearing a complaint from her commanders.

After less than a year of serving secretly in New York, her new commanders forced her out of the Army under the don’t ask, don’t tell rules.

"The Army was my life," she said. "It gave me purpose. And at first it gave me a place to thrive. But by the end I was truly an Army of one, singled out because I was gay."

Mitchell was one of a dozen speakers at Friday’s rally in support of legislation which would drop regulations barring homosexuals from openly serving in the military.

About 200 supporters attended the event, chanting "Freedom to Serve" at the speakers’ prompting.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61343