Gay veteran and Gay.com contributing writer,William B. Whalen, attended Lady Gaga’s rally in his hometown of Portland, Maine yesterday. Here is his report of the event.
Photos by Cliff Kucine, Getty Images
When Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germonatta found out that two Maine senators were the key to getting “don’t ask, don’t tell” repealed she organized a rally in Deering Oaks Park near the University of Southern Maine campus.
Not surprisingly, upwards of 2,500 people attended yesterday's event; it doesn’t hurt that she happens to be Lady Gaga, the world’s biggest pop star.
But Lady Gaga didn’t come to Portland as a chart topping singer. She attended as an American citizen calling for the end to a law that is simply wrong.
Before Lady Gaga took the stage, a number of men and women spoke. These were soldiers who had been discharged under DADT. Their stories were enlightening and heartbreaking. Quite simply, these are men and women who were fired from their jobs for being gay. They reminded us that it wasn’t that long ago that the military segregated African Americans and later women in the armed forces for fear of hurting troop morale and performance.
Lady Gaga then gave an impassioned 15-minute speech. She talked about equality being the prime rib of America.
"The straight soldier who has prejudice in his heart, in the space where the military asks him to hold our core American values, he instead holds and harbors hate – and he gets to stay and fight for our country. He gets to honor it. But we gay soldiers, who harbor no hatred, no prejudice, no phobia, we're sent home," she said.
"Our new law is called, 'If you don't like it, go home,'" she said. "If you are not committed to perform with excellence as a United States soldier because you don't believe in full equality, go home. If you are not honorable enough to fight without prejudice, go home. If you are not capable of keeping your oath to the armed forces, to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to do the same, unless there's a gay soldier in my unit, then go home."
As a gay veteran, I stood with great pride and watched this pop star who is half my age speak the words I’ve never been able to find. I watched 2,500 people gathered in that park, all believing in my right to serve. I saw teenagers chanting, “This law sucks.” I heard a small child ask his mother, “Why does it matter who people love?” It was grassroots activism at its best and here’s hoping Senator Collins and Senator Snowe were listening.
It’s time to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” so those 14,000 soldiers who were fired for being gay can get back in uniform and get back to work
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