Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Told Time and Time Again.

This week, the Senate has failed to pass a repeal of the US Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. If the Democrats lose seats in November, it is likely that this policy will continue for some time to come.
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In April of 1879, a small tribe of Plains Indians, the Poncas, assisted by sympathetic whites, used the US legal system to fight the federal government's plan to remove them from their historic lands and onto the "Indian Territory", known now as Oklahoma. A band of sixty to seventy Poncas had been arrested for refusing to go. Judge Elmer Dundy issued a writ of habeas corpus, demanding that the government show by what authority the prisoners were being held. The District Attorney in the case then stated that the Poncas had no right to the writ, given that they were not people, as defined by law. After hearing the arguments, the judge overruled the DA, stating that Indians had the same natural rights as whites, and that peaceful peoples could not be imprisoned, or forced to move without consent.

During the trial, Chief Standing Bear spoke for his people: "Oh, my brothers, the Almighty looks down on me, and knows what I am, and hears my words. May the Almighty send a good spirit to brood over you, my brothers, to move you to help me. If a white man had land, and someone should swindle him, that man would try to get it back, and you would not blame him. ...My brothers, a power, which I cannot resist, crowds me down to the ground. I need help."

There is a long list of peoples that have been cheated by this country. A long list of rights withheld. Trails of tears. And Blood.

Battles have been won. Progress made. Apologies few.

Yet today, of all our peoples, it is easiest to deny full rights of American citizenship to those who are gay, lesbian and transgendered. And can we not blame them for demanding the rights of which they have been swindled? Yet still today, politicians, and voters alike, stand tall and proclaim, "We will not allow you to serve your country as yourself." And still today, our government continues to tell our neighbors, co-workers, family and friends, "No, you are not a person, as defined by the law."

To which they respond, "Brothers and sisters, a power, which we cannot resist, crowds us down to the ground. And we need your help."

An Army of One? Well, One equals One. Equality Now!