Don’t ask, don’t tell (DADT) was signed into law November 30, 1993 by the Clinton administration. It was a compromise measure intended to allow lesbian, gay and bisexual service members to serve in the U.S. military without discrimination or harassment as long as they didn’t disclose their orientation, or engage in homosexual conduct or same sex marriage. Unfortunately in practice the policy often failed to live up to its intended purpose. In 1993 Dixon Osburn and Michelle Benecke founded the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network with the goal of repealing DADT and eliminating any service bans on gay and lesbian U.S. military personnel. Dixon is in the studio today with Editor -in-Chief Jacqueline Whitt to discuss the eventual repeal of DADT and Dixon’s book Mission Possible: The Story of Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
While there were so many service members who actually served openly because their commanders didn’t care and didn’t want to make an issue of it, it was always this Damocles sword hanging over the necks of every service member because you just didn’t know know which service member might turn you in or which commander might make an issue of this and your career could come to a crashing halt.
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C. Dixon Osburn is the author of the Amazon best seller Mission Possible: The Story of Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” an effort he led at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. At Human Rights First, he led efforts to close Guantanamo and end torture. As director of the Center for Justice and Accountability, he led efforts to hold war criminals accountable. Dixon received his AB with distinction from Stanford University and JD/MBA from Georgetown.
Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: President Barack Obama signs the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, at the Interior Department in Washington
Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy