Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, joined President Obama, Members of Congress, and discharged LGBT service members at a signing ceremony for the repeal of the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.  Nadler was the first Member of Congress to introduce legislation, in 1993, to “prohibit discrimination by the Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation,” and has vehemently opposed the policy ever since.
He issued the following statement:

“Today is a proud moment for American democracy and for our nation’s commitment to the all-important concept of equal protection under the law.  For 17 years, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has been a terrible and discriminatory mistake, and a stain on our nation’s commitment to justice and equality.  It has taken 17 years to come to our senses.  And, of course, it will take longer for the nation as a whole to embrace the equality of LGBT Americans on a larger plane.  But this is a terrific victory today – for our proud armed forces, for LGBT Americans, for Americans who believe in our constitutionally protected rights, and, truly, for the very idea of American democracy.  Today provides vindication that, though we as a nation do stray from the path toward equal rights and tolerance, we have the will and the moral backbone to find our way back to justice.

“For 17 years, LGBT Americans have suffered needlessly because of a harmful and wrongheaded notion that they pose a threat to military cohesion and morale.  This untruth has been discredited and unmasked again and again, and will now finally be cast aside.  I congratulate my fellow Members of Congress, President Obama, Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen, and, of course, the thousands of LGBT service members who can now serve their country in the open, without the taint of second class citizenship.”