By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

Gay and Lesbian Armed Services Members and their advocates who have been fighting more than a decade and a half to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ are elated after two big blows came to the discriminatory law the past two weeks.

The United States District Court in Central California ruled that DADT was an “unconstitutional violation of service members’ rights to free speech and due process.”

The suit was initially brought on by the Log Cabin Republicans, a national GLBT rights group that supports the GOP.

“As an American, a veteran and an Army reserve officer, I am proud the court ruled that the arcane Don’t Ask Don’t Tell statute violates the Constitution,” said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper. “Today, the ruling is not just a win for Log Cabin Republican service members, but all American service members.”

“We are delighted with the court’s ruling in favor of Log Cabin Republicans in this important case. The court’s opinion finds that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is unconstitutional, and the court will issue a permanent injunction preventing the government from further enforcement of this unconstitutional statute,” said Dan Woods, lead attorney for the case and partner at White & Case. “This is a major victory in the fight for equality and means that military service will be available to all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Log Cabin Republicans promotes legislation to provide basic fairness for gay and lesbian Americans and works to build a more inclusive GOP.    The 30-year old organization has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, DC, a federal political action committee and state political action committees.

Locally, LCR members and veterans were pleased with the court’s results.

Joe McCallion, formerly of Boston and now residing in Florida, experienced the pain of such discrimination in the military and for years supported Log Cabin and the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America in the struggle to right the wrong done to so many honorable citizens of this great country. “I can never forget the efforts of Karl Clark, Dennis Delia, and Andy when they were inspired by the Campaign for Military Services and organized the Florida Gold Coast Chapter of GLBVA. I and others here in South Florida gave our all to them offering our financial support, our personal activism and our never ending prayers,” noted McCallion

Sandra Steen, the President of the Broward Log Cabin Republican Club, the former Mayor of Wilton Manors, and a member of the Broward County Republican Executive Committee said, “This is a proud day for all freedom-loving Americans but an even prouder day for me to have shared in the dedication and hard work of the so many members of AVER, SLDN, HCR, and most of all Log Cabin.”

Other long-time Florida members of Log Cabin Republican were as equally excited over the ground-breaking decision. “I was proud to be on the ’93 LCF Philadelphia Resolution Committee addressing military discrimination but heartbroken when the Clinton-Nunn ‘Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell’ policy was introduced and passed. We witnessed the lives of so many of our young, brave and patriotic American men and women painfully destroyed with a stroke of the pen, but this may be the long awaited restitution.” stated Andy Eddy who, in the early nineties, was the Southeast Regional V.P. of the Log Cabin Federation and has served in the organization in Florida ever since.

Jack Majeske, a long time member of Log Cabin Republicans and its former Broward Chapter President praised the work of the national LCR leadership and its sister organization LEF and upon hearing the ground-breaking news also commented. “After years of actively participating and attending the LCR national conventions, listening to and sharing in the pain resulting from the DADT policy, today’s decision has restored my faith in the Constitutional belief of ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’ for all the citizens of this freedom loving-nation.”

Florida’s LCR leaders are proud of the work of its national leadership who, after facing so many years of struggle, criticism, and hardships were able to bring to the table of inclusion this ray of hope that keeps the light of equality alive for all Americans. As Karl Clark, a friend of Log Cabin and a founding member of the Florida Dolphin Democrats once noted when DADT was passed, “The struggle of dealing with discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Military is not over just yet but neither is our commitment.”

President Barack Obama has been pushing for a DADT repeal through legislation, something that might become reality next week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has scheduled a vote on the Defense Authorization Act next week, which if passed would include a repeal of DADT.
However, Republicans have threatened to filibuster the bill but Democrats say they have the needed 60 votes to break the filibuster.

“We feel fairly confident that we will have the 60 votes to break a filibuster of the National Defense Authorization Act,” said Alex Nicholson of the gay veterans group Service members United. “This bill contains important provisions for all troops and important funding provisions for the entire military. It would be hard — and shameless — for lawmakers to hold up this critical bill because of opposition to one or two of its myriad smaller provisions.”