Singer will join Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s #4the14k event Monday.
By Mawuse Ziegbe
Members of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network join Lady Gaga at the 2010 MTV VMAs
Photo: Getty Images
Lady Gaga’s campaign against the U.S. Armed Forces’ “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been building the momentum in the past few weeks. The singer has publicly championed the repeal of the measure, by flying out members of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the VMAs, an organization seeking to end DADT, tweeting her opinions to senators and releasing viral videos urging her fans to get involved in the cause.
Now, after hitting the white carpet and taking to the Web, Gaga is heading to Maine to raise awareness at a large gay-rights event. The pop superstar is slated to appear at the #4the14k rally organized by the SLDN in Portland, Maine on Monday. The title references the approximately 14,000 citizens discharged under DADT and veterans affected by the military’s controversial measure will address attendees. The event is slated to kick off at 4 p.m. ET.
“Meet me in Portland, Maine 2moro, 9/20 to help repeal #DADT. I’m holding a Rally + speaking live in Deering Oaks Park,” Gaga tweeted on Sunday (September 19).
Aubrey Sarvis of SLDN maintains that the organization seeks to draw the support of Republican Maine Senators Olympia Snow and Susan Collins, who could significantly affect the passing of the “National Defense Authorization Act,” a bill which includes the repeal of DADT.
“The votes to break McCain’s filibuster are not there. We need Sens. Snowe and Collins on board; they’re key to us breaking the filibuster. With the vote less than 48 hours away, we need everyone supporting repeal to call the Senate. We’re bringing gay and straight service members to Portland to help make the case,” Sarvis said in a press release. “And we’re proud to have the support of Lady Gaga to bring grassroots attention to repeal at a critical hour. Like Lady Gaga, all New England senators, indeed all 100 senators, Democrats and Republicans, need to engage in a real debate on this issue, and not just posture and spin this week over procedure and Senate rules.”
Gaga has been working with the organization recently and detailed her views on DADT in a viral video released on Friday.
“[The] SLDN’s advocacy proves that these soldiers are being searched; superiors are going through their e-mails and private belongings, calling family members and operating based on assumptions. Ultimately, the law is being enforced using gay profiling. … In short, not only is the law unconstitutional, but it’s not even being properly enforced by the government,” Gaga said.
“I am here to be a voice for my generation, not the generation of the senators who are voting, but for the youth of this country, the generation that is affected by this law and whose children will be affected,” she continued. “We are not asking you to agree with or approve the moral implications of homosexuality; we’re asking you to do your job, to protect the constitution.”
What do you think about Lady Gaga and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”? Let us know in the comments below!
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