In the Life: Ep. 1912, "The State of Equality"

[Announcer, over music] "In the Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] The H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] The Calamus Foundation. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In the Life," members like you. [Music fades] [Cheers] [Barack Obama] We've heard your stories on the campaign trail. [Narrator, Anisha Kansal] In 2008, President Barack Obama secured the LGBT vote. [Kansal] Promising full equality for the community. [Kansal] Two years later, the promises remain. [Obama] You will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination  against gays and lesbians. [Kansal] But full legislative change on the Defense of Marriage Act, the  Employment Non-Discrimination Act, [Kansal] and Don't Ask, Don't Tell, has not been achieved. [Kensal] Many are critical of the pace of change. [Robin McGehee] When they accept the minimal change and the crumbs, what they're actually doing is simply barely feeding a person who's already starving from injustice. [Kensal] Tonight on, "In the Life," [Kensall] we ask whether the man in the White House is an advocate for gay rights. [Kensall] And service members talk to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about, Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  [Senator Kirsten Gillibrand] By the end of this year, we'll repeal the policy. [Theme music] [Obama] To preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. [Chief Justice John Roberts] So help you, God? [Obama] So help me God. [Roberts] Congratulations Mr. President. [Cheers] [Mara Keisling] When President Obama was first elected, [Keisling] there were a lot of different emotions and reactions that, ah, many of us had. One, we had just been through eight really, really bad years where we had an  administration that just didn't like us. [Keisling] And did really a lot of damage to all LGBT people with a lot of other people. [Obama] We gathered because we have chosen hope over fear. [Obama] Unity of purpose over conflict and discord. [McGehee] I finally had a renewed sense in the political system that I'd always dreamed would reflect my values. [Representative Tammy Baldwin] In my first few years in the House of Representatives, we were part of the minority party for eight years. [Baldwin] We were fighting defensive battles one after another. [Joe Solmonese] The only, [Solmonese] things that George Bush did during the course of his presidency with regard to LGBT people was to twice, not once, but twice, [Solmonese] tried to write discrimination against us into the Constitution in the form of the federal marriage amendment. [Solmonese] So, we had a clear enemy. [Representative Jared Polis] There's been a real sea change with President Obama in the White House to have a president who was an ally on these issues who we can be confident, [Polis] will sign quality bills that Congress can pass. [John Aravosis] I actually believed that, Obama's election was going to change everything for our community. [Aravosis] I believed he was gonna be a fierce advocate. [Music] [Cheers] [Obama] I called on Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. [Obama] To help end discrimination. [Cheers] [Obama] I'm also urging Congress to pass the Domestic Partners, [Obama] Benefits and Obligations Act. Which will guarantee the full range of benefits including health care to LGBT couples and their children. [Cheers] [Obama] My administration is also working hard to pass an Employee Non-Discrimination bill. [Obama] And Hate Crimes bill. And we're making progress on both fronts. [Cheers] [Obama] Finally, I want to say a word about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [Obama] I believe Don't Ask, Don't Tell, doesn't contribute to our national security. [Applause] In fact, I believe, [Obama] I believe preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country, [Obama] weakens our national security. [Applause] [Aravosis] I don't think Obama's gay campaign promises have been broken. I think they're limping badly. Um, I think the President, isn't very interested in gay issues. [Solmonese] We've seen this administration bring the country back from the edge of economic disaster. And fight two wars.  And, [Salmonese] ah, pass a health care bill and deal with the crisis in the Gulf. [Salmonese] But, none of those things, are any sort of an excuse for not advancing an LGBT agenda. [McGehee] I would love to be able to take care of the environmental issues that plague the United States, and be on the beaches helping to clean up my community and my former home. Ah, but I feel like what I have to do first is give dignity and integrity to my family. [Richard Socarides] There is this misnomer, that a president can only get, [Socarides] a finite number of things done or work on a finite number of things at one time. I totally reject that notion. [Brian Bond] I think there's this misconception out there, ah, that the President can just wave a wand and things happen. We get the frustration. The pace of progress. Ah, but the, considering the challenges of Washington, [Bond] I think this president has done an incredible job of trying to move the ball forward. [Obama] Yeah, this has been a very difficult year and a lot of people out there are having very, very tough time. [Music] [Obama] Today I'm proud to issue a presidential memorandum that paves the way for long overdue progress in our nation's pursuit of equality. [Baldwin] This administration has really been extraordinary in, in some ways that haven't gotten as much public notice. [Baldwin] The President signed two presidential memorandums relating to extending to, [Baldwin] same-sex partners or domestic partners of federal employees as many of the benefits of employment as, married spouses of federal employees get. [Obama] I want to thank Representative Tammy Baldwin; who is behind me somewhere. There she is, right there. [Obama] Ah, for her tireless leadership on this bill, [Obama] And in the broader struggle for equality. I, would like to see a faster pace of change. [Baldwin] On the other hand, [Baldwin] I deal with the pragmatism and reality of working in this institution. [Baldwin] My job is to try to nudge, cajole, persuade and push the agenda forward. As fast as I possibly can and obviously, I need the help from many allies. [McGehee] The president serves in the most powerful position in the United States, as well as, you know, being the commander in chief. [McGehee] And we forget his power of influence and that when he calls, [McGehee] people listen. [McGehee] So not only do our national organizations listen and come running. [McGehee] But our politicians come running and listening when he calls. [McGehee] And they also are influenced by his call to take action and actually follow through on legislation, that he's deeming as important or he wants to see some type of progress on. [Music] [Kansal] With an annual budget of more than thirty million dollars, [Kansal] the "Human Rights Campaign," or HRC, [Kansal] is America's largest civil rights organization, [Kansal] working to achieve lesbian gay bisexual and transgender equality. [Solmonese] We are honored, to have President Barack Obama, [Cheers] [Solmonese] I can understand that for a lot of people out there in the community, it creates an even added layer of frustration, because they look to us. They look to other leaders in the movement. They look to our access and our influence and our relationship  with the White House. And they, [Solmonese] think that we should be more critical or that we should be employing different tactics. [Obama] You're making me blush. [Laughter] [Audience] We love you! [Obama] I love you back. [Solmonese] So it becomes much more complicated in terms of, you know, ah, when we criticize, when we don't. When we use a carrot when we use a stick. [Aravosis] I think a lot of people, myself included, have been, critical of HRC, because the growing impression is that they exist to defend the President, and not to defend gay people. [Protesters chant] What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want them? Now! [Kansal] In response to the growing frustration towards the Obama administration, and organizations such as HRC, [Kansal] new LGBT rights groups are using aggressive tactics to push for full equality. [Kansal] Get Equal is one of them. [Protest speaker] President Obama, [Speaker] either you lead on civil rights or get the hell out of the White House. [Cheers] [McGehee] We're willing to take action, [McGehee] and it may be non-traditional action. We're tired of the lobbying and the phone banking and the letter writing, that doesn't seem to be getting the progress and the rights, [McGehee] that we are deserving of. And many of our members have tried that method. [McGehee] And I think that what's going on with the national organizations is the understanding that they are serving in the suites of power but the streets of activism, are tired and fed up. [Protesters chant] [Dan Choi] There are some elements of civil disobedience that, [Choi] need to happen and need to be included in a direct action program. Protesters chant. [Choi] And what we do, is we dramatize a situation, to the point where they see an Arabic linguist, getting kicked out in a time of war. [Choi] I am an Iraq combat veteran. [Choi] And most importantly, [Choi] I am not staying silent anymore. [Cheers] [Bond] I think it takes multiple layers to move an agenda forward. [Activist] Here in just a few minutes we're, ah, gonna walk in, [Activist] and are actually doing a peaceful sit-in, in Nancy Pelosi's office to demand the Employment Non-Discrimination Act come to the floor for a vote immediately. [Bond, off camera] If people criticize us, in this administration, that's fine. But be fair about it. [Bond] What have we done? Have we done Hate Crimes? Have we done hospital visitation? Are we supportive of ENDA? Are we supportive, [Bond] of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [Representative Louie Gohmert] And I'm telling you the military, is not a social experiment. [Bond, voice over] There's a lot of other people out there who necessarily don't want us, [Bond] to achieve these things. And I think sometimes that needs to be the target. not necessarily, the frustration at the present [McGehee] The people that try to offer that change is coming and you know we're seeing progress, um, are happy with minimal change and crumbs in my opinion. [McGehee, voice over] Um, even at the National Dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, he made the statement, that, you know, we're friends aren't we? [Obama] I greatly appreciate, the support I've received for many in this room. I also appreciate that, I also appreciate that many of you, don't believe progress has come  fast enough. I want to be honest about that. [Applause] [over applause] because, It's important to be honest among friends. [McGehee, voiceover] I'm not asking him to do something that he didn't let come out of his own lips. I'm wanting him to be held accountable on the things that he's already promised us. And that same accountability goes to the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and anyone who walks into a meeting with him. When they accept, the minimal change in the crumbs, what they're actually doing is simply barely feeding a person who's already starving from injustice. I think they kind of think that they've sort of met their gay, their gay quota. 'Cause they did Hate Crimes. [Obama] There you go. [Man with beard] All right! [Applause] [Solmonese] People in the community were, sort of, immediately dismissing the importance, of the hate crimes bill as, um, you know, an easy win and not impacting nearly as many people in the community as other things could. Ah, and a sort of a move by the Obama administration to forestall having to do things that were more difficult. [Obama] I promised Judy Shepard, [Obama] ah, when she saw me in the Oval Office that this day would come. [Bond] I get really concerned honestly when the community and or some of the naysayers out there call these little steps. [Bond] These are big steps. These are significant steps. These impact real people's lives. [Activist] But we don't need a study to tell us that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is discriminatory, is wrong and it should be repealed right now. [Socarides] As a country, in terms of public opinion and in terms of culturally, ah, we've made a lot of progress. I think our politics have been very slow to catch up with that, cultural shift. [Choi] President Obama and all of the leaders in Congress are absolutely afraid, [Choi] because, [Choi] they judge their world, [Choi] by political measures. And, something has told them that, gay issues are always a net negative. [Music] [Polis] To support Don't Ask, Don't Tell, is much bigger political risk than to try to repeal it. I mean, it's just a bizarre policy, that I think seventy percent plus of the American people think is ridiculous. [Polis] It doesn't matter if a soldier is lesbian, gay or straight. What matters is they get the job done for our country. [Kansal] On May 27th, 2010, [Kensal] the House of Representatives passed the Murphy Amendment to repeal, Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [Kensal] The amendment dismantles the policy, [Kensal] only after the Pentagon completes its review process. [Kensal] And after military leaders certify that repeal, [Kensal] would not harm national security or military readiness. [Kensal] Many consider this to be a compromise. On this vote the yeas are 234 and the nays are 194. The amendment is adopted. [Gavel bangs] [McGehee] The moment that the advocacy, [McGehee] group leaders walked out of that meeting and knew that they had compromised. We as a community should have known we'd lost something. [Solmonese] Compromise that takes a few months longer, to fully realize, what we're trying to do. Which is eliminate the ban on all LGBT people serving in the military. Um, is, ah, is necessary if that is deemed the only road possible. [Choi] As a commissioned army officer, [Choi] I'm absolutely disappointed, [Choi] with the immorality of any leader, [Choi] who does not, take action against, oppression that exists. Against the most un-American, of policies that would force those who would die for America, to lie, because of America. Because of our laws. [Bond] It's easy for people on the outside to look at it and say, well, this is, this isn't the way this should be done. They want it done. The president's gonna get it done. He's going to get it done right. [Protester yells] [Obama] I'm sorry, do you want to come up here? [Hoots, laughter] [Aravosis] Interrupting the President at a Barbara Boxer fundraiser. Dan Choi handcuffing himself to the White House gates. [Aravosis] They look at that on one side and then they look at, [Aravosis] you know, HRC, ostensibly, you know, doing quiet lobbying behind the scene. Not very flashy. But we were getting things done behind closed doors. [Protesters chant] [Aravosis] The problem, I think, is that we have the angry activists who are making a real dent. [Aravosis] But we don't have the people behind the scenes. [Aravosis] Behind the scenes, [Aravosis] HRC is being too goddamn nice. [Aravosis] And we've gotten reports from meeting after meeting of how HRC has acted at the White House and on the hill. They haven't exactly been our fierce advocate either. [Protesters chant] What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want them? Now! [Somonese] Demanding that something happen. That yelling and screaming and any of the other things that I would like to do. [Solmonese] Generally doesn't make things happen. [Activist, partially unintelligible] Obama, I don't want to have to stand here just because [?] service members chain themselves to the fence. [Solmonese] I happen to come down on the side of taking actions that actually produce things for people. And I'll be the first person to say that under this administration we have not produced as much as we would, [Solmonese] have hoped. We've certainly done more for LGBT people in the context of the last eighteen months of this administration, than in any previous administration. [Bond] It's not our job to tell people not to push. [Bond] There's a strategic way to push though, and that's the message I would like to get across. [Activist, unintelligible] [Bond] We understand the frustration. We get it. But there's ways to help, and ways they aren't necessarily totally helpful. [Choi leads chants, partially unintelligible] I am somebody. [Group] I am somebody. [Solmonese] There are conflicting views and there are differences of opinion and there are arguments. And there's tension. But that's the way that it's supposed to be and as long as we're all working, toward the same goal. Then we're gonna get there. [Obama] I was gonna say welcome to the White House, but you guys seem like you, feel right at home.  [laughter] [Kansal] In June, 2010, [Kansal, over Obama] President Obama hosted his second Gay Pride Reception at the White House. [Kansal] Once again, he assured the community of his commitment to full equality. [Obama] One year ago, in this room, we marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests. And, [Cheers, applause] some of you were here, and, you may remember that I pledged then, that even, at a time when we faced enormous challenges, both on the economy, and in our foreign policy, that we would not, put aside matters of basic equality. And we haven't. [Music] [Aravosis] Come November, it's over. [Aravosis] There's talk of losing the house in the November congressional elections. [Aravosis] And look at how hard it is to get this crap passed now. [Aravosis] We don't even have a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell passed. Imagine what's gonna happen if we lose twenty, thirty or forty more Democrats. [Aravosis] And we're supposed to sit back and just wait. [Aravosis] Well, I got news for you. Our communities got about, two or three months, left, before the Obama era becomes, I think, a bust. Because we're going to lose the Congress. We're gonna lose enough seats that it's just not going to matter. [Mara Keisling] Every member of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senators are up for re-election this November. [Keisling] And LGBT people should be working on the campaign of their choice. [Keisling] If it's your candidate. Go work for that candidate. Go work on that candidate. [Keisling] And get the message out there. That we need these things. We need our agenda to move forward. [McGehee] When I was first arrested. I stood outside the White House and I said, I started screaming, I was like, I should not have to be doing this. You know, I campaigned to put you where you were, because I believed, in the rhetoric that you said. And, um, It's not that I don't believe that he believes in the rhetoric. It's, I don't believe, at this moment I've seen that he has the courage to produce the change that he promised us and that he campaigned on. And that I campaigned for him on. Um, and, what I feel, you know, deeply hurt, and conflicted around is, I don't want to have to get arrested. But I will, if I have to. Um, I don't want to have to organize other people to get arrested. But I will if I have to. [Music] [Keisling] The Congress of the United States. [Keisling] The Presidency of the United States. [Keisling] They've been passively denying us our rights for centuries. And actively denying us our rights for decades. And it's time for that to stop. But we need to put our foot down. And we need to step up, step out and get our work done. [Keisling] That's the only way we'll get them to do their work. [Music] [Music] [Senator Kirsten Gillibrand] I believe this nation's ready. I believe it's the civil rights march of our generation. [Kansal] Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is currently leading the charge in the Senate to repeal, Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [Kansal] She recently came to, "In the Life," to hear from two service members discharged under the policy. [Kansal] David Hall, a former enlisted man, and an officer cadet in the Air Force. [Kansal] And Julianne Sohn, a former Marine officer who served in Iraq. [Julieanne Sean] How did you become an advocate for repeal? [Senator Kirsten Gillibrand] Well, it was one soldier's story. Ah, I sat down with Lieutenant Dan Choi. [Gillibrand] You know, I always thought, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, was a terrible policy. But, I didn't really understand how terrible it was until I heard, from him how it affected his life. [Gillibrand] And when he shared with me that, [Gillibrand] you know, the military teaches you to be honest, to have integrity, and character. Except when it comes to this policy. This policy demands that you lie every day about who you are. And he said, you know, I, Kirsten I'm just, I'm tired of lying every day. I'm tired, of not being able to tell, my colleagues, my commanding officer, you know, who I love, what's important to me and who I am. And he said, you know, the worst is when I am deployed and everyone around me gets to kiss their loved ones goodbye, I don't. [Gillibrand] And, I thought, oh what an awful, awful policy. And how would I feel if I couldn't tell my colleagues about, my beautiful children and my husband. Ah, so, I, I thought I have to do something about it. And I looked into it and I saw that, [Gillibrand] no legislation was going to be moving this year. So, I wrote a bill and I counted my votes and I didn't get to sixty but I got very, very close. And so, I spoke to Chairman Levin and I said, you know, "Can you hold a hearing?" Because, of the undecideds, they either wanted leadership from the president or leadership from the military. And I thought if we had a hearing we could develop that testimony. And sure enough we did. And that was the beginning of, of being able to repeal this horrific policy. [David Hall] Senator, you know, we're waiting for the Senate vote but, [Hall] even when we do get that vote, we know we still have, um, a lot of hurdles to get through. [Gillibrand] Mm, hmm. [Hall] And we have to, one wait for this, the Pentagon study, [Hall] and to, to get done. [Gillibrand] Yes. You know, the military's asked for their ability to do a study over the year, so they know how to implement. [Gillibrand] Ah, and they need to focus on, you know, exactly the steps, [Gillibrand] that will be taken to implement this policy. So we have one standard of conduct. To make sure that the rules are very clear. [Gillibrand] Ah, and then just and just put out your processes and procedures so people know what to follow. [Gillibrand] They'll have their year. The report is due December One. Ah, we hope to get the vote on the Armed Services bill, ah, in September. So, by the end of this year, we'll reveal the policy. And, you know, they can do their survey. If that helps them, fair enough. [Gillibrand] But, the real prize is repeal. [Gillibrand] Both of you, [Gillibrand] have an extraordinary record of service to this country. And enormous passion. And, and you both have, [Gillibrand] individual stories that I'd love if you could tell us. How did this policy affect you. [Sohn] I actually knew going in, that I was gay. My Marines would tell me about their weekends and, I would be, [Sohn] I would have to just say something vague. [Sohn] I had a partner at the time. And I found it, that I had to live about an hour away from base so that we could have our own, life. [Gillibrand] Mm. [Sohn] Yeah, I actually, um, had a close call where my legal officer told me, "Hey, you know, um, there're rumors going around about you."  And, [Sohn] um, I decided to just leave active duty and go to grad school. So, I actually left active duty but then I got called back, um, to serve in Iraq. [Gillibrand] Mm, hmm. And it was at, serving that, there in Iraq, while, you know, my partner was back at home. And, you know, she couldn't, you know, we couldn't contact each other in a formal way. Like we had code. Like when we'd write letters. [Gillibrand] Mm. [Sohn] Ah, instead of saying love, we'd say, like, take care. Something really vague.  Like she was my friend, you know, your roommate. And, ah, so it was really hard. And I made the decision coming back from Iraq to actually, just share my story of what it was like to serve under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. [Sohn] And so the military created a case using, like, newspaper clippings and stuff about me just, [Sohn] telling my story about just what it was like to serve. And before I knew it I got a phone call. A casual phone call, just saying, "Hey you are being investigated for violating, Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. [Sohn] And they read me my rights. So, I felt like I had committed a crime by just loving somebody, you know.  [Gillibrand] Mm. And so by, ah, 2008, I was discharged. [Gilligbrand] It's very painful and so awful and I can't imagine what it'd be like to have to live under those conditions. Can you tell us about your story? [Hall] I followed in the footsteps of my dad and stepdad. They both served twenty years in the Air Force. [Hall] So, you know I grew up a military brat. Grew up around the Air Force. [Hall] At my five-year mark the Air Force decided to let me out to go Air Force ROTC so that I could, you know, become an officer. [Hall] At that time, everything was going great for me, I was ranked number one in my class. I just got my pilot's slot. And was looking like I would probably be the first cadet you know in this brand new detachment to probably become a pilot. [Hall] I went to field training for the summer. [Hall] And the day that I got back, I got called in. There was a JAG for the military waiting to talk to me. And he sat me down and said, a female cadet has come forward and said that you're gay. That you're in a relationship with another cadet. [Hall] I just kept saying, "I have no comment. I have no comment." [Gillibrand] Right. [Hall] It was about a week before the semester started, [Hall] I got called into my commander's office. And he sat me down, pretty much at a table just like this. And, slid a piece of paper across to  me, and said, "Well, unfortunately I'm going to disenroll you. "Um, due to homosexual conduct." And that's, on the paperwork it says, "Um, no longer, um, "no longer meets military standards due to homosexual conduct." [Gillibrand] Right. And to lose that, you know, just based off of what one person said, was crazy. [Gillibrand] Do you hope to serve again once we repeal this policy? [Hall] Um, I do. Yeah, I mean, I wasn't, you know, the Air Force was, [Hall] I had planned on doing twenty years. I would definitely, [Gilligbrand] And you too? [Sohn] I definitely, part of the reason why I went into LAPD, is like it actually kind of helped out with what I was doing in the Marine Corps too, so, [Gillibrand] So, it enhances your capabilities. [Gillibrand] Well I just want to thank you both for your courage. Because you're sharing your story, [Gillibrand] it allows other people, [Gillibrand] around this country to understand these are real lives that are affected. [Gillibrand] It's easy to vote against something if it's not personalized. [Gillibrand] And what your stories do, is it puts a real face on, the horrible nature of this policy and how undermining it is to the military readiness of armed services. [Gillibrand] We need you in our military. We need all of our best and brightest serving. Our whole values, [Gillibrand] rest on people like you who are willing to give their lives and sacrifice everything so, I just want to give thank you for your service. And thank you for being so  strong and courageous and sharing your story. [Sohn] And thank you so much for being such an advocate and defender for, [Sohn] what's right and I, I, you know, we need more leaders like you. Thank you so much. [Gillibrand] Thank you. [Narrator, over music] Thank you for watching, "In the Life." [Narrator] To learn more about the issues in tonight's stories and how they affect you, [Narrator] visit our website at, I T L media dot org. [Music fades] [Applause] [Choi] We've been criticized. We've been harassed because of the way that we talk. The way that we walk. Or the clothes that we wear. But I'm standing here. And the way I walk is promptly. The way I talk is loudly. And I'm wearing the same clothes that I wore in Baghdad. I am proud to wear them here today with you. [Announcer, over music] "In The Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] the H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] The Calaumus Foundation. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In The Life," members like you. [Theme music] [Theme music]