Right Wing Attacks Lady Gaga Over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Advocacy
Lady Gaga has been on a war path this week when it comes to advocating for an end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the U.S. military policy that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in the Armed Forces. Last week she showed up at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) with soldiers who were discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on her arms.
Later in the week she took Sen. Harry Reid to task, making sure the Senate Majority Leader followed through with a pledge to get the U.S. Senate to debate and vote on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And in two YouTube clips that went viral, Lady Gaga called her Senators in New York (Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand) urging them to support a repeal, and several college students in Colorado videotaped themselves following Gaga's orders and calling their Senators to support a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Needless to say, the Gaga effect was felt. In fact, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network noted in an email that was sent on Friday that as a result of Gaga's work on the issue, more than 107,000 took action through their Web site to support a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," including 93 percent of whom were new users. More than that, Gaga's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" advocacy was covered by the Washington Post, CNN, and MTV News, and prompted tens of thousands of Facebook posts and shares, calling for an end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." It even prompted one current U.S. soldier in Iraq to write: "Thank you Lady Gaga! I called my Senators from Iraq…it took all of three minutes (one minute was dedicated to all the numbers I had to push on the telephone). Let’s keep the pressure up!”
But not everyone is happy with Gaga's work. Perhaps it was just a matter of time before the right wing honed in on Gaga and her little monsters. And it comes in the form of a Human Events column by Rachel Marsden, who calls Gaga and those who favor repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" misplaced, and says that if gays are allowed to openly serve in the military, the Armed Forces will become nothing more than a touchy-feely orgy of same-sex love.
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