No American soldier should ever die on the battlefield because the medic who could have saved his life was kicked out of the military for being gay. As an organization of veterans the members of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) support the United States military and all of the troops who serve in our armed forces.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has removed over 13000 service members since it was implemented in 1993. With over 5000 American service men and women killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how many of those lives could have been saved if DADT had not removed medical technicians, translators, pilots, and other support services necessary to help our soldiers fight, win, and come home safely? DADT costs the lives of American soldiers.

We strongly support today’s injunction to end the policy, and we encourage President Obama not to order the Justice Department to appeal the decision. America’s courts are one of the three basic entities of the United States government which consists of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Having an unjust law terminated by our courts has been a perfectly legitimate and thoroughly precedented form of change in US history. Many discriminatory laws based on race, gender, and disability, among many others, have been ended only when our nation’s justice system has stepped in to end laws justified purely by prejudice and ignorance. In our United States prejudice should never be a justification for discrimination.

We applaud and support today’s decision, and we strongly encourage President Obama, who would not be in his position today if America’s courts had not struck down racially motivated laws, to allow the judge’s injunction to stand.

Danny Ingram, National President
American Veterans for Equal Rights