Pop superstar Lady Gaga on Monday released an online video message urging her fans to push for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the Senate’s lame-duck session.
Gaga posted the two-minute video on YouTube on the eve prior to the scheduled Nov. 30 release of the Pentagon’s long-awaited study on DADT. The report, which surveyed 400,000 service members and their families on their opinions on DADT’s possible repeal, is widely expected to heavily influence upcoming debate in the Senate on the military’s anti-gay ban. Sources close to the study report that a majority of service members say they don’t see the abolition of DADT as a problem for the military.
“We’ve known for many years that an overwhelming majority of Americans are ready to repeal,” Lady Gaga said, her statement back by recent polling, including a Pew survey released Monday.
“The Senate needs to get this bill passed this year to repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ otherwise it can take years for it to happen,” she continued, referring to the Republican takeover of the House that will occur in January and presumably result in a Congress far less supportive of repeal.
Gaga also linked discriminatory federal policies to the recent epidemic of suicides committed by LGBT adolescents, referring to “government repression that is killing our youth.”
“We have to end this law because it reinforces discrimination and it’s setting a bad example.”
Watch the video here.
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