Right to Serve Campaign

The Right to Serve Campaign was a project of Soulforce, a national organization which counters religious and political oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The Right to Serve Campaign was the first nationally organized youth effort to bring attention to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the United States Armed Forces, and took place in 30 cities on various dates from late summer 2006 to fall 2006. The Campaign was organized by the same youth activists who organized the Soulforce Equality Ride.

Background

, the policy which prohibits openly lesbian, gay and bisexual persons from serving within the ranks of the military.

Youth in 30 cities across the country were recruited to organize events in which openly lesbian, gay and bisexual youth would attempt to enlist in the United States Armed Forces as openly gay. When these youth were denied the opportunity to serve, they and their supporters, staged a sit-in. Those attempting to enlist said that they were willing to serve, but not willing to lie about themselves in order to do it.

The Right to Serve Campaign was inspired by the sit-in movements of the 1960s, the first of which being the Greensboro sit-ins.

National Response

Endorsements

The Campaign was endorsed nationally by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which stated: "We applaud the young men and women from Right To Serve who seek to join the proud tradition of military service. The Right To Serve campaign challenges the federal government to end its prohibition on open and honest service by gay Americans, at a time when America can ill afford to turn away even one bright, capable recruit in the fight against terrorism." [ [http://www.soulforce.org/righttoserve Right to Serve Official Website] ]

In December 2006, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network also named the Campaign as number five on its list of the Top-Ten "Don't Ask Don't Tell" stories of 2006. [ [http://freedomtoserve.blogspot.com/2006/12/5-right-to-serve.html "The Frontlines" SLDN Blog: "#5 The Right to Serve"] ]

Criticism

The Campaign received some criticism nationally. Elaine Donnelly, the president of the [http://www.cmrlink.org/ Center for Military Readiness] stated in September 2006: "I think the people involved here do not have the best interests of the military at heart. They never have. They are promoting an agenda to normalize homosexuality in America using the military as a battering ram to promote that broader agenda." [ [http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/212006g.asp "'Coordinated' Campaign Targets Military Ban on Homosexuals" AgapePress, September 21, 2006] ]

Media Coverage

The national response from the Right to Serve Campaign was clearly seen in the great amount of national media coverage prompted by the Campaign's events.

The Right to Serve Campaign was profiled nationally by [ [http://www.soulforce.org/article/865 Right to Serve Media Coverage] ] :
# [http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/15256339.htm The Associated Press] , in over 90 cities
# [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/us/14gay.html?hp&ex=1158206400&en=c51f3ff0f2068574&ei=5094&partner=homepage The New York Times]
# [http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2379096&page=1 ABC News]
# [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/10/AR2006061000802.html The Washington Post]
# The Detroit News (in a syndicated column by Deb Price)
# [http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2082186.php The Army Times]
# [http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/661/510037/6124053/WUNC_6124053.mp3 WUNC and National Public Radio, Greensboro, NC (.mp3 audio news file)]
# [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0609/26/pzn.01.html Paula Zanh Now, CNN]
# [http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?name=news&id=1543154&vid=113324 MTV News]

Locally, in each city of the Campaign, media and news coverage was found in over 70 news/media publications and companies. [ [http://www.soulforce.org/article/865 Right to Serve Media Coverage] ]

The Campaign also received international coverage, for its Greensboro, NC, events, by one gay-oriented news company in the United Kingdom. [ [http://www.soulforce.org/article/865 Right to Serve Media Coverage] ]

The Cities of the Campaign

# Akron, OH
# Atlanta, GA
# Austin, TX
# Indianapolis, IN
# Charlottesville, VA
# Chicago, IL
# Cincinnati, OH
# Conway, AR
# Dallas, TX
# Denver, CO
# Greensboro, NC
# Los Angeles, CA
# Madison, WI
# Middletown, CT
# Milwaukee, WI
# Minneapolis, MN
# New York City, NY
# Norman, OK
# Norton, MA
# Oklahoma City, OK
# Philadelphia, PA
# Phoenix, AZ
# Providence, RI
# Richmond, VA
# Shreveport, LA
# Spokane, WA
# Tacoma, WA
# Tampa, FL
# Tulsa, OK
# Washington, D.C.

Further reading

# [http://www.righttoserve.org/ Official Soulforce Right to Serve Campaign website]
# [http://www.soulforce.org/ Soulforce official website]
# [http://www.interstateq.com/soulforce/#r2s Website for local Right to Serve organizing, Greensboro, NC]

References