House Subcommittee Will Hold Hearing on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

The Washington Blade is reporting that a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a hearing on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy July 23. The hearing will be the first since Congress enacted the policy in 1993.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bars GLBT service members from serving openly in the military, and an estimated 12,600 service members have been discharged from the military as a result of the policy.

Among those on the witness list for the July 23 hearing are forming Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who is gay and also the first U.S. soldier wounded in Iraq. Former Air Force Captain Cholene Espinoza, who is a lesbian, will also testify.