Lady Gaga Calls For An End To “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” In New Video

Robbie Daw | September 17, 2010 7:56 am

In a new video posted today to her website, Lady Gaga clearly addresses her stance on the government’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy that prevents GLBT soldiers from disclosing their sexuality, lest they be discharged. “I am here to be a voice for my generation,” Gaga says in the clip. “Not the generation of the senators who are voting, but for the youth of this country, the generation that is affected by this law and whose children will be affected.” Watch below.

The video begins with Gaga addressing, “To my fellow Americans, the Senate, Senators John McCain—Arizona, Mitch McConnell—Kentucky, James Inhofe—Oklahoma, Jeff Sessions—Alabama, and youth all over the world who are watching.”

The Defense Authorization Bill is up for vote in the Senate, with McConnell and McCain denouncing it because of the inclusion of a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, a law that went into effect under the Clinton administration.

“‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ is a law that was created in 1993 that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. Since then 14,000 Americans have been discharged from the armed forces, refused the right to serve their country and sent home, regardless of honorable service or how valuable they were to their units,” says Gaga, who brought members of SLDN.org with her on the MTV VMAs white carpet on Sunday.

“We are not asking you to agree with or approve the moral implications of homosexuality, we’re asking you to do your job, to protect the constitution,” she continues. “As majority leader Harry Reid said, anyone who is willing to fight for this country should have the same civil opportunities to do so as anyone else. ”

Earlier this week Gaga had traded tweets with Senator Reid regarding the upcoming vote on repealing the military’s DADT policy. She also asked viewers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show to call their local Senators on the matter during her appearance on Monday’s episode.

By the end of the video, Gaga calls the office of Senator Charles Schumer, but is unable to reach him. She says, “I will not stop calling until I reach them and I can leave them this message: ‘I am a constituent of the senator, my name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga. I’m calling to ask the senator to vote with Senators Reid and Levin to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and oppose John McCain’s shameless filibuster. We need to do this for our gay and lesbian soldiers, and finally repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ ”

She signs off by urging viewers to call their own senators. “Try calling after 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. I’ll be on the phone too,” Gaga says. “Thank you. God bless.”

What do you think of Gaga’s plea to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”?