On Gifting to SLDN to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT)

SLDN, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, is dedicated to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT)---the ban on gays in the military. Check why this donor and board member is so committed to it for achieving equality.

My gifting, of both money and time, is most intensely directed to reversing the six-decade old statute that prevents open GLBT service in our military. I am convinced that until this last bastion of federally authorized discrimination is eliminated we have little chance of advancing other significant GLBT legislation, in particular marriage rights. With repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) we will open the floodgates to complete civil rights and citizenship.

Why now? The true state of our military's decline is being suppressed, but with the change of presidency in 2008 I believe the truth will surface, and that the pressure to rectify this will be enormous. More and more senior military officers are stepping forward to declare that the DADT policy is unnecessary. A full 79% of young adults, a persuasive number in this historic election year, have none of the ignorance or prejudice of our country's aging-out conservative base. And, hopefully, we will have a president who has given the promise to end this policy. But it will happen even if we don't.

The most important agency for success will be Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the 16-year-old DC non-profit with the expertise to lead the charge. Under the direction of newly elected and enormously talented Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis and his dedicated staff, the master plan is already in motion. As a Governing Board member of SLDN, aged 73, I now confidently expect to live the history of DADT's repeal.

It will not be easy, but it is infinitely doable. All SLDN lacks is that most difficult and precious of assets, money. SLDN has been operating on a budget of slightly over two million dollars, and we must at least double this for the next thee years to meet our goals. We need everyone to help. Everyone. Now. Right now.

At a certain point in wealth accumulation money becomes just more paper. My experience in gifting is the incredible joy it brings to my life to know I'm helping to make the history I will be living to see. Donations to SLDN are tax deductible, and we have an established format for the donation of appreciated stock, which is a win-win gift: no taxes on the appreciation, and deduction of the entire gift. I invite you to join me now me in this worthiest of all current GLBT campaigns. But small donations are equally important. Presidential campaigns are currently being significantly funded by them. Help at every level is important. Check us out at sldn.org, and join the history train.