Foes Protest 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Dec. 2, 2007 — -- Twelve thousand miniature flags are fluttering on the National Mall through today to represent the men and women discharged from the military since Bill Clinton in 1993 signed off on the "don't ask, don't tell" compromise -- a policy that requires gays and lesbians conceal their sexual orientation or leave the military.

The flags, placed by volunteers, cover six football fields of space in view of the Capitol building and the Washington monument.

Nov. 30 marked the anniversary of "don't ask, don't tell," and the start of a weekend of demonstrations in Washington.

"It's time to have a visual example of how many people that we've lost," said Antonio Agnone, primary organizer of the events and former U.S. Marine who voluntarily left his post because of the stress of serving under 'don't ask, don't tell.' "And [it's] also [time] to say thank you to all these men and women for their service."

The weekend events, organized by the Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers United, the Log Cabin Republicans, the Liberty Education Forum and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, was to conclude today with a military chaplain's prayer service on the National Mall at 11 a.m.

On Friday, 28 retired admirals and generals released a letter calling on Congress to rethink "don't ask, don't tell."

"We respectfully urge Congress to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," read the letter, which was read as part of this weekend's ceremonies. "Those of us signing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish."

It claims "scholarly data" counts 65,000 gays and lesbians currently serving in the armed forces and references Britain and Israel, two places where gay and lesbian soldiers serve openly.

The signers are in company with Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, who argued against "don't ask, don't tell" in a Jan. 2 opinion piece in The New York Times. Shalikashvili was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the policy was adopted.