Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: White House Fence Protestors Have Day In Court

Remember the “White House 13?” The thirteen GetEQUAL protestors — many of them military veterans — who on November 15, 2010, chained themselves to the White House fence? Today, all thirteen had their day in federal court. Here’s what happened — but let’s take a moment to remember that today marks the 139th day since President Obama signed into law the bill that provides the path to repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law. We have these activists, in part, to thank for making that possible.

First, Lt. Dan Choi requested to have his case severed from the thirteen. More on that later.

READ: One Of The White House 13 Anti-DADT Protestors, Facing Jail: “Try Me”

The twelve remaining GetEQUAL protestors appeared before U.S. District Court federal magistrate Alan Kay. All twelve were forced to plead guilty to a failure to move charge. The prosecutor read a detailed account of the actions the protestors took.

“Today, the twelve defendants, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell activists appeared in U.S. District Court and entered a plea for failure to obey –a minor charge,” attorney Ann Wilcox, (who, along with Mark Goldstone, represented the twelve activists,) told The New Civil Rights Movement.

“They will have a clean record. They felt it was a good outcome, they had an opportunity to address the court, and they felt they educated the court on the importance of their actions,” Wilcox, of the National Lawyers Guild, said, adding, “It was a successful day in court.”

 

“I didn’t go to the fence lightly,” said former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-​Shalom, who was discharged in 1976 for acknowledging she was a lesbian. “I pled guilty but I’m not a criminal.”

 

All twelve are now on unsupervised probation, and they will walk away on September 10, 2011, with clean records assuming, they don’t get arrested again.

“I didn’t go to the fence lightly,” said former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-​Shalom, who was discharged in 1976 for declaring and acknowledging she was a lesbian. “I pled guilty but I’m not a criminal,” Ben-Shalom told the court.

Asked why the government had been so hard on the GetEQUAL protestors, especially since earlier arrests had not led to serious charges, Wilcox surmised that as this was the fourth arrest, perhaps the government felt it had to “up the ante.”

The government’s prosecutor, Angela George, would not budge from forcing a guilty plea from the defendants. Nor was community service or a plea of nolo contendere allowed. “It was more process and procedure than we’re used to,” Wilcox, an activists’ lawyer who also does work for groups like Veterans For Peace, stated.

Now, Dan Choi reportedly did not want to plead guilty, and so had his case severed and will go to trial separately. Choi was represented today in court by Yetta Kurland, of Kurland, Bonica & Associates, P.C. Kurland is  a former New York City Council candidate.

The 13 veterans and repeal advocates arrested and who appeared in court today deserve our gratitude and respect. Their actions helped in the fight to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

* Five veterans (Lt. Dan Choi, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, Cpl. Evelyn Thomas, and Cadet Mara Boyd) who were arrested back in March during the GetEQUAL organized “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act of civil disobedience at the White House fence demanding President Obama show leadership on repeal.
* Robin McGehee, co-​founder and director of GetEQUAL, and Dan Fotou, action strategist for GetEQUAL.
* Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-​Shalom, who was discharged in 1976 for declaring and admitting she was a lesbian. She became the first-​ever LGBT servicemember reinstated to her position in the U.S. Military, by a U.S. Federal District Court. On July 30th, 1993, Miriam and 26 other protesters were arrested at the White House fence for protesting then-​President Bill Clinton’s broken promise to repeal the gay ban – instead signing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bill into law.
* Former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Justin Elzie who, in 1993, became the first Marine ever investigated and discharged under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. Elzie was also the first soldier to be discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to fight his discharge and win – resulting in his service as a Marine for four years as an openly gay man.
* Former U.S. Army Arabic Linguist Ian Finkenbinder, who was discharged from the Army in December 2004 after announcing to his superiors that he was gay. Finkenbinder is an Iraq war veteran and was about to return for a second tour of duty when he was discharged.
* U.S. Army Veteran and Repeal Advocate Rob Smith, who was deployed to both Iraq and Kuwait before being honorably discharged after deciding not to re-​enlist in the U.S. Army due to the added pressure of living under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.
* Father Geoff Farrow, a Catholic priest who spoke out against the church’s official stance in support of California’s Proposition 8, removing the rights of same-​sex couples to marry. Because of his courageous stance against Prop 8, Father Geoff Farrow was removed as pastor of St. Paul’s by his bishop and suspended as a priest.
* Scott Wooledge, a New York-​based LGBT civil rights advocate and blogger who has written extensively on the movement to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at Daily Kos and Pam’s House Blend.
* Michael Bedwell, long-​time LGBT civil rights advocate, close friend of Leonard Matlovich, and administrator of the site www​.leonardmatlovich​.com.