HRC Blog

Dear Mr. President, I served my country for over thirty years. I enlisted in the army as a private and retired as a Major General. During that time, I saw a great deal of change in the Armed Forces. Racial segregation was ended in the ranks, women were recognized as equals and we moved to an all volunteer force. My father was a laborer, my mother a domestic worker. I knew that there was no way I was headed for college. As a young Black Man I enlisted in the army long before President Truman desegregated the armed forces.

Military veterans delivered more than 20,000 postcards to Capitol Hill today with a clear message – the time to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is now. The postcards, signed by supporters of repeal from across the country, were delivered on the eve of critical votes in the House and Senate. Joining them at a press conference was Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. Also among those at the event was Walker Burttschell, a former U.S. Marine discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” who has been walking from Norfolk, Virginia to Washington, DC over the past week to raise awareness of the issue.

As we approach votes in the House and Senate on repeal of the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law, it is critical that you call your Representative and Senators and tell them to vote for DADT repeal.

Dear Mr. President, As an 18-year-old, first generation immigrant from Mexico and a newly sworn in American citizen, military service seemed the best way to repay my fellow citizens for giving my family and me a shot at a better life. I enlisted in the Marine Corps as an Aircraft Ordnance Man. USMC Boot Camp was physically and mentally challenging, but it didn’t compare to the persecution I would encounter later in the Marines.

After more than a decade since it publicly opposed them, Tennessee-based FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), #59 on the Fortune 500 will offer domestic partner benefits to its employees starting in 2012. When the city and county of San Francisco passed its groundbreaking Equal Benefits Ordinance in the late 1990s, which requires city contractors to provide equal benefits for same-sex partners as for different-sex spouses of employees, one of the most vocal opponents was FedEx.