The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, arguably THE group on the frontlines of the battle against Don't Ask, Don't Tell, issued a joyful but cautious press statement just now regarding today's monumental achievement in the Senate.

“Gay, lesbian and bisexual service members posted around the world are standing a little taller today, but they’re still very much at risk because repeal is not final. I respectfully ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to use his authority to suspend all ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ investigations during this interim period. Until the President signs the bill, until there is certification, and until the 60-day Congressional period is over, no one should be investigated or discharged under this discriminatory...

Another voice has risen from the front lines today to call for immediate DADT repeal. This time, it's Marine Infantry Captain Nathan Cox, who pens an editorial for the The Washington Post to respectfully disagree with the anti-gay attitude of his commander, Gen. Amos. 

"I believe the reluctance many Marines feel about repeal is based on the false stereotype, borne out of ignorance, that homosexuals don't do things like pull other Marines from burning vehicles. The truth is, they do it all the time. We simply don't know it because they can't tell us.

"It is time for "don't ask, don't tell" to join our other mistakes in the dog-eared chapters of history textbooks. We all bleed red, we all love our country, we are all Marines. In the ...

There are 61 souls in the Senate pledging to vote for DADT repeal tomorrow, but Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach's representation from Ohio, Senator Voinovich, isn't yet one of them. Here's a letter penned by Lt. Fehrenbach who hopes to secure Sen. Voinovich's yes vote in the name of equality for all Americans:

Dear Senator Voinovich,

I am a Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF with over 19 years of active service. I am also a proud Ohioan. I am currently facing discharge under the “Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. I am writing you today to urge you to vote for the repeal of this unconstitutional, discriminatory law this Saturday.

I was born at Wright-Patterson AFB, and I was raised in Ohio my entire life. My father was also a Lieutenant...

To remind the Senate that DADT repeal should be at the top of its pre-holiday break priorities, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network will engage a sit-in action in the Senate Galley. Sen. Joe Lieberman is on board for the event which will see members of SLDN sitting in the Senate's presence until the polarized body passes DADT repeal. The chamber is expected to take up standalone legislation before on Saturday. SLDN and Sen. Lieberman will hold a press conference this afternoon, after which we'll update this post with any new details. 

Drink this story in with huge grains of salt rimming your morning-time margarita, Instincters because he's pulled out the DADT rug from underneath us before (he voted not to move forward with the Defense Bill last week a few days after pledging to support DADT repeal), but Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has renewed his promise to repeal DADT -- as long as it's included in a standalone bill and as long as it's on the military's timetable. 

“Sen. Brown accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy after proper preparations have been completed. If and when a clean repeal bill comes up for a vote, he will support it,” said Brown spokesperson Gail Gitcho.

Should the Senate count Brown's vote it puts them over the 60 votes...

Updated Wednesday, December 15, 5:25 p.m. EST

By a vote of 250 to 175, the House has passed a standalone repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The bill is now streamlined for a vote in the Senate. 15 Republicans voted for repeal, while 15 Democrats voted against. 

The House has sent the Senate DADT repeal before (where it failed to pass), but the language was embedded within a larger, broader and more comprehensive defense package. This will be the first time a standalone bill is approved by the House, and ready for the Senate, where a stripped bill like this might have a better chance to survive a vote in that chamber and land on the President's desk. 

________________

The House is about to take up its stand-alone bill that ...

A new poll from the Washington Post and ABC shows that 77 percent of Americans support letting openly LGBT soldiers serve in the military. The number is the largest yet show of support in a DADT poll, and even includes a majority of Republicans and conservatives (as well as Democrats, Independents and liberals). Moreover, the new poll finds that a majority of white evangelicals support repeal of DADT. 

How can Sen. John McCain be so out of step with the people he works for? Should he continue to fight tooth and nail fang and hoof against the timely, ordered repeal of DADT that is called for in the Senate bill, it'll only be a matter of time before courts do what is Constitutionally sound, and repeal the ban in a more chaotic fashion...

Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos says he has read the Pentagon's study on DADT repeal and has decided that is says one thing: Marines will lose their legs if military discrimination is ended, you know, because of the distraction that equality would cause. 

“I take that very, very seriously,” said Amos. “I don’t want to lose any Marines to the distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center] with no legs be the result of any type of distraction.”

SLDN has already issued a statement in response. 

“General Amos needs to fall in line and salute or resign now. He implied that repeal will lead to Marines losing their legs in combat. Those fear tactics are not...

Updated Tuesday, December 14, 1 p.m. EST

The stand-alone DADT repeal bill will now likely go up for a vote in the House tomorrow. If passed, as Nancy Pelosi has promised, the streamlined legislation goes to the Senate immediately where it is awarded special privileges that make it a bit easier to survive a vote in that chamber, compared to last week's failure. 

Explains WaPo's Jonathan Capehart:

Once passed, the bill would go over to the Senate as a privileged motion. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would be compelled to move on it. Another good reason? The privileged motion allows the time to be cut in half. Only one cloture vote would be necessary to end debate, which should be limited for reasons I'll address in a second...

A new lawsuit was filed against the government today in San Francisco at the hands of three gay veterans discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The suit, says SLDN, is a warning to lawmakers who only have a two-week window of opportunity remaining to pass repeal of the discriminatory legislation. 

Reports the AP:

The lawsuit filed in federal district court also seeks to have the ban on openly gay troops declared unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable for any service members.

"I don't feel like I'm going up against the military, I really don't. I just feel like this is a necessary step for doing away with this policy," said former Air Force Staff Sergeant Anthony Loverde. "I believe the military, the majority of troops I've ...

In an editorial penned for the Huffington Post, Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, employs a military term to describe the failure of the Senate to repeal DADT last week: FUBAR. After that quick dramatic intro, Rieckhoff continues his blunt editorial to lambast Senator Harry Reid for failing to invoke leadership, and reminds us of all those other important items attached to the Defense Authorization Act that we should be upset about losing, too (like mental health support for soldiers). You can read the blood-boiling great piece in full here and check out a highlight below.

"Make no mistake, Senator Reid is very much to blame. He’s been calling the shots from the start. He charted...

For the second consecutive day our Picture of the Day documents grass roots DADT repeal activism. Today's poignant offering is an image just shot at the SLDN-sponsored rally in D.C.

Along with the photo comes word that Nancy Pelosi pledges to get DADT repeal passed if it comes to the House in a stand-alone bill, which, conveniently, Sens Lieberman and Collins put forth this morning.

Said Pelosi early today (via Talking Points Memo):

"An army of allies stands ready in the House to pass a standalone repeal of the discriminatory policy once the Senate acts."