The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) released the following statement concerning the U.S. House of Representatives’ and U.S. Senate’s actions to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which passed the Senate Armed Services Committee 16-12 and the House 234-194 on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) commends the efforts of those elected officials who supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), including Sen. Kay Hagan and Rep. Larry Kissell, both of whom were targets of CRANE’s Stand with Honor campaign this spring and who voted “yes” to the repeal measure on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

Through March and April, CRANE, along with activists, community members and constituents across the state, launched several grassroots campaigns to engage local communities and elected officials on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the anti-gay law that prohibits open and honest military service by lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans and has resulted in the discharge of over 13,500 patriots willing and able to serve our nation and protect its security.

The campaigns collected five sets of 13,500 plastic toy soldiers — each soldier representing one of the lesbian, gay and bisexual servicemembers discharged under DADT — for delivery to Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan and Reps. Sue Myrick, Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell.

CRANE extends its gratitude to Sen. Hagan and for showing her continued public support of a DADT repeal by voting “yes” on the measure. Rep. Kissell, who had not publicly spoken about his thoughts on repeal, was receptive to CRANE’s campaign throughout its communication with his office. We thank him for his affirmative vote.

CRANE is disappointed that our efforts, representative of hundreds of constituents, failed to strike a chord with Reps. Myrick and McIntyre and Sen. Burr, all of whom voted against repeal. We urge them to reconsider their stances on LGBT civil equality and remind them that only a fool would stand in the way of our national security and military readiness during a time of war. We hope they will join us and their colleagues on the right side of history on other issues of basic equality and fairness.