“We’re very, very proud of that,” says Tweed. “It’s pretty clear that people in Maine, and elsewhere, support equality for gays ... there is evidence now that a majority of students at schools in Maine support repealing DADT, and (Snowe and Collins) certainly should get on board.” Tweed says that he and Albright have been trying for weeks to set up personal meetings with Snowe and Collins, but haven’t met with much luck.
“In my personal opinion, (Collins) feels like she has more to lose with the national Republican Party than she does with the people of the state of Maine,” Tweed suggests. “But it’s her job to represent the people of Maine and not the national Republican Party.”
Real people
For Albright, who has decided to pursue a career in civil-rights law — indeed he considers the reversal of DADT his raison d’être — the issue is less about the law and more about the people it affects.
“With all this talk about legal issues, I think what’s important for people to remember is that this is about real people. Because of DADT, you can’t kiss the person you love goodbye when you ship out. Your partner doesn’t get your flag if you die in duty,” says Albright.
“It’s become that personal. We know that there are about 65,000 gays and lesbians [a number generated by the Urban Institute based on an analysis of year 2000 census data] in the armed forces right now, and they can’t speak up, so someone needs to be their voice.”
Albright claims he has spoken with someone in Snowe’s office who has imparted that Maine’s senior senator might just be willing to get on board with a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — he didn’t want to reveal his contact.
However, when the Phoenix contacted Snowe’s office, communication director David Snepp said that he had no recollection of the office ever having been visited by Albright and Tweed, and was unaware that any letters had been received.
Albright, however, provided the Phoenix with a photo of himself delivering nearly 1000 letters to what he claims is Snowe’s office, a stack that appears unlikely to have been misplaced. A spokesperson for Collins’s office said no one in her office recalled receiving the letters.
Meanwhile, US representative Tom Allen, who announced Tuesday he will challenge Collins for her seat next year, doesn’t need a letter-writing campaign. He told the Phoenix he believes DADT is both “blatantly discriminatory” and “undermines our military readiness.”
Although the response from Snowe and Collins has been unspoken, at best, activists are cautiously optimistic they might come around.
“I think it is a deflection. Collins is on the Armed Services Committee, this is obviously going to come directly before her committee, and she needs to be able to have an understanding of what this law is, how it plays out in reality, and whether it is good or bad for our armed forces, and I think all the evidence shows that it’s bad,” says Osburn.
“She does have an increasing number of constituents who are speaking up, the USM students and others, who are trying to demonstrate that there are a lot of Mainers who want the policy to change. So, what will it take? Increasing the tension and speaking up.”
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Tony Giampetruzzi: tony@giampetruzzi.com
