SpeakOut: The Intersection of LGBTQ Identity and Law

The Pentagon discharged 2-4 Americans every day for being gay under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” What did that law, and rules like it dating to World War II, say about the relationship of LGBTQ Americans to civic life, citizenship, the constitution, and family? How did the struggles for racial and gender integration in the armed forces inform DADT and its ultimate repeal in 2010? How did the cultural narrative shift making DADT repeal possible? What can DADT repeal tell us about struggles for inclusion, equality and humanity today?

C. Dixon Osburn will explore these topics in our inaugural SpeakOut address. He led the campaign to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as co-founder of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. His book, Mission Possible, recounts the individual, social and financial cost of a policy at the intersection of law and LGBTQ identity. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “A well-crafted work on a watershed moment in American culture…. hrilling….”