“Civil rights seldom comes as a bolt of lightening, it takes patience, it takes careful planning, it takes hard work,” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). Osburn was addressing the 12th annual End the Witch Hunts national dinner of that organization, held Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C.

Osburn said there are only two ways to get rid of the antigay military policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), either through the courts or through Congress.

He announced that by the end of the year, SLDN will file a new lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DADT and will have drafted a model bill to repeal the law in Congress.

“We have interviewed some 200 of our clients from the past 2-3 years,” he said. “It’s been somewhat of an American Idol contest for gays in the military. I can tell you that once we file the lawsuit, these individuals will inspire you with their courage, their sacrifice and their selflessness. They are going to do a phenomenal job for us.”

Osburn explained that in striking down state sodomy laws last year, the Supreme Court said, “The state cannot demean our existence, it cannot impede our destiny by punishing us. We plan to go back to the court and take them at their word. You cannot demean our existence.”

Osburn also outlined how SLDN has been building their lobbying capacity and have met with over 150 members of Congress, including most of those who sit on committees with jurisdiction over the military. SLDN also is building and strengthening its ties with other veteran’s organizations.

“None of us is truly a full citizen of the United States of America until the ban is lifted,” he said.

Retired lieutenant Steve May related the fight he went through when the Army called him back to active duty from the Reserves. He had declared that he was gay during debate on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives where he served as a Republican state legislator, and the Army tried to use that to discharge him.

“It was SLDN who came to my aid first,” May said. “We fought for two years and I was allowed to complete my term of service.”

May said that DADT “undermines our national security” because competent, trained gay men and women continue to be kicked out of the military even while their skills are in short supply.

DADT “was imposed upon us by the enemies of freedom. By that I mean the congressmen who threaten our liberties. It is in conflict with who we are as an American people… It is a continuation of the aspirations that started in 1776.”

Patricia Kutteles is the mother of PFC Barry Winchell, who was murdered in an antigay assault at Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1999. SLDN created a Courage Award in honor of Winchell. Kutteles presented this year’s award to Sen. Ted Kennedy. It was the first time that a politician had been given the award.

Kennedy led the unsuccessful fight to deny a promotion to General Robert T. Clark, who commanded Fort Campbell at the time of Winchell’s death. Kutteles said, “When it mattered, Sen. Kennedy stood up for my family… and to protect the other sons and daughters of this nation.”

In a videotaped acceptance of the award, Kennedy outlined the many ways in which Clark was derelict in allowing an antigay atmosphere to fester on the base and in the investigation of that murder. He called DADT “an utter and unrelenting failure,” and concluded, “Today, thousands of gays and lesbians are living a lie to defend our country.”

Retired brigadier general Keith H. Kerr took aim at organizations that preach hatred against gays and lesbians. “We must confront those institutions, those individuals, and those churches who take self-respect from us who say we are gay.”

The former commander of the California National Guard noted that an Eagle Scout and a Mormon murdered Matthew Shepherd. He said the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world “pick and choose their abominations [in Leviticus] very carefully, while avoiding others. They do not own the Judeo-Christian Bible. We need to confront the Christian right and fight back.”

Former Navy lieutenant Jen Kopfstein called SLDN “a lifeline from the isolation and loneliness” of being gay in the military. She was discharged for being a lesbian, despite her commander fighting to retain her services. Her partner of three years is an 18-year veteran of the Navy who continues to serve.

Kopfstein spoke movingly of the measures the couple had to take when her partner was deployed to the Persian Gulf in order to protect her identity, and what it was like to be a gay spouse left behind. Gay and lesbian service members and their families “have fewer resources than the soldier or sailor next to them.”

Kopfstein was presented with the Randy Shilts Visibility Award for the efforts that she made to bring her story to the media and the public.