Raw Story: Gillibrand compares military opposition to anti-sexual assault measures to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Raw Story reports:
On a conference call with military sexual assault survivors, advocates and journalists on Wednesday evening, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) compared the resistance to legislation that would take reporting sexual assault out of the chain of command in the military to resistance to the military’s now-defunct Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation.
“We’re hearing a lot of the same excuses,” Gillibrand said, likening the opposition to objections over allowing gay and lesbian service members to be open about their sexuality.
Her legislation would move determination of whether charges should be pursued on a sexual assault away from military commanders and instead allow trained officers to pursue criminal charges. The bill would also prevent commanders from unilaterally overturning sexual assault convictions, as happened in several high-profile cases in recent months. Gillibrand’s bill faces fierce opposition, not only from the Pentagon, but also from her colleague, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who stripped her amendment from the defense spending bill in committee last month.
