Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
Yesterday marked the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t — an 18-year-old policy that prohibited gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military and forced more than 14,000 qualified men and women out of the armed forces and many thousands more to serve silently in fear of being discovered. Responding to strong pressure from LGBT advocates and congressional Democrats, President Obama signed legislation repealing the law in December 2010 and officially certified the end of the policy on July 22.
But you may have missed the historic occasion if you were watching Fox News. Given its habit of ignoring news that does not appeal to the conservative base, the network largely ignored the story, mentioning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” just 16 times yesterday between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m., according to a ThinkProgress search of Critical Mention. Comparatively, CNN and MSNBC covered the repeal 66 times and 84 times respectively:
Fox offered slim coverage of the certification of repeal in July, underreported the passage of New York’s historic same-sex marriage law, and remained mostly silent after a major law firm reversed its decision to defend an explicitly anti-gay law in March. Last year, the network failed to report that former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman — who had orchestrated President Bush’s gay-bashing 2004 re-election campaign — had come out as gay.
25 Years of Truthout: An important fundraising appeal
This September, Truthout is celebrating 25 years of publication. For over two decades, we have been a trusted source for fiercely independent journalism thanks to readers like you.
As we look to the next 25 years, we have launched a special fundraising campaign. Looking to a sustainable future for our publication, we have a fundraising goal of $71,000 in the next 5 days.
We are asking for your support at this juncture because we face greater threats than ever before in our organizational history. Trump and his MAGA allies are determined to control the information ecosystem, and movement-based organizations are subject to dangerous censorship and scrutiny.
If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work and our legacy. Anything you can do makes a difference!