By BetteAndTinaForever On March 24 Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s (SLDN) held their annual in Washington, DC. SLDN is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and related forms of intolerance.

The 15th Annual SLDN dinner honored former Army Sergeant Bleu Copas, an Arabic linguist stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., who reached out to SLDN for help when he became the target of an email ‘outing’ campaign. Copas, determined not to be silenced and fight alone, spoke out. For his courage in sharing his story and fighting for change, he was honored that evening with the Barry Winchell Courage Award.

SLDN also honored Showtime’s hit series The L Word with this year’s Randy Shilts Visibility Award. As you all know, in season four, The L Word portrayed the story of Tasha, a lesbian National Guardsman who has returned from duty in Iraq and is serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In order to make the story authentic, the creators of the show turned to SLDN for guidance.

One important aspect of Tasha Williams’ (Rose Rollins) storyline was the idea of telling the story from both sides of the fence, figuratively speaking. The views on the war were shown from an Army person and also from her new friends who have their own perspective on the war in Iraq. Tasha brought a unique perspective on the war, fueled by her sense of patriotism, duty, and loyalty. And she spoke passionately about the

difference between politics and service, challenging her friends’, and especially Alice’s, perspective about the armed forces and what is actually happening in Iraq.

“We are enormously proud to honor The L Word for its groundbreaking, and educational, storyline about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” said dinner co-chair Capt. Joan E. Darrah, USN (Ret.). “This season, The L Word will bring an honest, powerful portrayal of LGBT service members into millions of homes. By doing so, they will also shed light on the outstanding contributions gays in the military are making and highlight the challenges of living under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ We look forward to following their storyline, and to welcoming Ilene, Pam, Marlee, and Cybill to Washington.”

Ilene Chaiken, Pam Grier, Marlee Matlin and Cybill Shepherd were very excited to participate in such an important event for LGBT community. Rose Rollins wasn’t scheduled to appear, but she made a surprise appearance, much to the delight of the dinner attendees.

Cybill Shepherd, interviewed in Metro Weekly before the SLDN dinner, mentioned stated she signed on to attend the SLDN dinner the instant the invitation arrived. She said, “It's a cause that is close to my heart. I have this enormous respect for people with the courage to go where other people haven't gone and set the example of defying ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' and other types of discrimination. It's so archaic that discrimination is still in the military through the ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy. I think it's the only place where you are allowed to discriminate against someone. You can't keep people out of the military because of the color of their skin or their religion, but you can, based on sexual orientation. It's hard to believe that in this day and age we still have this kind of discrimination and we're depriving ourselves at a time when we desperately need these great, good people who have the expertise and are willing to serve their country. And the cost to the government of replacing these people! I read somewhere it's millions and millions and millions of dollars to replace excellent people doing their job with courage. It's an absurdity. Let's shoot ourselves in the foot a few more times.”

When she was asked about the solution to this policy, Cybill replied, “Well, obviously, repeal ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' I feel that it's very important as well to give gays and lesbians the right to marry and have full rights under the law. They all kind of go together, don't they? We need to acknowledge and root out this bias, this poison in our society. Somebody said to me the other day that with knowledge, you don't fear. When you're less ignorant, you fear less. As much as we like to

think there's been a lot of progress -- and there has been, obviously -- they're still trying to put it in the Constitution that gays and lesbians can't marry.”

Betty, also appeared and they sang the National Anthem before the dinner and later they performed the opening title song from the show.

After a few speeches and the dinner, the organizers showed a short video made out of the Tasha and Alice’s clips, including the few from the finale. Rose and Leisha’s acting got applause and laughs in several places. The Rose/Alice pairing has become a crowd favorite this season, so most fans will be pleased to know that Rose Rollins is coming back.

All the cast members that were present at the dinner went on the stage and accepted the award on behalf of the show. Each of them spoke a few words about the storyline and how they were trying to show their support for the service members who were discriminated because of their sexual orientation.

Ilene mentioned that Tasha’s story was created by Elizabeth Ziff, and they all realized that it was a great opportunity to tell a story about LGBT members serving in the army and show their support for them.

Cybill Shepherd was very funny and outspoken, and after mentioning the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Speak’ situation she said, “Can you believe that a woman of my age can have active sex life on a national television?” She even removed her jacket to demonstrate how happy she was with her role on The L Word. Like Rollins, Shepherd will be back for Season 5.

Marlee Matlin was also very emotional in her speech when she said, “What a very touching evening this is been for me. Meeting everyone that I had a chance to meet and thinking about all that is happening in the military… I’m just appalled. I’m appalled, and I’m sure that you know that you all have the utmost respect from all of us and you served our country admirably. And I want to use clear language that it’s effin unfair what is happening with gay and lesbians in the army.”

Rose Rollins was the last to speak and after a very wonderful speech about Tasha’s storyline and how she was proud to be the one to portray it, she laughed and said that it was her first public speech and then she finished with the words, “We want to stand with you to tell the stories to end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.”

More information on SLDN:

SLDN literature states “there are 1 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans in the United States. Sixty-five thousand lesbian, gay and bisexual service members are on duty in our armed forces. Every day, the Pentagon fires 2-3 of them simply because of their sexual orientation – more than eleven thousand have been fired in the past decade.

Those brave men and women have been turned in by their own families, by doctors, and by chaplains. Some have emails and diaries seized and used as evidence against them. Grenades have been taped to their doors with death threats. Others have been discharged just few days before retirement.

All have been victims of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members. For many, SLDN is their only lifeline.

SLDN is a wonderful organization that emphasized in their mission statement, that “as long as the military continues to fire two people every day for being lesbian, gay, or bisexual, SLDN will continue to fight. We will continue to challenge and battle against intrusive and illegal investigations, incessant harassment and witch hunts. Currently, 70% of American support having lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans serve openly, demonstrating that the overwhelming majority of Americans value qualification, not discrimination. The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be a watershed moment in civil rights for Americans.”

SLDN’s Goals for Freedom:

1. Lift the ban preventing gays, lesbians and bisexuals from serving openly and honestly in the military.
2. Provide free legal services to serve members harmed by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
3. Protect service members from harassment base on perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
4. Advocate for policies and practices that improve the lives of service members.
5. Support service members and veteran pride as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person.