“don’t ask, don’t tell” update
On September 13, 2006, Nichole Rawls, an open lesbian, tried to enlist at an Army recruiting office in Norman, Okla. “I am aware of the Army’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, but I don’t agree with it. I want to serve my country, but I am not willing to hide who I am in order to do so,” said Rawls. Her grandfather, Clifford L. Roberts of Shawnee, was a Green Beret and a member of the Golden Knights elite parachute team. He served five tours of duty in Vietnam.
“It’s a family thing. I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Rawls said. Her grandmother, Jacqueline Roberts of Shawnee, accompanied her granddaughter to the Norman office. Roberts said her husband was “very supportive” of Rawls’s desire to join the military but died last April before he could help her in the current campaign.
The demonstrators were treated with respect, but were asked to leave by a police officer or face being arrested.
The Norman demostration was held in conjunction with others around the country as part of the Soulforce’s Right to Serve campaign.