Each Memorial Day, a group of gay veterans joins Dorothy Clausen at her son’s grave in Steger, IL. Her son, Allen Schindler, was murdered in a gay bashing while serving in the Navy. Mari Fagel/MNS
WASHINGTON – Dorothy Clausen’s son, Allen Schindler, was beaten to death in a gay bashing while serving in the navy in 1992. After her son’s death, Clausen vowed to fight for gays to serve openly in the military.
“All I wanted was justice,” said Clausen. “I didn’t want this to happen to any other mother’s son. I didn’t want anyone else to have to have their son beaten to death.”
Clausen may soon get the justice she’s been fighting for over the past 17 years. Congress is now moving closer towards repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” If the ban is lifted, gay men and women will be allowed to serve openly in the military for the first time. The House has already approved repeal. The next move is in the Senate.
Another person anticipating the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is Peter Moskos, the son of the man who created the policy.
While home on break from college in 1993, Moskos said his father, Charles, told him about his idea. Charles Moskos was a sociologist for the United States military and a sociology professor at Northwestern University.
“He said he had this idea that was going to save Bill Clinton’s presidency,” said Moskos.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Seek, Don’t Flaunt” was soon adopted by the Senate Armed Forces Committee and became law later that year, with a few changes to the language.
“I thought it was crazy,” said Peter Moskos. “And quickly after that it became known and was passed. I was always a little surprised about that.”
Moskos tried to get his father to advocate for the repeal of the law before his death in 2008. Yet, his father refused to turn his back on the military. But Moskos is certain that when Gen. Colin Powell came out against the policy in February, his father would have followed suit.
“That was the turning point,” said Moskos. “If Colin Powell called him up and told him to speak out against it, there was almost no way he’d say no.”
And if his father would have lived to see the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?
“He would be taking the first plane to some war zone to figure out how best to implement the new policy,” said Moskos.