On September 21, the United States Senate failed to overcome a filibuster by Arizona Senator John McCain, erstwhile Republican Presidential candidate, and bring to the floor the Defense Authorization bill, which would have included repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), which prevents LGBT members of the Armed Forces from serving openly. The bill needed 60 favorable votes and received 56, with 43 Senators opposed.
The previous day, the California-based Courage Campaign delivered a petition calling for repeal of DADT, with 557,293 signatures, to targeted Senators, as a follow-up to its "Don't Fire Dan!" campaign, in support of openly gay Lt. Dan Choi.
"The Senate is not the only place were going to apply pressure in Washington," wrote Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs, in an email to the organization's mailing list. "We are also joining the Human Rights Campaign in calling on the Justice Department not to appeal the recent [federal district] court decision that ruled DADT unconstitutional. The decision in this historic case, launched by the Log Cabin Republicans, affirms what the vast majority of the American people know to be true-that it's time for DADT to be sent to the dustbins of history."
