HOLLYWOOD—This September, at the moment the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) goes into effect, HBO will tell the strange-but-true tale of the U.S. military’s ban on gays and lesbians from its implementation, through passionate protests and debates, and finally to its 2011 repeal. A timely and historical look at the legacy of gays and lesbians in the military, “The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” illustrates the tumultuous evolution of the controversial policy that fostered hate and intolerance within the military – and undermined the very freedoms American forces defend – by forcing many soldiers to lie and live in secrecy.
Directed by Emmy® winners Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, “The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will have a sneak preview Tuesday, September 19 (midnight-1:30 a.m. ET/PT) on HBO, followed by the documentary’s first prime-time play Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
In 1993, President Bill Clinton encountered vehement opposition when he tried to deliver on his election promise of lifting a 50-year ban on gays in the military. The result was the compromise legislation Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which allowed gays to serve in the military provided they didn’t disclose their sexual orientation. “The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” examines the consequences of the policy and the fight to overturn it, a battle that would last 17 years, span three presidencies and result in the discharge of 13,368 active service members.
Filmed during the final 15 months of the law, “The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” interweaves archival news footage and interviews with key players, from policy experts to Pentagon personnel, as well as personal accounts by a number of actively serving gay soldiers (obscured from the camera because speaking about their sexual orientation violates Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell). Among the featured subjects are: Mass. Rep. Barney Frank; Ct. Sen. Joe Lieberman; former Pa. Rep Patrick Murphy, an Iraqi war veteran who played a leading role in the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal; Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach; Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer; Jeh C. Johnson, general counsel of the Department of Defense; and Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Service members Legal Defense Network (SLDN).
Filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato have produced a variety of acclaimed nonfiction programming, including 24 documentaries for HBO and CINEMAX, among them “Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal,” “Monica in Black and White,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and, most recently, the Emmy®-nominated “Wishful Drinking.”
“The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is produced and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato; supervising producer, Jacqueline Glover; executive producer, Sheila Nevins; producers, Gabriel Rotello and Mona Card; editors, Langdon F. Page, Chris Conway; music by David Benjamin Steinberg.
What makes this documentary so extraordinary is the way the filmmakers interviewed some of the players in this controversial law, which the soldiers on the ground never understood or respected. There are the regular political stalwarts in Washington, D.C. that used this very issue to win political battles, but yet, they staunchly claimed they were speaking on behalf of the military. When actually many were speaking on behalf of retired Generals, who had other issues that they did not agree with as well. Including the racial integration of soldiers, which they said decades earlier would destroy the military as well.
The regular suspects you will recognize, and they are consistently against civil rights. One such senator, though respected was one of only a handful of Republican Senators who voted against the Martin Luther King birthday holiday to become a national day of remembrance. Obviously a decade or so later, he says it was a mistake. However, these are the people we elect to represent our values, which include the rights of our service men and women to serve their nation.
Don’t miss this groundbreaking documentary on HBO.
