Mensa's World Gathering 2021

Sessions Speakers Floor Plan Buzz

CANCELED: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Room Lanier Grand Ballroom G)

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which governed the Defense Department’s treatment of LGBTQ uniformed service members from 1993 to 2011, rapidly transformed from a policy viewed as progressive to one seen as oppressive. I will provide an inside, behind-the-scenes view into the political, historical, and bureaucratic discussions and negotiations within the Defense Department that ultimately led to the repeal of this policy.