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Debatepedia breaks-down “don’t ask don’t tell” for National Debate Series: Boston

Summary: Debatepedia completed on October 13, a comprehensive pro/con article on “don’t ask don’t tell” for the National Debate Series: Boston, an event taking place at Boston University’s Morse Auditorium on November 10th, 2009.

Washington, DC - November 3rd, 2009 - Debatepedia completed the most extensive resource available on the pro and con arguments and quotations surrounding “don’t ask don’t tell”, for the National Debate Series: Boston. The event, taking place on November 10th at Boston University’s Morse Auditorium, is bringing together the debate teams from Harvard, MIT, Boston College, and Boston University and US Senate candidate Steve Pagliuca to debate sending more troops to Afghanistan, “don’t ask don’t tell”, the public health insurance option, and nuclear energy.

The article developed for the event is the most comprehensive available regarding the US policy signed into law in 1993 under the Clinton Administration. The policy allowed gays to serve in the military, but only under the condition that they do so secretly. According to the policy, any homosexual act, or a public admission to being gay, would result in being expelled from the military. While some considered the move a step forward at the time that it was signed, others now believe that it was a half-measure, and are calling for its repeal, so that gays can serve openly and with equal protections. This, as well as repeated claims from the Obama administration that it will repeal the policy, has reinvigorated the debate surrounding the policy, with dozens of articles, editorials, op-eds, speeches, and books coming out of the woodworks in 2009 for as well as against the policy.

Debatepedia has responded to this complexity by centralizing all of the major arguments and quotations being made in these resources into a single pro/con article. This is being used by the National Debate Series as a way for the audience as well as the participants to come to the event with in-depth knowledge of the public debate that will be addressed, and also to follow-up after the event with a final personal deliberation. The ultimate goals of both the National Debate Series and Debatepedia are to offer an enhanced platform for the arguments in this debate and others so that the audience and the wider public can better deliberate. For attendees and others, these resources can be found both at www.nationaldebateseries.com, and www.debatepedia.org. And for those that miss the Boston event, the National Debate Series will also take place on April 20th, 2010 at Georgetown’s Gaston Hall.

Related links:

• National Debate Series home page: http://www.nationaldebateseries.com/
• Debatepedia home page: http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Welcome_to_Debatepedia!
• Debatepedia "don't ask don't tell" article: http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:_Gays_in_the_US_military
• Media kit: http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debatepedia:Media_Kit

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