New Lady Gaga video urges Senate to repeal military’s gay ban

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WASHINGTON — Pop megastar Lady Gaga used her celebrity platform to press for repeal of a US law forbidding gays from serving openly in the military, as lawmakers prepared Tuesday to receive a report on the effects of ending the controversial ban.

“The Senate needs to get this bill passed this year to repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ otherwise it can take years for it to happen,” the singer says in the two-minute long YouTube video released late Monday.

“We have to end this law because it reinforces discrimination and it’s setting a bad example,” says Gaga, curled on a couch wearing cropped bangs and her signature oversized sunglasses.

“We’ve known for many years that an overwhelming majority of Americans are ready to repeal,” Lady Gaga said, drawing a link between a recent spate of gay suicides and the ban which she said is emblematic of “government repression that is killing our youth.”

Addressing lawmakers directly in the video, Gaga added: “You said you would debate and address this law when the Pentagon returned with a strategy and tomorrow morning you will have it. So will you keep your word?”

The US military’s report on lifting a ban on gays serving openly in uniform is a move that some say could prompt action in Congress. President Barack Obama already has said he favors ending the ban.

The report, ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is supposed to lay out how repeal would affect “unit cohesion,” benefits, housing and training after surveying US troops and their families on the issue.

Most Republicans have opposed ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” saying they wanted to wait for the results of the Pentagon review.

This video was uploaded to YouTube Nov. 29, 2010.