Credit: Pete Souza | ©Wikimedia Common/Pete Souza
Gay Groups React with Skepticism
President Barack Obama pledged to end the "don't ask; don't tell" policy regulating the service of gays in the US military at a speech before the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a pro gay rights group The pledge was met with skepticism.Supporters of gay made note that President Obama did not reveal how he was going to repeal "don't ask don't tell" or when he was going to do so. Typical was the reaction of a liberal blogger named John Aravosis.
"What did President Obama say new tonight? Absolutely nothing. What did the Human Rights Campaign get in exchange for once again giving our president cover for all of his broken promises to our community? Absolutely nothing."
The "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy began in 1993 when then President Bill Clinton sought to build political consensus for allowing gay and bisexuals to serve openly in the US Military. The proposed change ran into considerable opposition, led by then Senator Sam Nunn, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colon Powell.
The policy then in effect was that any service man or woman discovered to be gay or bisexual would be immediately separated from the armed forces. "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was meant to be a compromise. In effect, the US Military would no longer "actively investigate" members of the military and in exchange gay and bisexual service men and women would, in effect, have to remain in the closet. Those discovered to be gay or bisexual were still subject to being discharged. The "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enshrined in federal law.
President Clinton was criticized at the time for waffling on his pledge to end discrimination against gays in the military. Many pointed out that until "Don't ask don't tell" was passed as a federal law, President Clinton could have ended discrimination against gays in the military by executive order, in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the US armed forces.
Comments
srw
(Guest)
(Guest)
10/12/2009
Clinton didn't try to forge a consensus on the policy, he and his staff dumped into the public limelight at the outset of his term, creating an expected backlash from Congress that the new Administration was warned about, but didn't believe would happen. DADT was a compromise from what would have been a much worse ban that both the House and Senate would have passed in a New York minute. Even Nunn has said its time to look at the policy, and if the community were smart they would embrace the role of the military and seek to change the policy in a way that supports the military mission, not their own civil rights agenda. You don't have civil rights in the military; it's the only job in America where we ask the employees to kill people or risk death on behalf of all of us. The policy should be lifted, but in the context of what the military mission must be.
A well written article on an issue that won't go away ... And won't be resolved in our life time.
:)
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