Proposal On Lifting Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy To Be Announced By Pentagon Next Week
Posted: 29th Jan 2010 Author: Michelle Penny Topics: News
The Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell has announced that the Defense Department will next week announce a proposal to move forward on lifting the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the US military. Following on from President Obama’s pledge to work with Congress to get the ban repealed, this is the first time that the military will have spoken out on how it should be done. Scheduled for next Tuesday, the announcement is expected to see Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen put forward the steps they believe are needed to allow the law to be repealed with as little impact on the forces as possible.
Made law in 1993, the DADT policy has seen over 10,500 members of the armed forces fired between 1997 and 2008 for violating it, and whilst Obama has always pledged to revoke it his impact up till now has been very limited. However Obama’s State of the Union address this week does indicate this may be the year for real change as he stated:
“This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are… “It’s the right thing to do.”
Whilst the news has been met with a positive response for the LGBT community, many feel it still falls short due to there being no announcement of suspending dismissals until the repeal actually occurs.
Speaking of what she felt about the announcementsh, Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said.
“The time for broad statements is over. The time to get down to business is overdue,”
whilst Richard Socarides, a former Clinton adviser who has been heavily critical of how Obama has handled gay issues so far was even harsher in his criticism saying that the way the President had been “an almost complete disaster.”
