Following last weekend’s National March for Equality in Washington, D.C., many are hopeful that President Obama is close to ending the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy, which calls for Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Trans-gender (LBGT) members of the United States Military to hide their sexuality.
President Obama spoke before a packed audience at a Human Rights Campaign dinner at the Washington Convention Center. Taking the stage directly before Lady Gaga was set to perform, President Obama joked about being her opening act. But these were not the remarks that had gay rights activists buzzing this past weekend.
Obama’s renewal of his pledge to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has supporters and detractors alike weighing in on gay rights in the military.
“We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve this country,” said Obama to the audience made up of members of the LBGT community. “We should be celebrating their willingness to show such courage and selflessness on behalf of their fellow citizens, especially when we’re fighting two wars.”
Despite Obama’s praise of LBGT members of the armed forces, many insist the change the president promised during his campaign has been slow to come.
“President Obama himself said that it’s not his place to tell us to be patient,” said former Capt. Sue Fulton, a graduate of Westpoint Academy, and public relations director for Knights Out, an organization for homosexual Westpoint alumni. “We are not patient, we are not satisfied.”
Members of the lesbian and gay community, as well as their supporters argue that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” negatively affects the armed forces.
“We believe ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ makes the military weaker,” Fulton said.
Obama seemed to agree in his remarks at the Human Rights Campaign dinner.
“We cannot afford to cut from our ranks people with the critical skills we need to fight,” Obama said. He also added that the military compromises its integrity by forcing soldiers into careers encumbered and compromised by having to live a lie.
Despite what even critics hailed as a very eloquent speech, many commented that his speech was short on concrete details and timetables.
“[Obama] should sign a stop-loss order that prevents homosexual soldiers from being expelled from the military,” Fulton said. “[Obama] should send information to Congress to give them what they need to change the law.”
Despite many lesbian and gay civil rights organizations’ frustration with the timetable of the repeal, many agreed that Obama should use an executive order to stop “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the short-term, and encourage Congress to pass a law to repeal the act so that it is no longer law in the long-term. Many agree he will get the job done.
“We have a stronger commander in chief than we’ve had in the past,” Fulton said. “When I heard [Obama] say, resolutely, that he will end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, that was the strongest statement I ever heard him make on the issue.”
Many are positive that Obama will end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” including Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who weighed in on the issue on the news show, “Meet the Press.”
“I think he will and he can,” Levin said when asked if Obama could end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “I think it has to be done in the right way, which is to get a buy-in from the military, which I think is now possible.”
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