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Military Nominee: Gay Military Ban Up To Congress
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 1, 2007 - 12:30 pm ET
(Washington) President Bush's nominee to head the
Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation
hearing that whether or not to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the ban
on gays serving openly in the military, should be up to Congress.
Adm. Mike Mullen, currently the
chief of naval operations was asked about the policy by Maine
Republican Susan Collins.
She told Mullen that she had
"recently met with a retired admiral in Maine who urged
me to urge you to reexamine the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell’ policy."
"I really think it is for the
American people to come forward, really through this body, to
both debate that policy and make changes, if that's
appropriate," Mullen replied.
But he also said that while the
policy is in place he would enforce it.
"Admiral Mullen’s
remarks are a welcome change of pace among military
leadership, where there has long been an adversity to
encouraging debate on opening the services to lesbian and gay
patriots," said Sharra E. Greer, director of law and
policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in a
statement.
Collins also reminded Mullen
that the military is struggling to meet recruiting goals while
under DADT it had discharged more than 11,000 openly gay
servicemembers since it was adopted in the mid-1990s.
"As Senator Collins
rightly pointed out, there is growing concern among the
national security establishment that the loss of talented gay
troops is having a detrimental impact on our armed forces.
Admiral Mullen should be applauded for his willingness to take
part in a national conversation about that issue, and for his
open-minded approach to working with Congress as they consider
the future of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”
If confirmed Mullen would
replace Gen. Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chair of the Joint
Chiefs.
In March Pace angered gays when
he told the Chicago Tribune that he considers homosexuality to
be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing
gay soldiers to serve openly.
"I believe homosexual acts
between two individuals are immoral and that we should not
condone immoral acts," Pace said.
Pace then likened homosexuality
to adultery, which he said was also immoral.
"I do not believe the
United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to
be immoral in any way."
Pace later said he regretted
making the remarks but refused to apologize for them.
The United States is the only
major Western power to bar gays from serving openly in the
military, under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
A public opinion poll conducted
in the US in May found that 79 percent support gays serving
openly in the military.
In February, legislation was
reintroduced in Congress to repeal DADT. (story)
Two lawsuits challenging DADT
are underway. One, by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
is underway in federal court in Boston and a second, by Log
Cabin Republicans, is before a federal court in California. (story)
The Democratic contenders for
the presidency all oppose Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The
Republican candidates favor keeping it.
©365Gay.com 2007
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