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Loading ...Senate leader wants answers on military’s gay ban
10.02.2009 4:35pm EDT
(Washington) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to hear from the Obama administration on how to overturn the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays serving openly in the military.
The Democratic-led Congress is considering repealing the 1993 law but isn’t expected to act on the issue until early next year.In the meantime, the Nevada Democrat is asking President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to share their views and recommendations on the controversial policy.
In Sept. 24 letters to Obama and Gates, Reid also asked for a review of the cases of two U.S. officers who were discharged from the military because of their sexuality.
“At a time when we are fighting two wars, I do not believe we can afford to discharge any qualified individual who is willing to serve our country,” Reid wrote in identical letters to Obama and Gates that were obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
Obama signaled during last year’s election campaign that he supported repealing the law. But to the chagrin of his gay-rights supporters, he has made no move to do so since taking office in January. The White House has said it will not stop the military from dismissing gays and lesbians who acknowledge their sexuality.
Last year, 634 members of the military were discharged for being gay, or .045 percent of the active-duty U.S. force, according to an Aug. 14 congressional report.
The largest number of gays who were ousted under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy came in 2001, when 1,227 were discharged, or .089 of the force.
The House is considering legislation to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” and allow people who have been discharged under the policy to rejoin the military. The law is being pushed chiefly by Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., a former captain in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division who served in Bosnia and Iraq.
Murphy has said he does not expect congressional hearings on the policy until next year.
OK I dont understand all this negative talk about steps in the right direction. Did any one really expect for Obama to take office and the next day all would be right with the world? There are processes to be fallowed, processes that take time. You cant build a solid foundation by rushing through it. Dont get me wrong, I am an advocate for action but action through the right channels so it does not get yanked out from under us later. Would any of you rather go back to the way it was before?
I am staying home from the polls next time. I can’t believe the inaction of Obama. And the fact that American soldiers with years of service are getting treated this way because of discrimination is beyond the pale.
Obama is completely without courage to do the right thing. The worst are the gay and lesbian “civil rights leaders” letting the democrats run roughshod over them. Maybe they are star struck at their meeting with him, and/or enamored with their own celebrity at being able to accomplish some negotiations behind the scene. What an enormous failure. The “leaders” were probably approached by democrats with promises of “working together.” Look how that “working relationship” strategy worked out — soldiers dumped on their ass month after month while the gay leaders sip Starbucks in New York and Washington.
The Obama Administration can not be bothered with such trivial matters. After all, there are Olympic Bids to make!
I want one more person to tell me how busy Obama is with the “important” issues.
Enough talk! Get moving! We must remember this as we get closer to the March for Equality weekend and act to make our politicians act.
How to overturn the ban, hmmm? I thought Congress passed a law, then the President signed it. What is all the fuss about?