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Loading ...White House: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” under review
05.22.2009 10:19am EDT
(Washington) The White House is insisting that officials are working to overturn a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, pushing back against Pentagon assessments a day earlier that such efforts were low priorities and Democratic activists’ complaint of slow progress.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that President Barack Obama is committed to reversing the Clinton-era policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which blocks gays’ service if they disclose their sexual orientation. Congress would have to take action to change the policy. Recent polls indicate the ban and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy are losing support.“Try as one may, a president can’t simply whisk away standing law of the United States of America,” Gibbs said. “But if you’re going to change the policy, if it is the law of the land, you have to do it through an act of Congress.”
The administration has drawn criticism from gay and lesbian activists for not moving quickly enough to repeal the policy. Democratic activists and fundraisers met last weekend in Texas to coordinate an online campaign known as the Dallas Principles to prod the president.
“We face a historic opportunity to obtain our full civil rights; this is the moment for change,” the group said in a mission statement. “No delay. No excuses.”
Opponents of the policy face challenges, though.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the military has no plans to repeal the policy and that the White House had not asked for the 1993 policy to be scrapped.
Two days later, Gibbs said Morrell had backed off that position; Morrell released a statement hours later doing just that.
“President Obama has been clear in his direction to Secretary (Robert) Gates and (Joint Chiefs) Chairman (Mike) Mullen that he is committed to repeal the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. He has also been clear that he is committed to do it in a way that is least disruptive to our troops, especially given that they have been simultaneously waging two wars for six years now,” Morrell said.
“Although this will require changes to the law, the secretary and chairman are working to address the challenges associated with implementation of the president’s commitment,” he said.
Even so, retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the White House’s national security adviser, earlier this month told ABC’s “This Week” that he wasn’t sure the policy would be overturned.
“We have a lot on our plate right now,” he said.
©365Gay.com 2009
Contact Obama and your representatives. Let them know DADT must go. It teaches prejudice and discrimination, using our tax dollars to stigmatize us. Keep the pressure on, otherwise, it will never get done.
NOT According to OBAMA TODAY in remarks made at Annapolis graduation:
“Hypocrisy much? Take a look at this excerpt from the President’s speech at the United States Naval Academy Graduation today. I just received the transcript in my inbox.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
United States Naval Academy Graduation & Commissioning
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Annapolis, Maryland
May 22, 2009 …..this from PHBlend Blog:
“And surface warfare officers and submariners-we need you to project American power across the vast oceans, but also to project American principles and values when you pull into that foreign port-because for so many people around the world, you are the face of America.
You need them — unless they are lesbian or gay. What’s really insulting is this bit of business:
Yesterday I visited the National Archives and the hall that holds our Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. I went there because as our nation debates how to deal with the security challenges that we face, we must remember this enduring truth: the values and ideals in those documents are not simply words written into aging parchment, they are the bedrock of our liberty and our security. We uphold our fundamental principles and values not just because we choose to, but because we swear to. Not because they feel good, but because they help keep us safe.”
And surface warfare officers and submariners-we need you to project American power across the vast oceans, but also to project American principles and values when you pull into that foreign port-because for so many people around the world, you are the face of America.
You need them — unless they are lesbian or gay. What’s really insulting is this bit of business:
Yesterday I visited the National Archives and the hall that holds our Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. I went there because as our nation debates how to deal with the security challenges that we face, we must remember this enduring truth: the values and ideals in those documents are not simply words written into aging parchment, they are the bedrock of our liberty and our security. We uphold our fundamental principles and values not just because we choose to, but because we swear to. Not because they feel good, but because they help keep us safe.”
….and he puts at risk the lives of all the 65,000 closeted gay and lesbian troops. He doesn’t lead them, he makes them feel like diseased scum.
Would someone please ask retarded, oh, I mean retired Marine General Jackoff Jones why the Canadian military which has openly gay military personel serving has not collapsed into total chaos with rampant deviant sex occuring? I wonder if the general likes what, as a Navy man, I found a lot of marines like? Hail the FPOA (Fudge Pounders of American).
Obama needs to stop telling us there’s nothing he can do, when it’s clear that he can simply direct the military to stop making findings of homosexuality, and his people can stop going to court to keep LGBTs out.
Mr. President, there’s something called a “moratorium” in your arsenal. It’s what Bush used to curb stem cell research. Enact a moratorium to stop discharging gay servicemen/women. Done and done. Put a cork in the pitiful excuses.
Randy seems to be referring to a stop-loss order. Under stop-loss, a crisis can be declared and discharges can then be delayed until the crisis period has passed. At that point, the discharges would have to take place.
Stop-loss is only possible for the Army and related branches of service, such as the Army National Guard. It wouldn’t affect the Navy, Air Force, or Marines. There has been some discussion that discharges could have been delayed for all branches of service when 911 occurred. Any attempt at such a wide-ranging stop-loss order today would be met with legal challenges.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to imagine how a military-wide stop-loss could succeed at this point, when much of the urgency of 911 has passed. Bush would have had the best chance, but he was busy making a mess of the country.
A moratorium is a period during which legal or financial obligations are suspended. Bush was able to suspend funding for stem-cell research, but DADT is a law enacted by congress. It’s unlikely that the executive branch could issue a moratorium on it.
What Obama *can* do is pressure congress to move quickly to repeal DADT. Since any repeal must come from congress, I suggest we appeal mainly to them. Obama’s website says he wants to repeal DADT, and he has reiterated this several times. However, I think the Pentagon and Robert Gates have generated enough confusion about this that we should also appeal to Obama.
Oh for heaven’s sake! The issue has been studied to death. GET ON WITH IT!
LGBT people have and want the same responsibility as all other citizens to serve their country with loyalty. We have this responsibility in Canada. The responsibility also exists in the United Kingdom. Now, the United States needs to join its allies.
I’m one of many who would have made a career of the military if it had been possible to do so honorably.
It wasn’t my honor that was in question…it was the honor given to my service.
I just unsubscribed from Obama’s “we want to bring change, give us your money” e-mail list with the following comment.
“Candidate Obama promised to be a President for ALL Americans. PRESIDENT Obama has thrown Gay Americans aside in the name of pandering to the religious extremists who seek to make America a Theocracy, the American Taliban.”
It teaches LYING. DADT, so pretend to be like everyone else? Thats American?
Isn’t that a SIN? why do all the Right Wing Christian Taliban, Republinuts, want a Military full of ignant liars?
I was approached by the navy because of my Language(s) background and my ASVAB scores, etc. and I said NOPE, they said “we’ll make you an officer because of your college degree” and I thought do I join as a Liar or use my education and skills elsewhere?
I didn’t join and to this day, glad I didn’t. I am not gonna be something dishonest, fake and be a conformist of hate, bigotry and ignorance.
What about the FULL repeal of DOMA as well??? Two people of the same sex who get married in the states were they can marry (MA, Iowa, CT, VT and Maine), should have that marriage recognised fully in ALL Government departments of county, state and federal Governments. I just wish the Gov. John “Lynch the Grinch” of NH whould stop fucking about on the bill and “bloody sign it already”!!!!!
ok, listen everyone, i’m not happy with the stupid “Dont Ask Dont Tell” policy, i think its morally and constitutionally wrong for a power body to hold sexuality as a means to discharge its members. I hate it just as much as any other repressed person, but this system has been around longer then ANYONE has been alive, lesbian, gay, trans, bi or straight. you can’t force a mountian to move in a matter of days, no matter how hard you push. does it help to keep constant pressure? hell yes.
things that effect more than one person take time, accept it. It sucks, but so does life. It will happen, maybe not at the pace we wnat but it will happen.
Poor little fakes. What are you all going to do when there are no more wars for you to fight in and suck up to your hetero war mongering as*hole friends???
It is not the effect of homosexuality on group morale that the officials fear in the repeal of DADT, it is the closeted homosexuals who run the military who have been sitting on (literally and figuretively) a cadre of young men and women whom they can abuse (through power plays and manipulation) sexually. If everyone can act openly, then they have no excuses left. And gay men can simply turn them down and expose them for trying to bait them into sex for promotion. I know, I’ve had gay friends in the military for the last 30 years. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. Good luck Obama, but those closeted queens are going to cling to the closet door as long as they can!
I have been in the Army for more than 11 years. 9 of those years I have been with the same woman, who was also a Soldier a while ago. This policy has been in effect for my entire career so far and probably will be for a lot longer. Although I don’t like lying and my partner doesn’t receive the same support from the unit like other spouses, I still feel compelled to serve. I’m sure plenty of people have figured out that I’m gay, but I just don’t care. I don’t go telling people and they can’t legally ask me so it doesn’t matter. Statements, acts or marriage. A person has to have verifiable proof of at least one of those things to initiate an investigation. I would love to be able to tell people the true nature of my life, and I do tell sometimes to very trusted individuals, but I also love being a Soldier. My partner, as much as she has been through taking care of the kids during deployments and whatnot, would never ask me to give up my life as a Soldier. It isn’t a fair policy but most of us have just learned to live with it. I wasn’t running around waving my rainbow flag before I enlisted anyway, I’ve always been pretty low-key.