Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repealed!

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:28:56 -0500
news, politics, usdemocrazy

A major political movetook place this past Saturday.

65 Senators, including 6 Republicans, voted to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

This was the highly controversial law that prevented service men and women from being openly gay in the military. The enactment of this law has resulted in the discharge of almost 14,000 people from the armed services since 1993.

This is great political achievement for President Obama, who promised several times in his campaign to repeal DADT.

In a speech about the Senate’s decision, the President said,

“It is time to close this chapter in our history. It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed. It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly.”

The Pentagon had previously found that having gays and lesbians serve openly posed a low risk to military effectiveness or “unit cohesion”. Even the Pentagon preferred that Congress dealt with this. The alternative would have been lengthy and expensive court cases challenging the law (with the law likely stopped by court order eventually.

However, while this may be hopeful news, the repeal will not take place for 6o days. In Washington… anything can happen in 60 days.