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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Sep 22, 2011
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” officially ended at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 20, a date greeted like a holiday by the politicians and activists who fought for repeal, by gay servicemembers who were forced into the closet, and by military veterans who felt disrespected.
“Justice has prevailed and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is dead. God bless America,” said Alexander Nicholson, the founder of Servicemembers United and a veteran discharged under the policy.
DADT was enacted almost 18 years ago. It was a hard-fought loss for Bill Clinton’s administration and a gay community that was just coming into its own in Washington. Clinton, who courted the gay vote, had campaigned on a promise to lift a long-standing ban against gays in the military. But facing staunch opposition in a conservative Congress, Clinton agreed to a compromise that did not end but rather codified the ban. DADT barred military officers from asking about a recruit’s or servicemember’s sexual orientation, but it also barred gay servicemembers from disclosing their sexual orientation.
Since 1993, at least 14,346 men and women have been discharged from the Armed Forces under DADT.
At the White House, President Barack Obama issued a mid-morning statement on Sept. 20, about nine hours after gay bars in major cities hosted gay sailors, marines, soldiers and pilots at coming out parties.
“As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love,” the president said. “As of today, our Armed Forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian servicemembers. And today, as commander in chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.”
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a news briefing. Panetta hailed Sept. 20 as a historic day, when “we move closer to achieving the goal at the foundation of the values that America’s all about – equality, equal opportunity and dignity for all Americans.”
Mullen said DADT was “fundamentally against everything we stand for as an institution” and forced servicemembers “to lie about who they are just to wear a uniform.”
“We are better than that,” Mullen said.
Obama signed the repeal in December 2010, beginning months of reviewing policy and regulations at the Pentagon and in each of the military branches. Next began training programs, intended to condition servicemembers for DADT’s repeal.
With the demise of DADT this week came pledges to continue to pursue equal rights in the Armed Forces. The legal marriages of gay and lesbian servicemembers will not be recognized because of the Defense of Marriage Act, so their benefits will still not be the same as those available to heterosexual couples. Female servicemembers continue to be denied some of the opportunities available to men. Transgenders still face barriers in open service.
In numerous locations on Sept. 20, activists with the GetEQUAL civil disobedience group staged Day of Discontent demonstrations. “It has taken 17 years of hard work to remove this discriminatory policy and still our community faces discrimination and intolerance on a daily basis that this one important victory won’t fix,” said GetEQUAL director Robin McGehee.
Obama and his aides and advisors also committed to pursuing equal rights.
“There are LGBT Americans who still face discrimination and are denied the rights they are deserved,” said senior presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett. “So we are not done fighting.”
