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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Jul 28, 2011
DADT is gone in 60 days.
Certification for repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military came July 22, with the signatures of President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.
Certification means that the military is nearly ready to lift the ban after months of preparation that followed Congress’ vote to repeal DADT in late 2010. About 1.9 million military personnel have received training in advance of the repeal, but additional training is needed before the Sept. 20 deadline is reached, according to Pentagon officials.
“I believe the U.S. Armed Forces are ready for the implementation of the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ I conveyed that opinion yesterday to the president and to the secretary of defense, and today we certified this to Congress,” Mullen stated July 22.
Obama stated, “As commander in chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness. Today’s action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. …Our military will no longer be deprived of the talents and skills of patriotic Americans just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.”
DADT, passed by Congress in 1993, prohibits those who “demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” from serving in the U.S. military because their presence “would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”
DADT was a compromise between Congress and Bill Clinton, who had campaigned on a promise to lift barriers to gays serving in the Armed Forces. Instead Congress codified the anti-gay ban in a defense spending bill and Clinton issued a directive barring the military from asking servicemembers and recruits about their sexual orientation.
The policy, since its implementation, has been the target of activists and attorneys, policymakers and politicians.
Congress, in passing DADT, had maintained that gays in the military threatened unit cohesion and troop morale, but studies then and since have shown DADT itself to be detrimental to morale and cohesion. And last fall, a federal court struck down the policy as unconstitutional.
With the announcement of certification came applause and praise.
A chief proponent of repeal, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said, “It is a fact that gay and lesbian service members have fought and died for our country and are serving in our military now. But the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy requires them to conceal their sexual orientation so that they can continue their service to our nation.”
Researcher Aaron Belkin, who has studied gays in the military for years for the Palm Center in California, said, “On Sept. 20 we will be a better nation, a stronger nation and a nation that is now in step with its allies in allowing open service by gay and lesbian troops. The president really delivered on his promise.”
