U.S. Senators failed last week to take a discriminatory policy off the books despite support from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bans gays from serving openly in the country’s armed forces.
Senate Republicans blocked the legislation Thursday on procedural grounds, saying the Senate needed to vote on tax cuts first.
Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican to support moving to debate the bill.
Collins has also now introduced a stand-alone bill to take up the matter before the current session closes ”“ in just days.
Collins should be commended for her stance on repealing the policy and pushing Congress to decide now, before the courts battle it out. Members of the Senate and House need to get this legislation on the president’s desk before the end of the year to ensure discrimination does not persist and to keep the legal battles from raging.
In addition to support from the Secretary of Defense, a recent Pentagon study showed two-thirds of troops said they thought repealing the gay ban would have little effect on their unit’s ability to fight.
The truth is, gay people have been serving in the military most likely since its inception, and are only ousted when it is brought to a supervisor’s attention, or when a service member decides they no longer want to face the discrimination. Being gay or straight does not affect one’s job performance, and people ”“ including congressional leaders ”“ are starting to realize that policies like “don’t ask, don’t tell” are discriminatory and do nothing to advance the goals of our armed services.
Now that the Pentagon study has been released ”“ showing that more than 70 percent of service members do not think a repeal of the policy would have a negative affect on their ability to perform their duties ”“ nothing should stand in the way of ending the 17-year ban on openly gay troops. The claims from some of the military’s top uniformed officials that allowing gays to serve openly during wartime could meet resistance from combat troops are unfounded.
The people who would be most affected by the repeal ”“ the troops ”“ by a vast majority say their ability would not be affected, and members of Congress should listen.
The Senate and House have an opportunity to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on its own and the time is now.
— Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com.
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