Tonight at his highly-anticipated first State of the Union address to the nation, it was expected President Obama would promise to force Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the disastrous military policy that became law under former President Bill Clinton.
But tonight, Obama only paid lip service to repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”
And that was all.
Nothing concrete.
Nothing about stop-loss. Nothing about the trial and tribulations that LGBTQ Americans experience every day, as they protect and serve their nation and fellow citizens — sometimes with their lives.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is directly responsible for ending the military careers of 13,500 armed services members since it was codified into law in 1993. There are an estimated 66,000 LGBTQ men and women currently serving in America’s armed forces.
Many current and former military leaders, politicians, and national organizations have stated their opposition to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” including, former President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the American Medical Association, Purple Heart recipient and first marine to be injured in Iraq, Retired Staff Sgt. Eric Fidelis Alva, who is gay, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Shalikashvili, and former Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Via Wikipedia:
“In December 2007, 28 retired generals and admirals urged Congress to repeal the policy, citing evidence that 65,000 gay men and women are currently serving in the armed forces and that there are over 1,000,000 gay veterans. On November 17, 2008, 104 retired generals and admirals signed a similar statement.”
But Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo,) Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and one of those who helped craft and pass DADT is opposed to its repeal. (Interestingly, Skelton is a distant relative of Daniel Boone.)
In various polls across the past few years, between 56% and 79% of Americans have stated their support to allow LGBTQ Americans to serve openly in the military.
Barack Obama began his November, 2008 election night victory speech with this statement:
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
[…]
“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
“We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”
It was so good to hear our president-elect talk to us, by name.
Fourteen months later, he’s in a position to act. And it’s the action on his words, on his promises, that will ultimately decide his fate in history, and the fate today and tomorrow of the 66,000 men and women who fight and die every day for their country.