President Obama Signs Repeal Of Military Policy Prohibiting Openly Gay Service Personal

Earlier Wednesday, President Obama signed legislation ending the 17 year old military policy prohibiting openly gay service members, the ban, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” an awkward compromise enacted by the Clinton administration that was regarded as a compromise to allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military so long as they kept their sexual orientation secret. The New York Times reports that before an auditorium at the Interior Department, in front of an audience that included many gay activists, in particular those honourably discharged from military service, the President said ““No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie or look over their shoulder,” and added, quoting the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen, ““Our people sacrifice a lot for their country, including their lives. None of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well.” The repeal does not take immediate effect; the President, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mullen must all still certify that changing the law to allow gay men and women to serve openly in all branches of the military will not obstruct readiness. Although there is still significant resistance from within the military to the repeal, specifically within the Marine Corps, openly gay Representative Barney Frank (Democrat-Massachusetts) said at the signing Wednesday that the attempt to integrate the armed service will proceed more successfully that did gender or racial integration. “Reality will very soon make it clear that there is nothing to worry about. If you can fight for your country, you can do anything,” he said. Since “don’t ask, don’t tell” was enacted in 1993, more than 17,000 service personal have been honourably discharged, and although today’s signing represents (at least symbolically) an end to the policy, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a non-partisan organization that represents soldiers still facing charges under the ban, says that gays and lesbians are “still at risk” since the repeal will not take full effect until 60 days after President Obama, the defense secretary, and admiral certify readiness, saying that “The bottom line is DADT is still in effect and it is not safe to come out.”