February 1, 2010
Private: Senate Set to Examine ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy
Don't Ask Don't Tell, equality, Separation of Powers
The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services will revisit the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which bars openly gay service members, for the first time in eighteen years tomorrow during a committee hearing. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to testify. The New York Times reported in today's edition that in White House sessions late last year, President Obama called the policy, which has resulted in the dismissal of scores of lesbians and gay men, "just wrong." Additionally, the newspaper reported that the president did not want his administration to wind up having to defend the constitutionality of the ban in federal court.
"Gay rights leaders say they expect Mr. Gates to announce in the interim that the Defense Department will not take action to discharge service members whose sexual orientation is revealed by third parties ..., one of the more onerous aspects of the law," The Times reported.
In the fall, ACS hosted a national event exploring the efforts to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which included comments from Erica Alva, a former Marine Staff sergeant, on the corrosive effects of the policy. Video of that discussion is here. Also, following the event, Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow at the Palm Center, talked with ACSblog about the history and impact of the policy. See Frank's interview here.