Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants a lame duck session of Congress to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military before new, more anti-gay members are sworn in.
But he isn’t holding his breath waiting for that to happen.
On a trip to Australia for a series of defense and diplomatic confabs, Gates said: “I would like to see the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are.”
He, however, did not sound optimistic that the current Congress would use a brief postelection session to get rid of the law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Gates realizes that if the current Congress, with a liberal majority, doesn’t make the move, the new, more-conservative, one won’t eliminate the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban.
Removing the ban was a campaign promise by President Barack Obama but remains a broken promise and many gays feel Obama lied about his commitment to repealing the ban.
“Obama sold out the gay community, just like he sold out so many other Americans who once believed in him,” Sasha Morgan, a lesbian activist, told Capitol Hill Blue.
Related articles
- Gates Urges Congress to Repeal Gay Ban Now (abcnews.go.com)
- Gates: Let gays in military; Marine chief: don’t (msnbc.msn.com)
- Gates: Congress Should Set Policy on Gays (online.wsj.com)
1 thought on “Gates to Congress: Repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ before new members are seated”
Doc to Gates; Keep your trap shut and exit gracefully stage left. As a Marine I must follow my Commandant in saying that now is not the time to be deciding something like this.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/09/ap-amos-gay-ban-092110/
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