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SLDN Applauds President�s Commitment to Repeal DADT in 2010
SLDN Applauds President’s Commitment to Repeal DADT in 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – Servicemembers Legal Defense Network applauds President Obama’s remarks tonight on DADT. He said, “This year, 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.”
“We applaud the President tonight for his call to Congress to repeal ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ this year,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN. “We very much need a sense of urgency to get this done in 2010. We call on the President to repeal the DADT law in his defense budget currently being drafted, which is probably the only and best-moving bill where DADT can be killed this year.”
Attitudes toward qualified LGBT troops openly serving their country have changed dramatically in the 17 years since Congress passed the DADT law. Recent polls consistently show the American people, including a majority of conservatives (Gallup, 2009), are ready to see this law go. And younger generations of service members – who make up the bulk of the U.S. military – realize that job performance is not linked to sexual orientation, according to a Zogby poll.
Close to 190 members of the House of Representatives are cosponsors of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (HR 1283), the bill that repeals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and replaces it with a non-discrimination policy. The first ever hearing in the Senate on repeal is expected next month.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) released a statement tonight responding to the President’s call for an end to the law.
“This successful policy has been in effect for over fifteen years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels,” said McCain. “We have the best trained, best equipped, and most professional force in the history of our country, and the men and women in uniform are performing heroically in two wars. At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.”
Sarvis reponded: “Sen. McCain said tonight that DADT is ‘successful.’ It would be a mistake to think this law is working. Nearly a quarter of our troops, according to a Zogby poll, know who is gay and who is not. This is a new age, Senator. Even weekly churchgoers and conservatives want to see the law go. In addition, no law or policy is successful if it hurts military readiness at a time of two wars.”
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (www.sldn.org) is a national, non-profit legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”A Journalist’s Guide is available here.
