Will Obama End Don’t Ask Don’t Tell?

Will President-elect Obama end the 15-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” which prevents homosexual men and women from serving in the U.S. military as an openly gay person?

Obama stated during his campaign that he was in opposition to the policy, but some have viewed his more recent statements of the issue as backpedaling.

On Friday, however, Robert Gibbs, a spokesperson for the Obama transition team answered a question asked by a Michigan resident who wanted to know if Obama was in fact planning to resolve the policy.

Gibbs stated:

“You don’t hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But it’s ‘Yes.’ “

Critics of the policy have stated the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” may not happen immediately, as the demands of the economy and two wars are likely to take presidence over the policy reversal, but it does look like it may be inevitable.

Iraq War Vet to Speak OUT on D.A.D.T.

Openly gay, Iraq War veteran and GLBT Rights Activist, Eric Alva, will be presenting a lecture on the, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the Army as part of Coming Out Week at Texas A&M University.

His presentation on the policy focuses on his personal experience in the Marine Corps. He was the first soldier to be severely injured in the Iraq War and thus the first to receive a Purple Heart.

Alva stated; “Repealing the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy so gay men and women can serve in the military freely without discrimination is important.”  He also says he won’t stop fighting until the law is repealed, as  GLBT rights have become a huge part of his life.

Lowell Kane, the University’s GLBT Resource Center’s program coordinator stated; “I think he feels passionately [about 'don't ask, don't tell'] because he served his country for 13 years and sacrificed for his country, and had to do so under a veil of secrecy because the don’t ask don’t tell policy forces an individual to lie about their personal life.”

Democrats Seeking to Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Democrats are preparing next year to lift the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open gays in the military, an uneasy culture-war compromise instituted under the last Democratic administration, should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the Walnut Creek Democrat, said a hearing today by a House Armed Services subcommittee is aimed at educating Congress and the public in preparation for a full-scale push to end the policy, first imposed in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, in the next Congress. By then, Democrats expect to have won the White House and to have expanded their House and Senate majorities.

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