Activists show patience on repealing gay ban - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Activists show patience on repealing gay ban

While expecting President-elect Barack Obama to carry through with his campaign promise to allow gays to openly serve in the military, representatives of the Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network, which represents gay-rights issues for current and former military members, accepts that it may not be one of the first things Obama does.

“We do want to get it done in the next Congress,” said SLDN communications director Adam Ebbin, but the group recognizes there are “some others things that might be at the top of the agenda, like the economy” for the incoming president.

Obama may become commander-in-chief on Jan. 20, but that does not give him the ability to unilaterally repeal the ban on open service by gays; that can be done only with the agreement of Congress.

After President Clinton tried to repeal the then-regulatory ban on gays in the military in 1993, Congress passed, and Clinton signed, a new law that prohibits military service by anyone who engages in homosexual acts or announces a propensity to do so.

Public Law 103-160, includes a finding that homosexuality is “incompatible” with military service.

Obama will have a Democratic majority in the House and Senate in January to help him pass legislation, but that does not necessarily mean a repeal of the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” law would pass. In 1993, some of the fiercest congressional opposition to Clinton’s effort to change the policy came from conservative Democrats.

Obama acknowledged in an interview last summer with Military Times that he would have to persuade military leaders and members of Congress in order to change the policy.

Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former senior Pentagon personnel official in the Reagan administration, said Obama would be wise to handle this issue in a larger package with other personnel issues, such as the role of women in combat, the active-reserve mix and how fast to grow the force.

In that way, it becomes more of a personnel issue than a “gay” issue, said Korb, who has advised the Obama transition team.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network who also has been talking with Obama’s transition team, said the Obama administration “needs some time and they should have it.”

To pave the way for a 2010 vote in Congress, Sarvis said supporters of repealing the law will try to get more than 200 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate.

“Having 200 cosponsors is really the sign that your bill is ready in the House,” Sarvis said.

Another reason for delay is to give time for Obama appointees to move into key Pentagon positions and begin talking with senior military leaders and laying the groundwork for change, Sarvis said.

In that regard, more than 100 retired senior military officers signed a letter made public on Nov. 17 calling for “don’t ask, don’t tell” to be repealed.

Sarvis said rushing to a vote in 2009 might lead to a defeat, which is why his organization is willing to take a go-slow approach.

“I don’t think anyone should be rushed here,” he said.